I returned to the Oriental Theater this past Wednesday, for my second concert night covering two artists I had not seen in a few years. The stage was set for Otep and with a flash of light from the stage, the house lights went down and a cheering crowd welcomed the members of Otep. As they took their place on stage, Otep coming out last stepped up on the riser in front of the stage and urged the cheering crowd for more.
Otep started their set with “Battle Ready” from their 2002 album, Sevas Tra which set the tone for their set, hard and heavy. Her strong vocals poured out into the crowd which many were singing with her and then she would go deep with a hard growl.
Through their set Otep would be on the riser singing and interacting with the crowd through songs, “Equal Rights, Equal Lefts” and “Apex Predator”. Though it wasn’t a large crowd this night, it was an energetic one.
Otep finished their strong set with “Menocide” and the cheering crowd thanked them for a great set.
Otep are:
Otep Shamaya - vocals
Tiaday Ball - bass
Aldo Ibrahim Vidal - guitar
Lamar Little - drums
Setlist:
Battle Ready
Blood Pigs
Equal Rights, Equal Lefts
My Confession
T.R.I.C.
Apex Predator
Fillthee
Menocide
The stage was set and it was time to see Doyle brutalize his guitar strings like no one I have ever seen it do before. Taking their place on stage, the band broke into “Abominator” from the 2013 album of the same name and the power coming from them was elevated to new heights. Vocalist Alex “Wolfman” Story came out wearing a mask, acting like he was in a battle, but with who? Moving into the next song, ”Beast Like Me”, Doyle was pounding out the vibes as Alex returned without the mask and stalked around the stage, at times thrashing about kneeling down raising hands into the air as though he was begging not to lose his soul.
The rhythm created by bassist Brandon Strate and drummer Luke Wright enhanced the atmosphere for what was happening on stage. As Doyle was dealing out his crushing sound, Alex grabbed a water bottle and drank half and poured the other half over his head. Then he shook his whole body like a dog, water going everywhere as he sang like he had lost his soul. (see the photo gallery)
Doyle continued his amazing guitar shredding moving about the stage, the crowd was head banging, mesmerized by what they were witnessing on stage. And that was just the first three songs and my interpretation of what I witnessed and photographed!
I moved around the venue a little bit to view the stage from behind the crowd and at times I just stood there and watched and listened. At one point, Alex pointed at Luke and said, Luke Wright and walked away. That was Luke’s que and he went into a drum solo that blew the crowd away. The onslaught continued with “Witchcraft” and “Darkside” with the crowd never letting up, moving about soaking up the powerful energy coming from the stage.
Doyle finished up their night with “Land of the Dead” and as I mentioned earlier, it wasn’t a huge crowd but those that were there, made it sound like one!
Doyle members:
ALEX “Wolfman” STORY: Vocals
DOYLE WOLFGANG VON FRANKENSTEIN: Guitar
Luke Wright: Drums
Brandon Strate: Bass
Setlist:
Abominator
Beast Like Me
Cemetery Sex
Valley of Shadows
Show No Mercy
Bloodstains
Drum Solo
Kiss Me as We Die
DreamingDeadGirls
Witchcraft
We Belong Dead
Darkside
Hope Hell Is Warm
Land of the Dead