The Birthday Massacre
“Imaginary Monster’s” Tour
Sokol Underground
Omaha, Nebraska
December 19th, 2011
Roughly 150 fans braved to chilly Nebraska winter for the chance to forget their real life problems and party with their Canadian friends; Chibi, Rainbow, Owen, Nate, Rhim and M. Falcore. Even though the show had poor promotion and Sokol Auditorium’s marquee wasn’t changed to reflect the evening’s show until earlier that afternoon, The Birthday Massacre continues to attract more and more fans with each of their annual stops in Omaha.
Seeing The Birthday Massacre live is a lot like a full contact sport. The band interacts with the crowd as much as the crowd feeds off of the band’s visceral energy. It’s not unusual to find lead singer and ring master Chibi leaning into the crowd inbetween verses and grasping the wanting hands of any fan lucky enough to catch her attention. The moshing began as soon as the first chords of Pins and Needles was struck and continued until the band showed the pace with a track off of their Imaginary Monsters EP, Forever. Singing along with this track was the true test for the die-hard fans. But the breather didn’t last long. Burn Away knocked the pace of the evening back up a few notches while Video Kid set the ravenous crowd into a frenzy. It seemed that during Blue and Lovers End the crowd would simply swallow up the band with their excitement and energy.
The evening closed with my personal highlight of the band’s hour and twenty minute set. Midnight has special meaning to me and served as the perfect show closer.
There are very few bands currently touring that can command so much attention for thier fans during a live show and The Birthday Massacre continue to set and raise the bar of what we, as fans, should expect from a live concert experience.
The fans who ventured to Omaha’s Sokol Underground welcomed the band back with open arms and not a single CD, poster, t-shirt, body part or pair of pink fuzzy bunny ears went unsigned by the band. It also seemed as though every one in attendence got at least a hug or a handshake fromt he band as they were leaving the comfort of the venue, returning to their real lives.
Setlist;
Pins and Needles
Control
Happy Birthday
Forever
Burn Away
Shallow Grave
Always
Weekend
Video Kid
Blue
Looking Glass
Lovers End
In the Dark
Red Stars
Encore;
Sleepwalking
Midnight
