STARSET Brings Dystopian Epic to Rams Head Live

Pop Break Live: STARSET Horizons 2022 Tour with Red, Oni and Divide the Fall at Rams Head Live in Baltimore, Maryland — June 25, 2022

Words + Photos by David Weaver

While it may have been another Saturday night outside among the bustling bars lining Market Place, inside Rams Head Live, fans were anxiously waiting for a truly exceptional concert to start. STARSET had returned to Baltimore. For those unfamiliar, seeing STARSET live is less of a concert experience and more of experiencing a visual epic.

Opening the evening was Divide the Fall–an independent rock band from Minnesota. Seeing new bands perform is always interesting. You can see the direction they’re growing and get a glimpse of what their future holds. Divide the Fall put on a good show. The instrumentals were well done, and the vocalist was engaging–even getting the audience to sing along. Overall, they have a solid foundation, and I have no doubt that they’ll be playing packed houses soon. I say this, not just because of their music, but because of how earnest they are. They’re determined to succeed, and it shows both on and off the stage.

Divide the Fall

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Divide the Fall is independent–not backed by a label–and yet they brought the kind of resources you’d expect from someone who is backed by a label. Their merch booth had shirts, CDs, hats, and posters for sale. They even had a banner hanging behind the booth. Generally, these booths are run by friends or hired staff, but shortly after their set concluded, the vocalist was at the booth, ready to meet the fans. Having won the crowd over, the line for their merch booth wrapped around the venue as more and more people lined up. Divide the Fall has a bright future, and I wish them much success.

Oni, a metal band based out of Canada, took the stage next. The band set the metal mood even before getting on the stage. On either side of the drum kit, located in the center, was a large, standing banner, depicting the sinister, twisted visage of an oni–a shape-shifting demon from Japanese folklore, and the band’s namesake. Not only was the image detailed, but they had illuminated it with blue LED lights, which gave it an eerie, unearthly glow. A powerful image, for sure, and one that the band successfully evoked with their hard-hitting instrumentals and growling vocals.

Oni

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Overall, the drummer, bassist, and guitarist stole the show. I have rarely seen musicians throw themselves completely into their music, and just let it carry them, as I have with them. While the vocalist focused on delivering reliable, effortless transitions from melodic vocals to growls, the instrumentals succeeded in getting the audience pumped up. Not even three songs into their set, Oni’s high energy, dynamic performance had the audience nodding and head banging along to their jams. It was as though the spirit of their music had possessed the audience.

The hype for Red—a Christian rock band from Nashville, Tennessee–began even before they took to the stage. The audience, unable to contain their excitement called forth with chants of “Red! Red! Red! Red!” While I’ve known of Red for years, this was my first time seeing them live. Music moves us, encourages us, and lifts us up. Red does all that and more. Their music cheers you on when facing your inner demons and reminds you that you’re never facing them alone. Their lyrics are emotionally honest and readily embrace the audience. Their performance is as fiery as their music.

Red’s set showed some explosively high energy, from the very beginning, and never faltered through their entire concert. And what a set it was! They opened with “Feed the Machine,” off of their 2011 album Until We Have Faces, before moving into “Falling Sky,” off their 2015 album of Beauty and Rage. The two pieces are very different, “Feed the Machine” being a very hard-hitting rock anthem, while “Falling Sky” is backed by sweeping instrumentals and shows just how expertly crafted Red’s music is. Moving across their timeline of album releases, they also played “The War We Made,” off their 2020 album Declaration.

The song is a fantastic combination of the dramatic instrumentals and the harder rock vocals. Michael Barnes’ vocals continue to impress with his effortless transitions and vocal control. His way of controlling tension and building up a song, whether into an explosive rock climax or a dramatic, heart-wrenching ballad, gives Red a truly powerful sound. Combine Red’s driving instrumentals with their first class showmanship and you’ve got the perfect recipe for a fantastic live performance.

This was my first time seeing Red live, and it will be the first of many. If you haven’t seen them live yet, definitely do see them. You will see one of the hardest hitting rock shows around. Below you can see the set list from their performance:

Feed the Machine (False start)
Falling Sky
Faceless
The War We Made
Death of Me
Release the Panic
The Evening Hate
Breathe Into Me

Red

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STARSET transported the inhabitants of Rams Head Live to another world, another time. As a band, they’re incredibly skilled on both instrumentals and vocals, and as storytellers they are unparalleled. The amount of effort and detail STARSET puts into their live performances is absolutely astounding. Following the theme of their 2021 album “HORIZONS,” which tells of a dystopian future where people have a neural implant, posters lined the walls of Rams Head Live, as though published by a sinister big tech company, promoting the message of how, connected, we’re better.

When STARSET stepped onto stage, they each wore a LED neural implant on their temple and white, worn space jumpsuits. Their eyes, save for the vocalist, were covered by goggles, as though they had wandered across a desert planet. Dustin, the vocalist, came onto stage with the worn yet enlightened eyes of someone who saw what is, and knew what was, appearing as though someone who had forcibly escaped the network or earned the ire of its overseers by uncovering a well-guarded truth.

After a dramatic tone-setting instrumental intro, perfectly executed by their cellist and violinist, STARSET launched into “Carnivore”–one of several hit songs off of their 2014 debut album TRANSMISSIONS. STARSET would go onto performing a two-hour set, with a brief intermission after the first half. The intermission featured a digital countdown, during which there was an overview and commercial for the neutral implant technology, once again emphasizing how we’re better, together, connected. The tone of the speaker was cordial, but the undertone and insinuations were chilling. Combined with Dustin’s haunted delivery of his songs and the band’s visual as survivors, revealed a chilling reality to the supposedly innocent technology that was being promoted.

The two-hour show was high energy, which was a feat unto itself, but making matters more difficult, the A/C within Rams Head Live didn’t seem to be working on this hot, summer night. Dustin took a moment to acknowledge this between songs:

“I believe . . . the A/C is broken,” he said, giving a knowing grin while soaked in sweat, earning a round of laughter from the audience. “I also believe . . . that we have the best fans in the world. Thank you all so much.”

You can tell STARSET loves performing and puts a lot of time and effort into their performances. To see STARSET live is to undergo a visual and acoustic storytelling experience, to live a sci-fi epic telling of a dystopian future and those brave souls warning us of what is, what’s to come, and how to save ourselves from the dangers of technology. If you’ve never seen STARSET live, I cannot emphasize enough that you should remedy that and treat yourself to a fantastic show from a band that consistently continues to put out high quality performances. Below you’ll find the set list from their performance: