HEALTH and Carpenter Brut – CONFLICT:LEATHER
If you’ve spent enough time playing through random video games, there’s a very good chance you’ve already enjoyed the rush that our first co-headliner, Carpenter Brut, can bring to your life. With songs featured in games such as Hotline Miami 2, Far Cry 5, or one of my faves, Hacknet, their French darksynth energy creates an environment of excitement and exhilaration. That energy was crammed into Showbox SoDo with our second co-headliner, HEALTH, whose song “Major Crimes” was featured in Cyberpunk 2077.
As the opener, Desire, took the stage, I was unfortunately struck with some bad luck getting into the venue. While I dealt with this issue at the box office, I spent my time hanging out with the security and listened to the music blasting out of the front doors. The security folks were obviously enjoying the upbeat electronic music, as they broke out their best sprinkler dance moves next to the metal detectors while people were still piling into the venue. This Canadian duo is now based in Palm Springs, and based on the visual nature of their show, it feels like they have spent plenty of time with all the movie stars that live there. I didn’t get to see too much of the show, but as I came into the end of it, I watched them celebrating the final song by tossing a bunch of roses into the audience.
As Franck Hueso, the sole member of Carpenter Brut, and his two touring musicians took their spots on the stage, a deep voice came over the speakers. Its first order of business was informing the crowd that crowdsurfing was very much encouraged. One of my favorite things Carpenter Brut has done is their full-length soundtrack for Blood Machines, a movie directed by the same director as their music video for “Turbo Killer”. I was really hoping they would incorporate some of the visual media from his work, including the music videos, but the focus for this show was really on the music. This was obviously no deterrent for the folks in the crowd, as the fist pumps throughout the show were some of the most intense, I’ve ever seen.
If you were to shut your eyes, listening to Carpenter Brut feels like you chugged an energy drink while driving 100 mph on a desert road with the windows down. Obviously, that kind of energy comes with a pretty hyped crowd. Right in the center of the audience was a never ending mosh pit throughout the show, and at some point, near the end, the voice that encouraged the crowdsurfing had the crowd split and open up a wall of death. What followed was possibly one of the most underwhelming wall of death I’ve seen, but as a bystander watching from the sidelines, I can’t really judge them. Carpenter Brut closed out their set with a cover of “She’s a Maniac” that had the audience doing the wildest flashdances you can imagine.
After a necessary break from the madness, HEALTH took the stage. This band’s darkwave style industrial metal music mixed with their cave-like backdrop on stage made me feel like I was in the underground dance scene of The Matrix Reloaded. This quick US leg of the tour, titled CONFLICT:LEATHER, kicked off in San Francisco on March 31st, and closes out on May 5th in Austin, Texas. With their music featured on other games like Grand Theft Auto V and Max Payne 3, another nod to video games for the evening included Health’s bassist, John Famiglietti, rocking an Elden Ring shirt. As the show continued, at one point the lead singer, Jake Duzsik, asked the audience, “What’s the difference between a Maserati and an erection… I don’t have an erection.” This really set the mood for the rest of the show as they continued their hardcore riffs and epic drumming from their drummer B.J. Miller for the rest of the night.
