Spiritbox’s Welsh debut brings a stacked lineup, chosen by the headliners and featuring Ukraine’s Jinjer and Dying Wish from Portland. Three bands each playing their own twist on modern metal; three frontwomen all bringing impressive vocals and stage presence. Whilst not sold out, the Utilita Arena looks pretty full from early on, with plenty of fans already sporting their Spiritbox football jersey fresh from the merch stand.
Dying Wish play a blend of metalcore and hardcore punk, throwing everything into their performance. It’s certainly not always easy to win a crowd over who aren’t necessarily there to see you (main vocalist Emma Boston asks the audience how many people are seeing them for the first time, which from the response is almost everyone), but they don’t hold back, shouting for people to go side to side like we’re in a club show. Quite a few crowdsurfers move over the audience, and when bassist Jon Mackey asks everyone to open a pit, they listen, and it’s a great start to the night.
Jinjer play with similar flair and an equally progressive sound, switching from super-heavy and aggressive metal to more groove-focused songs. Technical and slick-sounding live, Jinjer incorporate complex time signatures, but aren’t clinical, which is mainly down to frontwoman Tatiana Shmayluk. She switches effortlessly from soaring clean vocals to the harshest of screams and stands out onstage thanks to a snakeskin-print bodysuit with massive latex platform heels.
The stage is quickly set up for Spiritbox, behind a large fabric screen covering the while stage. We see singer Courtney LaPlante’s silhouette just before this falls and the band fire up the crowd with Fata Morgana revealing silk curtains and an atmospheric light setup. Black Rainbow and Perfect Soul follow, guitarist Mike Stringer switching guitars in one smooth transition after another; he and bassist Josh Gilbert replace each other on each side of the stage in a constant rotation.
A projection of what could be Dr Frankenstein’s lab, with pulsating electric instruments, is shown before Soft Spine, one of Spiritbox’s biggest hits to date. There’s a pop as confetti cannons explode over the crowd; a few songs later, the gambit is repeated with bubble machines, and tiny spheres drift towards the arena ceiling during Tsunami Sea. Some faces I see again and again, coming out of the photo pit post-crowdsurf. The band, who sounded incredible tonight, close the show with week-old single Mourning.
LaPlante tells us it’s the fifth anniversary of Eternal Blue’s release tonight, apologising in the process for taking that long to visit Wales. The occasions when the Spiritbox vocalist speak to the crowd prove resonant – when she talks about playing Tsunami Sea all over the world for the past two years, she’s also reminiscing about her and Stringer’s once seemingly impossible dream becoming professional musicians and being able to get away from their hometown. “If you never quit,” she tells us, “you can never lose.”
Spiritbox, Jinjer + Dying Wish, Utilita Arena Cardiff, Thurs 17 Sept
words and photos ROSS PEACEY
