[Throwback] Stigmata Review

STIGMATA | The Ascetic Paradox Sat 17th October | 2015
LARRY T HILL · SUNDAY, 18 OCTOBER 2015

Album Launch, 15th Anniversary Event
The British School Auditorium
Writeup : from an event-production obsessed Australian - Lankan transplant, ex-drummer, event manager, teacher, live vocal looper

Something rather different was brewing around the British School that evening. The black t-shirt brigade was gathering in anticipation of the big gig with a bit of a spring in their step. As you stepped into the lobby, a circular image of the album cover was tastefully projected above the ticket counter. There were rotating circles within circles in a steam-punk meets Alice in Wonderland twisted loop animation. I was encouraged to pick up my prepaid album which was included in the ticket price (1500LKR, about $15). The crew behind this launch event were super smooth and their choice of wristband - just a humble cable tie - got my enthused approval, even if it didn't quite secure around my wrist. For most one night events a custom band is an unnecessary expense. For me, these little touches make the event feel grounded and real. It's not like someone has just thrown money to make this happen. Instead they’ve actually put thought into crafting it, which is what making good events is all about. We gathered, chatted and looked at some dude's big sword he had brought along to the show. I knew it was gonna be an interesting night.

Although it was still early, it looked like something could start soon so I took the stairs, which were lit only by a small ropelight so that you could enjoy the backlit black and white STIGMATA murals on the way up. Before you entered the auditorium, the upstairs area was transformed into a gallery space with the walls and even the floor adorned with Stigmata artwork, photos and history. Good for freshies like me to get more of an idea of the story behind them. The Delish cafe catering was super simple yet popular, with what looked like ice coffee dispensers, pre-made hot dogs and the thing which caught my eye - Pumpkin milkshakes. I was keen. I dived right into the sweet and milky treat, which was a winner for 150 bucks ($1.50 ish).

This is was the very spot where I have played at 8am in the morning to an auditorium packed with excited students, so I was very curious to see how the space was going to be transformed. Earlier in the day we were chatting: "Strange choice, there can't be a mosh pit there!" We were wrong. I walked in to discover that they had set up the venue ingeniously, I would say almost to perfection only if there wasn't a crane taking up half the room. I'll get to that. All but the back few rows of chairs were cleared, leaving a standing mezzanine, seated nose-bleeds (aka seats way up the back). The staging also seemed to be condensed to create maximum space on ground level for a potential mosh pit. Potential mosh pit, I say.

Eventually, the lights went down to a brief applause. The Led Zeppelin backing music kinda stopped here and there, then two MCs came to center stage. They stood around awkwardly for a few seconds and waited for the background music to stop. Despite that they were still looking slick till they opened their mouths. I mean, a lot of this stage chat is quite endearing particularly the singlish and bits of humour (Natalie: "I will find and spank!") but if you wanna psyche up an audience up before the 15th anniversary of such a legendary heavy band in the country you might wanna have a bit more excitement and be concise. Yes, concise! Somehow we dropped into the formalities which plague too many events in this country. The entire sponsor list was recited between the two of them, with the words "Official blah_ sponsor:" before each and every one of the sponsors names. I get that sponsors help make these things happen but - yawn. Mega yawn. After this they tried to incite a "Stigmata" chant until the band came on stage. For a few seconds it worked but I'm not sure that's a thing, unless you're an MC hyping for an encore. With that behind us, the band emerged with white masks which inevitably have you thinking about Slipknot and paused before a slick AV intro hype thing which wasn't horrendously long, but getting there. The opening track off The Ascetic Paradox, Our Beautiful Decay, gently warmed us in with a deceptively funk rhythm section intro, then hit us hard with the heavy goods. After it the larger-than-life vocalist Suresh explained he couldn't wear the mask as he couldn’t breath with it on and he’s sure got some lungs, so that’s fair enough.

My friend was suggesting that not many women were around but as the night went on I noticed more and more. Whilst I'm hesitant to refer to refer to them as an alien species like this, one has to remember that in some ways within the live music scene in Colombo - they are! So I was pleased to see so many that were definitely into the music and were not at all dragged there by their partners. I even met people that we might call “Aunties and Uncles” that were also there for the love of the music. I hear many stories about missing the hey days of the local heavy scene here but this to me is actually a sign that it's still healthy and Stigmata seemed to have played no small part in this. 15 years is a damn long time to build up a scene around your music - but beyond that - the love for this band was felt in such a strong way, more than a community of friends in true Lankan style this gathering felt like family. Even though there was some moments of mayhem up the front I don't think a fight could have broken out or any animosity at all. It's not just cause there was no alcohol, it was just that tight a crowd.

Spare a thought for this guy, he got hit in the head with the boom cam. Well, no that didn't actually happen.
Sindu TV, a fresh channel broadcasting Sri Lankan music to the world via satellite and apps, were there with their colossal production gear obstructing the visuals and the band. I'm sure they're on their way to doing some good things but hey: GoPro, Drones - all the rage apparently. We shouldn’t have to have a giant black mechanical giraffe swinging around the venue whilst we try to watch the band. Yes that’s the technical term. It's so big, so.. Monsters of Rock, 1990s. The media etiquette of photographers falling over of videographers and vice versa played out in a slightly more amusing style than usual. Perhaps Suresh got that impression too when he used two of their heads as a railing to step off the stage.

I wondered if the lack of alcohol played into some of the wavering crowd enthusiasm. Or were we just speechless in that environment, given the occasion. Even the Shalika hall rock gigs are “alcohol free” right? When I started going to metal gigs the “all-ages events” were also in community halls with no alcohol but pure mayhem would still playout. For me a mosh pit as opposed to a circle of death (yes, that’s a thing) is a tightly packed thing where sometimes you have no control of the direction you're going in and if your upper torso is free to move you do so in a somewhat violent headbanging fashion. The mosh pit wasn't getting there and Suresh wasn't too impressed. At one point he painted the picture to the somewhat sparse and shy audience who had made it down to the floor. "You are going live to 40 countries right now." Gulp You could almost hear the gulps. "People think Sri Lankan's go ape shit!" CC joked "Ane!, Sinahaleng Kiyanne" (C'mon, say it in Sinhala) so that potential non Sri Lankan audiences wouldn't be so wise. The action on the floor picked up from there and I couldn’t help jumping in there for a bit, old habits die hard. My brief experience of a moderate circle of death involved some excited headbanging, pushing some people around, then unintentionally headbutting a guy in the shoulder. This grandpa then chose to take a seat and wonder if his nose was broken. It was ok. To old for this..

Amidst the awkward silences this endearing audience banter with Suresh was actually quite gold and had us in stitches, well myself at least. I grew up on the heavy scene so I still don't really miss the lack of constant \m/ signs and growls of "Raaaaaaawww" "Yeaaaaaaaawwwwgh" in between songs. The audiences seem to be just normal people with a bunch of hard cores who don’t take themselves too seriously. Suresh was telling us that they rehearse at weird hours as they all work daytimes and saying some guys say "Ane, live scene eke, Bae!" (Whinging that there’s no live scene). He made a proud and grand gesture to the space that they had created there and preached, "Build your own platform". To which a short silence emerged, presumably as all the musos in the room took a moment to process or check that they were also working towards this. Suresh woke us up, "Yeah?", “Yeah!!”

MUSIC / PRODUCTION
So what about the music you say? They played their new album in it’s entirety which is a bold move. Some people may have heard one single but that’s it. Basically a live album listening party which says we are so damn proud of this that we wanna show you the whole thing. It sure gave some different dynamics to the gig since this is well known band but almost none of it was familiar. It’s power and sheer epicness did not disappoint. It was a bit like watching a new film, a good film, and taking in the story as you go.

To be honest, I'm a production nutter and couldn’t help being conscious of the feedback on stage or weather the crane cam was actually gonna hit me in the head. But seriously the sound was the thing which was the main barrier between the audience getting into the gig completely. The soundsystem was simple and understated, two modest Mid-high boxes and a sub per side plus one in the middle. A nice touch as they kick more when placed there and in this case that was in front of the short "ego ramp" that came off the center stage. By this measure you could even say that despite a 15 year run as heavy legends, Stigmata still have a modest ego. The system may not have given the Front of House engineer a whole lot to work with but the sound balance did not cut through well. He was thanked for his great work on the album but his live sound performance did not match the bands, which was unfortunate. Big acts tour with their own live sound guys for this very reason and this mix left us a little bit in the dark. Essential foundations of this music, the kick drum, floor toms and bass guitar, did not have good definition. The rhythm guitar was barely in the mix for most of the performance, then was fixed strangely by the engineer going on stage and turning up the amp onstage himself. There was continued feedback on the vocal mic during and in between tracks which eventually had me up and out of my seat storming towards the engineer, but I didn't want to be that random dude telling the engineer something, they could be trying to fix it, who knows? The second last album track, Let the Wolves Come and Lick Thy Wounds wasn’t just missing the Soul Sounds choir as on the album but also clarity for both of the guest vocal mics of CC and Sanjeev. Despite this the intense performance energy and dynamics of these three absolutely killed it and the sound issues were mostly forgotten. The crowd was spellbound for this piece and I'm looking forward to revisiting this massive track. They didn't really fix that vocal mic feedback, which was a real shame and distraction, with Dynamic AV digital desks on hand for Front of House and Monitors I don't see what was barrier, apart from that it appeared the engineer wasn't using headphones at all. Surely not, this is fundamentals, what?

For once, this was a space in Colombo that wasn't washed out in LEDs - you see, whilst it's amazing and great aaand sooo like 2005, that LEDs do all of the RGB colours from a single unit, and can be controlled with DMX and are energy efficient and are more durable and, and, and - it doesn’t mean you need to use them all the time. These guys get it and there was only LEDs used as side fill strobes with good old par cans, movers, profiles and other lights fit for a proper theay-terrr, with their warmth and flattering lighting of humans. Lighting was great but the par cans hitting the front washed out the visuals, profiles from a wider angle would be a good alternative to this. Do you think it’s too anal to go into the sound in such detail? Might I remind you that this is what we are here to do, LISTEN to the music and sound is always the most important thing. Lighting is nice but you can take me to a gig that’s entirely in the dark and tell me to sit on the floor as long as there is pristine sound. I’m looking forward to more from the new Metalliance Touring crew who certainly know what they are doing. Here’s hoping the live sound reputation builds with each event. Keep an eye out for their next one.

WRAP UP:

EVENT CRIMES:

• MCs: sponsor list recited at the outset then prompting "Stigmata" chants before the band played
• TV gear blocking sight lines, projections and swinging thru half of the stage view
• Front of House had generally a flat mix & feedback issues
  MIDDLE OF THE ROAD:
• Somewhat understated sound system which didn't quite fill the room. The ubiquitous Colombo line array system would have actually helped this particular gig
• Lighting was great, but washed out the visuals a fair bit
• Good attendance but didn't quite fill the space or the floor area.
  NAILED IT:
• Transforming the Auditorium
• Entrance decor and lighting
• Pumpkin Shakes from Delish Cafe, mm!
• Custom mapped projections outside and throughout the show
• General vibe, site decor, sharp team, attention to detail
• 1500LKR Ticket price including CD and classy production

Behind the scenes on this staged closing shot. It will probably look good on facebook, but at no other point was there this much metal hands in the air.

Transparency : I don’t know any of the band members personally and have nothing but respect for them. This is a reflection of the musical event, as I experienced it.