:Concert Review: Cyber Genetic Winter Festival 2011 Day Two

Cyber Genetic Winter Festival – Day Two
December 3, 2011
San Antonio, Texas, U.S. @ Korova

Review by: Christina Cubel

After a long night of partying and drinking it was now time to wake up and feel the effects of said night. Which also meant day 2 of Cyber Genetic Winter Festival.

The first band up for the night was called Dementhia from El Paso, TX. The band was made up of two people a female and male who rotated vocals and synths. Unfortunately I do not remember their individual names and when researching I saw 3 members and did not want to get their names wrong. Dementhia plays a very solid industrial style with influences of aggrotech, EBM, and trance. The main guy had a hawk for that went on for days. He wore that Mohawk proudly as it waved in the laser lights. I think Alex had a little Mohawk envy but then again who wouldn’t. I could barely hear the vocals through the first few songs because the sound guy had the volume on the entire band wayyyyy lower than normal. It was however eventually fixed and I could tell that what was playing (though quiet) was also very unique and good. The only song I recognized was from the Don’t Mess with Industrial compilation titled “Infectious Plague”. I liked how they mixed it up changing positions and it also gave me a break from the massive rave lasers blinding my eyes. What really stood out for me were the female vocals, because I love female vocals that have a rough creepy vibe. There are not enough women performing in industrial these days unless you are a model or a dancer. The song Dementhia performed which I absolutely adored was called “Water The Harvest Fields In Red” which was so unbelievably stumpy it made me want to run out of the venue and go SHOOT GUNS! I enjoyed their set even though there was a bit of technical difficulties.

Up next was a band all the way from New York City 00tz 00tz, who is made up of Krysta on vocals and Nicky on synths. At the start of the show Krystal aggressively announced she was making a public service announcement about people better get up to the front of the stage and dance or something to that affect. My first impulse was to stand in a dark corner. Unfortunately I had not drunk enough to start booty bumping yet and honestly I wanted to save my energy for Manufactura but that’s not the point right now. To be honest I am not familiar with this duo’s music and each song seemed to sound the same to me aside from the drums that did change up. It felt like it was the same kind stomping I have heard from so many other bands and nothing really stood out to me, and the presence of a voice distorter was obvious when she sang. Which is not a bad thing all the time by the way. It almost sounded like she has a good voice but I was so distracted by the echoing that I couldn’t tell for sure. The best part of 00tz 00tz performance was the last song when Nicky jumped out from behind the keys and started singing and dancing with Krysta. You could see the chemistry they had during this last song and I really hoped they perform side by side like that again in the future.

The fog machines started blowing crazier than at a Halloween haunt and the crowd started gathering right before SIN D.N.A. took the stage. From the second they started playing their first song the crowd went crazy and there was a guy in the front dancing who kind of scared me because he was all over the place but you could tell he was really into the music. If you have never heard SIN D.N.A. before I highly suggest you check them out if you like industrial/electro danceable stumpy club music, which is exactly what I am into. Sergio who was on keys was in the back thrashing it up. I loved how he had his sunglasses on the whole time. I realized after the rave laser shot me in the eye twice during their set that sunglasses probably would have been a good idea. Mario was all up and down the stage and was a very energetic. The music kept the crowd moving but just then I caught a glimpse of Cyber Pool who was an industrial Dead Pool. Had to take a photo op with him. Then I was right back into the music with Sin D.N.A. as it kept pumping away despite my ADD tendencies. The music was good and the vocals were just as I expected them. They did a great set but I can tell that it will probably only get better.

Reaxion Guerrilla was up next, all the way from Lima Peru. The show started out with three girls dancing on stage. It started off rather calm and naughty and then turned in to a clam clapping festival of the flesh. The lead singer’s vocals were excellent, though I could tell that there was some technical difficulties in the start. He seemed to really have a great stage presence owning the crowd and really getting into the songs. However…when the second song started one girl left the stage and then the two girls started humping each other. Now I know what you must be thinking…“Well that doesn’t sound too bad Christina”, well it actually wasn’t too bad till it continued through the entire set. Maybe it was a good thing in the beginning but it seemed to be more about the girls than band. Almost as if there was some guy that showed up and was screaming around these girls for some reason. The dancers/strippers, however pretty and sexy, were very distracting to Reaxion Guerrilla’s performance. I think it would have been a better performance had it not been mostly about the girls. I’ve never seen Alien Vampire’s show but I would assume their stage performance would be somewhat similar. Wild sexy and great music. Either way, I enjoyed the set, especially since I had no expectations. I really think they have a lot of potential and I look forward to seeing them again.

After being lapped danced to some great dark music it was now time to settle for a little something different. Manufactura hit the stage next, but he was not alone. In fact he hit stage with Sergio (Sin D.N.A.) and Travis (Mecanikill?). Apparently Sergio filled in on the synths and surprisingly Travis did all the live Video that was being projected on them and on the screen they were performing in front of. I really enjoyed the video projection with my lovely dose of Manufactura. I loved how Karloz came out and was fully decked out in a suit and tie. He looked so professional. He continued to play a lot of different tracks of his work both new and old. This was a good thing for me and for a few others. It was not too surprising though that some of the typical dance crowd dipped out for a bit, as some of his music, however great, is an acquired taste and not always dance friendly. He continued on to play a really great and diverse set of his music that I thoroughly enjoyed. You can tell that there is a sort of depth that goes into Manufactura as proved in the interview J did with Karloz. It was a nice change from all the other music we had heard that night and it showed as the compliments came pouring out to Karloz following the set.

Last but not least on this wild San Antonio outing Leaether Strip hit the stage with more energy than I think anyone was expecting. This was my first time actually seeing them perform and I was completely involved in the set. I would have been up and dancing constantly had it not been two nights of standing, dancing and drinking already. Then again this was unlike any set I have seen. Leaether Strip did about 2 hours and 20 minutes of music! Wow—talk about loving your craft. Their music was hard and pounding and surprisingly harder than on the albums. Claus was rocking it up there with his husband Kurt adorning the keys. I think the live performance that Claus gives is one of the many reasons why they are icons. They played what seemed like a good mix of old and new songs. One of my favorite songs to see them play live was “civil disobedience”, it was very pumping and amazing to actually see live…I only noticed technical difficulties with them…. FOUR times… their whole system dropped? The first time they got it back up… second time took them a little bit longer to get back together…went on at 12:10 and played till 230 OMG… Still can’t believe the energy. Claus knows how to rock it still and it shows. Leather Strip ended with a cover of “sex dwarf” by soft cell that went off beautifully. (Check out the Oontz cast Episode 47 for a more in depth description of the end of their set) It’s good to see people still love what they do. If you get a chance go see Leaether Strip live DO IT!

The weekend for Cyber Genetic Winter Festival was finally over. It was really surprising all the great music we heard. What was even more surprising is that this seemed to be the best damn festival in the states this year and not many people were even there to see it happen. People you need to go out and support good music. This festival took many risks getting all these great bands out and it was well worth the money to travel and see. With that said and done, Cyber Genetic Winter Festival was a great time. We hope to see more events from these guys who are willing to take the risks to make good music happen. Over and out…