HIDE!!

  Abrasive, aggressive, dark industrial that is empowering and also mysterious to behold live. Part of the spice, is that it is not sweet. The fog is nice, yet there is little the fog machine could do more than to accent the already mysterious HIDE. Beautiful, dark to behold is Heather. Dominant from the outset every time. A sustained tension even when slow. Now as I think about these pictures that I post, I recall now the many times I saw her but with no pictures like with Smart Bar and The Owl. This is a very active band, and this gets me wondering about other bands that travel to perform in Chicago, how are they regarded in their hometowns. It would be a total dream for me to see Esben And The Witch, Be Forest in their native surroundings, to see what kind of following they got locally.  There is always an audience for HIDE. If I don't get to a show on time. I am stuck in the back where all I can see is fog, strobe lights and shadows.
  I got the Black Flame EP on Vinyl and so as I hear it, I eventually run into the chilling story of this poor Iranian girl....her execution. And it can kinda fuck with you, as well it should. There is a picture on the bottom right corner of the other side of the lyric sheet. There is a whole text next to her picture. I believe she was executed for defending herself from being raped. And so it just fucks with you. No time given to process the haunting weight of the picture of this girl on the vinyl and then in comes Heather's dark howl for the mechanized Painkiller. The fog machine barely veils Heather as she writhes and twists away. Its coming back the heavily German Expressionist memories of those other shows half veiled in soft fog and strobe lights. Its in this interior space where she retreats to writhe about almost angrily. She brings the spooky, mysterious edge back to industrial by making it primitive again. Just the music alone sounds like.....sounds and noise collected and harvested and harnessed, and still raw and unpredictable with Heather's voice. The Bleeding Heart had some of us dancing. It just takes you back to that primal industrial, rhythmic almost as a by product of the machine, and harnessed by the weirdos that heard and saw patterns. HIDE is a Chicago band. When Ritual Howls played Empty Bottle, Heather was the DJ and days later I would see her on the stage. This is a very active local act. I have specific memories with The Owl. I saw friends there. The stage was small and the crowd around her was tight. I stayed back. The shirt and EP on Vinyl are tangible treasures that I don't recall which shows they came from. I know I saw her at Smart Bar.  Anyway, I'm glad that I am part of this following. Glad to be perpetuating the music.
Zig