Stabbing Westward at the Gramercy Theatre

Christopher Hall

Christopher Hall at age five played the trumpet and later studied classical music in college, with the goal of becoming a trumpet player in the Chicago Symphony and teaching in a university. In 1986, while attending college in Macomb, Illinois, Hall and Walter Flakus formed industrial rock band Stabbing Westward. They moved to Chicago, Illinois, and released an EP in 1992, followed by four studio albums from 1994 to 2001. In 1996, the band achieved its first certified gold album. In 1988, the band relocated to Los Angeles, California, but then disbanded in 2002. Hall formed the Los Angeles-based band the Dreaming in 2001, recording three albums. Flakus, who had become a Chicago radio personality, joined the Dreaming in 2015. Hall and Flakus reformed Stabbing Westward in 2016 to celebrate the band's 30th anniversary, and the band has continued to perform. Stabbing Westward currently consists of vocalist Hall, keyboardist/guitarist Flakus, returning lead guitarist Marcus Eliopulos, and two newer members, bassist Carlton Bost and drummer Bobby Amaro.

Stabbing Westward's 2018 tour celebrated the 20th anniversary of the release of the band's second gold album, Darkest Days, with the band performing the 12 songs in sequence followed by an encore of songs from other albums. At the Gramercy Theatre tonight, Stabbing Westward faithfully reproduced a turn-of-the-century sound that was nursed at the experimental prime of alternative rock, alternative metal, post-punk and emo movements. Amid incessantly flashing lights and a video backdrop, songs frequently featured climbing vocal intensities and crashing cymbals as softer verses escalated into rallying choruses. Hall sang well and engaged the fans, several times coming off the stage to stand at the barricades, within touching distance of the audience. The performance revived 20-year-old songs and pleased the old fans. Stabbing Westward has been on reunion tours for two years; hopefully soon the band will move forward with new songs.

Setlist

Darkest Days:

1. Darkest Days
2. Everything I Touch
3. Drugstore
4. Save Yourself
5. Haunting Me
6. Torn Apart
7. Sometimes It Hurts
8. Drowning
9. Desperate Now
10. The Thing I Hate
11. On Your Way Down
12. Waking Up Beside You

Encore:

1. Nothing
2. So Far Away
3. Violent Mood Swings
4. What Do I Have to Do?
5. Shame