Jonny Numb

As luck would have it, I had another show on the docket, one that had been rescheduled twice since its initial announcement: Clan of Xymox at Phantom Power in Millersville.

But by the time Thursday, March 9 rolled around and the weight of the week had almost – but not quite – reached its limit, I was well within a headspace to just escape existence for a few hours.

I arrived in time to secure a nice spot on the balcony, overlooking the stage (the “featured image” at the top of the page was taken by Yours Truly).

Local support Faux Fear (out of Reading – pronounced “Redding” – PA) started the night. Incidentally, they’d opened for Twin Tribes during one of the first post-pandemic shows I attended back in 2021 (also at Phantom Power). I’d really enjoyed their set; at only several months into their existence, they didn’t have any physical merch to sell, but I had a nice, brief chat with the singer after the show. In any case, I was excited to see them again, and their 30-minute performance set the mood in grand fashion. (It was very cool to see them inundated with attention at their merch table after the show.)

Again, my ability to categorize music sucks. People talk about “post-punk,” but I feel that that’s a catch-all with many contentious nooks and crannies. If I had to describe any of the bands that played Thursday night, I’d say, “it was like listening to a Cleopatra Goth compilation from the ’90s.”

And I don’t mean that in a reductive sense – quite the contrary. After graduating high school and getting my first real job, I quickly connected with a co-worker who, as luck would have it, was transitioning out of her Industrial/Goth phase, and had some Cleo comps she was looking to part with. The result was love at first listen, and I’ve held on to those CDs ever since.

So…there you go.

The Bellwether Syndicate came on next. A five-piece out of Chicago featuring a ferocious, lollipop-sucking drummer and a bottle-blonde, Bowie-glasses-in-The Hunger-wearing singer/lead guitarist (who I didn’t realize until later was William Faith, of Faith & the Muse).

Their set was propelled by a great, driving energy. Faith’s between-song banter was amusing (“just so you know…everybody in the band is sick right now”), and their sound was aggressive enough to get my head bobbing and foot tapping in solidarity.

I loved the wild gyrations of keyboardist/backing vocalist Philly Peroxide (who resembled a cross between actor Thomas Mann and Skinny Puppy’s Dwayne Goettel), who had his own little “freakout” space next to the drums. And I liked the humility of the band overall. When guitarist Sarah Rose took the lead vocal for ‘You Can See Through Me,’ you could tell she was a bit hesitant because she was under the, um, ‘weather’…but she soldiered through and the crowd responded in kind.

They closed out their set with a spirited cover of Bowie’s ‘Scary Monsters’ and a Faith & the Muse song.

As my friend told them after the show, “if this is how you sound when you’re sick, I’d love to hear how you sound when you’re healthy.”

Apparently the band has a full-length album in the works, but was selling a 5-song EP for $5 at the merch table, which was a no-brainer purchase.

Clan of Xymox took the stage at 10:05.

I remember having trouble giving my partner a guesstimate for when I’d arrive home. I knew CoX (ha, ha) had been around for a while, so I told her they’d probably play for 90 minutes. (Spoiler: by the time I started my car to go home, the clock had rolled over to midnight on the dot.)

In any case, the set started with some technical tumult – bad feedback was droning from the speakers (one of which I happened to be standing near), resulting in otherwise soft-spoken, mop-headed frontman Ronny Moorings giving unsubtle hand-signals to the sound guy that resulted in a minor – but not unjustified – tirade after the second song. (“You hear this feedback?! It’s fucking disgusting.”)

Luckily, the problem was rectified after that, and the band hit their stride and gave the gathered crowd a captivating set that presented a mellowing of the slightly harsher edge of The Bellwether Syndicate. In other words, it was a bob-and-sway-and-chill collection of songs, which provided a trancelike charm that took my mind far, far away from the stresses of the week.

As their performance went on, Moorings offered amusing, gently ball-busting banter between songs, making jokes about cows, goats, horse-and-buggy transportation, and the wide stretches of nothing in PA farm country. He even dedicated the song ‘Loneliness’ to the locals.

My friend and I got in on the act by making “moo” and “nay” sounds from the balcony. A regular Statler & Waldorf, we are!

I don’t know when CoX last toured the States, so I’m uncertain if their lengthy set (including at least two multi-song encores) was planned as such from the outset, or if it was meant as a “blowout” of sorts to give everyone their money’s worth.

In any case, despite the objections of our tired feet, we stayed until the end, where the appreciative band took a bow and a break before reconvening in the lobby/merch area (I only saw the keyboardist before we left, but Ronny had alluded to “meeting everybody after” during his end-set banter).

My friend and I discussed some upcoming events (see you all at Dark Force Fest!) in the cold dirt-and-gravel parking lot before parting ways.

As I wound my way through dark and dead Millersville (the grocery store and gas stations near the college had long since closed for the night) and got my bearings on I-283, I slipped an album into my car’s CD player and quickly realized I had to jack up the volume to hear anything over my ringing ears.

What a great night. And, in a way, what a great week.

Thanks for reading my long-winded recap of these two notable nights. I leave you with a song Clan of Xymox played, which was also featured in the 2014 movie, The Guest.

As a reward for making it this far, dim the lights, play it 5 or 6 times, and give yourself a well-deserved dance party!