REVIEW: Rocktober Night 2
Rocktober was a party visible from the street. In many ways, a typical Friday night house show, with the typical Philly house scene. The crowd filtered through the doors of Paraglider’s Utopia, run by competing band Paratopia. There was a mashup of aesthetics that is rare in any corner of the city. With indie rock, hardcore, and jazz fusion bands, the diverse lineup drew an equally diverse crowd. The Philly metal scene mixed with the music production crowd alongside people dressed more appropriately for a frat than a mosh pit.
Alex, a junior advertising major at Temple, noted from atop a washing machine in the basement that Gen Z has a distinctive approach to self-expression, and that was on full display at the event. “We fit in by standing out,” he mused, as a room of indie mullets, hardcore buzzcuts, and clean-girl slick-backs nodded along to the same bass line.
Outside, we met Peter and Jude, who traveled from West Philly for Rocktober. They regularly take public transit for North Philly’s music scene. “It’s good to see another side of the city,” Jude said. Peter agreed: “West Philly people will kill me, but this is where it’s all at.”
While there is music in every neighborhood, different areas tend to gravitate towards different genre preferences. North Philly draws a lot of hardcore and metal fans. For a more indie sound, I typically head West. Tonight, though, indie came to North Philly to open Rocktober.
Greeting Cards, last year’s winners, describe their sound as emo-nostalgia indie rock. As they played, people swayed and danced to what was easily the most melodic set of the night. Although their produced work features more audio sampling and tape saturation, Greeting Cards’ live sound is stripped down, and for fair reason: they’re still saving up for some pedals. The long, narrow row home basement offered an “unrivaled energy” to their live sets, surpassing that of bar shows, they said in a street interview. They particularly appreciated playing for a crowd of their own peers. “We would play with just sticks and rocks if needed,” Logan, the drummer, said with a laugh. They also shouted out the generosity of the other bands, who shared their equipment: “It’s what the DIY scene runs on.”
After Greeting cards came Diskrtik, a major draw for hardcore fans. With a grindy, noisy crust-punk sound, and an immediately apparent political message, Diskrtik’s mosh pit shredded from their first song to their last. They ended their set by smashing a guitar. On the street after their set, Diskrtik talked about how they formed. After being allegedly banned in DC, the band snowballed in Philly with a series of punk shows. Now, they mostly play for an older, crust-punk crowd at Cousin Danny’s Lounge on Market Street in West Philly, in addition to house venues around the city. Rocktober stood out to them because of the lack of gray hair in the audience.
Diskritik is taking the competition as an opportunity to work on their energy, striking a careful balance between skill and performance. Their goal is to involve the audience, “sound big and do a lot.” To achieve this, they took big swings, literally, and studied up. The guitar they smashed belonged to the guitarist and dated back to high school, when he first learned to play. He saw it as the end of an era and the beginning of a new one. He’s planning to salvage its parts for a new guitar. “DIY or die, man,” they said. Diskritik referenced old school hardcore in their performance style, studying 1997 punk film All Crusties Spending Loud Night for inspiration. Other old YouTube archive videos also served as references. “You know, the Beatles on Ed Sullivan,” one band member said with a nod. It paid off. “Fuckers are just flying everywhere,” Peter said, excitedly, after the show.
The next band was homegrown from Temple’s jazz program, Paratopia. With a jazz fusion style that borrows from nearly every genre, the band had people moshing, dancing and swaying at different points throughout their varied set. This was the only band that seemed to draw a crowd from every scene. The energy continued after the show, when the band gave each other piggyback rides during our street interview. They told us how they fed off Diskrtik’s electric performance, switching their lineup to start with their title song “Paratopia,” to keep people dancing and moshing. “Hype house, hype community!” one band member shouted, running by the mic. Paratopia maintains a house show atmosphere while drawing on their jazz roots, incorporating electric instruments and shouted lyrics. “Every genre, we take it, we play it.” Their infectious energy, palpable joy and unique style make them a favorite in the Philly house show community. Multiple competing bands also noted that Paratopia provided an exceptionally welcoming and clean venue space. “Home turf advantage,” a band member joked.
The show closed with Banshee, a beatdown hard-core band, with standout growling vocals. Their pit was deadly and electric, with people swinging limbs wildly. Crowd-killing, the mosh style typical at hardcore shows, had outsiders ducking for cover. Outside, the band was described as an entity unto themselves, with enough lore to warrant their own comic book. “Big person pile-up, people just flailing around… this is a perfect show.” Peter said, grinning. A Paratopia member emerged from the pit with a bloody nose and wide grin.
The last night of Rocktober will be held at the historic Center City venue First Unitarian Church. The show is expected to be competitive, with Greeting Cards and Paratopia progressing to the final round.
Cover photo by Stevie McDaniel.
