Music Frozen Dancing | Heartbreaking Bravery

Splitting at the Break: A Visual Retrospective of 2015’s First Half (Pictorial Review, Live Video)

Over the first course of the year, I’ve made several major life decisions with the largest being a move to Brooklyn. Saving up for that paired with a work schedule that at one point had me logging roughly 75 hours a week meant sacrificing a lot of the things I love. None of those things hurt more than the severely limited number of shows I was able to attend. However, it was likely that same scarcity that made the shows included in this piece so memorable. From conducting an artist profile on Johanna Warren for Consequence of Sound (where a few of these photographs were first printed and where you can also find auxiliary video of Warren performing) to finally seeing a few site favorites- like Saintseneca, Krill, and Vacation- for the first time after years of waiting.

While it may not be much, this is still a collection that has deeply personal value. It’s a reflection of a region I called home for the entirety of my life and it’s a place I will miss when I leave it in just over a week. I’ll always be grateful that I was provided the opportunities to attend the shows contained in the multimedia portion of this post- and for the friends I made who were connected to those shows in literally any way. Writers, bands, editors, promoters, venue owners, label execs, or even just fans, they helped make some of these places feel like home. So, take a trip below with shots (and some videos) of: NE-HI, Oozing Wound, Protomartyr, Perfect Pussy, TRITA, Disasteratti, Buildings, Adron, Johanna Warren, Mutts, Two Inch Astronaut, Krill, Speedy Ortiz, Fox Face, The Midwest Beat, Mexican Knives, Vacation, FIDLAR, METZ, Saintseneca, and Murder By Death. The regional focal post of Heartbreaking Bravery may be shifting drastically in the months to come but a large part of its heart will always be lodged in the Upper Midwest.

Hope you enjoy.

NE-HI // OOZING WOUND // PROTOMARTYR // PERFECT PUSSY

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TRITA // DISASTERATTI // BUILDINGS

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ADRON // JOHANNA WARREN

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MUTTS

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TWO INCH ASTRONAUT // KRILL // SPEEDY ORTIZ

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FOX FACE // THE MIDWEST BEAT // MEXICAN KNIVES // VACATION

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FIDLAR // METZ

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SAINTSENECA // MURDER BY DEATH

Music Frozen Dancing at The Empty Bottle – 2/28/15 (Pictorial Review)

Last Saturday outside of The Empty Bottle, the temperatures were below 20, the stage lights were on, and a crowd of people was gathering at the lip of the (tented) stage in nervous anticipation. A free festival, Music Frozen Dancing, was set to take place and be carried on the backs of four artists occupying varying corners of the DIY punk landscape: NE-HI, Oozing Wound, Protomartyr, and Perfect Pussy. The former two held down for vicious wall-of-noise basement pop and aggressive hardcore while providing some impressive local representation. The latter two brought in their hard-won figurehead statuses, respectively, and continued to demonstrate a fierce dedication to the DIY ethos that facilitated their growing reputations. Every band brought something unique to the small, makeshift stage and every single one of them saw the audience (much of it inebriated, thanks in part to a Goose Island sponsorship and their accompanying tent) react in kind. It was a small festival that lived up to its name: there were bitingly cold temperatures, there was dancing, and- most of all- there was music. Amps blew (NE-HI), bass drum pedals collapsed beyond repair (Oozing Wound), tension was raised (Protomartyr), and everything was brought to a close with a violently raucous, noise-heavy finish (Perfect Pussy, doing their best to thrash their equipment into oblivion). Photos of the memorably unique show can be found below.