Photos & Review: Sick Talk Tour
Featuring: Orgy, 9ELECTRIC, Death Valley High & Dr. Death & Mr. Vile
The Marquis Theatre, Denver, CO. 3/25/15
Photos and Review by: Shannon Shumaker
The first night of any tour is bound to have a few problems as the bands finish smoothing over any kinks in their performances and get ready for weeks on the road. You can’t necessarily expect a band’s performance or an entire tour to be flawless right off the bat, but the first date of Orgy’s Sick Talk Tour in Denver definitely had its ups and downs.
When the night began early for a four band show with Denver locals, Dr. Death & Mr. Vile, I had high hopes for the night. The band was just taking the stage as I entered the venue, and when I found my way to the crowd, I was impressed. On top of a great live sound (especially for an opening act) Dr. Death & Mr. Vile had an awesome stage presence, especially considering the fact that they didn’t have much room to move around the already small stage with the touring bands’ gear backlined behind them. Though fans were still trickling in the door and the room was nowhere near filled, Dr. Death & Mr. Vile put on a great performance, starting the night off right.
Following the openers was the first touring band of the night, Death Valley High. I had heard a little bit about the group before the show, but not enough to be familiar with them, however it seemed that much of the crowd was excited for Death Valley High’s performance. Again, the band didn’t have much room to move around the stage, but that didn’t stop them from trying, much to the crowds enjoyment.
After Death Valley High was the band that I was most excited to see: 9ELECTRIC. After hearing quite a bit about the band’s energy and live presence before the show, I was definitely excited to see what they would bring to The Marquis. Needless to say, 9ELECTRIC was easily to most energetic band of the night. Each member took their turn leaping off of the kick drum, climbing into the crowd, or high fiving and fist bumping fans in the audience throughout their performance, which left the crowd (even those who weren’t familiar with 9ELECTRIC) excited about the band’s performance. It did seem that the band was having a couple of technical difficulties in the beginning of their set, but they didn’t let that slow them down or stop them. 9ELECTRIC kept chugging along track after track, even as the stage tech’s worked on fixing whatever was wrong.
The gap between 9ELECTRIC and Orgy, however, was the hiccup in the show that was hard not to notice. Signs behind the bar and on the stage indicated that Orgy was supposed to take the stage at 10pm, but with 9ELECTRIC’s performance finishing up a couple of minutes late, it wouldn’t have been surprising if the band took the stage five or even ten minutes late. The minutes ticked by, however, and it was another forty minutes before Orgy took the stage, much to the obvious frustration of some fans in the crowd. They seemed to forgive the band when the lights dimmed and they took the stage, however, and at first it was obvious why. On top of a stellar light show (something that I’ve never seen at a venue as small as The Marquis) Orgy sounded pretty spot on in the beginning of their set. To many fans, this seemed to make up for the large gap between bands, but throughout Orgy’s set, it seemed that there was another little kink in their performance.
Not being very familiar with Orgy’s live show (it was my first time catching the band) I wasn’t quite sure if it was just part of their performance, but it left me a little uneasy watching vocalist Jay Gordon smack some of his bandmates around the stage a few times – literally. On top of hitting their guitarist over the back of the head a few times, Gordon affectionately called him names to the crowd, which (again) could have just been part of their performance, but it left me feeling a little uncomfortable and unsure if I wanted to stick around for the band’s entire performance. The uncomfortable feeling came again when Gordon repeatedly yelled at the sound guy to turn the band’s backing loops up. While there were many fans in the audience that seemed pleased with the band’s performance (which again, sound-wise they were great) there were other fans who obviously left the show feeling sour. Any first date of a tour is bound to have some hiccups, but in the case of the Sick Talk Tour, some of those problems left some fans feeling uncomfortable or upset, hoping that the same problems won’t arise when the bands return to Colorado Springs for another show in April.