Last Friday Le Botanique hosted the American indie rock band, from New York City, Codeine. The band went on stage to launch the show with D, first track from debut LP Frigid Stars, followed by Barely Real. Throughout the show, the lead singer and bass player Stephen Immerwahr sang with his soft voice making the vocals sound buried through most of the show but full of emotion. Others, like “Pick Up Song,” started otherwise with him and his naked voice, to then be followed by an explosion of sound on his bass. On highlight of the night was “Pea,” towards the end of the concert, when drummer Chris Brokaw took over on bass to play on the last songs of the performance.
London-based slowcore quartet Deathcrash were the opening act of the night and the one that pose the biggest challenge for me as a photographer. The band chose a moody dark atmosphere for most of their show, matching with the soft vocals from lead singer Tiernan Banks, being often almost not visible, while also mixing some few more well-lit moments with some strobe lighting that was perfectly matching the heavier parts of most songs and the screaming vocals of the guitar player.
Codeine
Deathcrash
Vrijdag 08 september 2023, Le Botanique (Brussel, BE) | Foto's & tekst: Cristina Vergara