JINJER AT THEATRE OF LIVING ARTS IN PHILADELPHIA
Jinjer played a sold out show at the Theatre of Living Arts in Philadelphia and I couldn’t think of a band who deserved it more. The 4 piece Ukrainian metal band brought their “Tour of Consciousness” over to the U.S. with support from All Hail the Yeti and Suicide Silence.
As the venue started to fill up, attendees were eagerly awaiting the start of the show. As the listed show time from the venue’s website came and went, attendees started to wonder why the show hadn’t started. In the age of COVID, things are still very unpredictable. It was then discovered through an Instagram post and word of mouth in the crowd that Suicide Silence would not be performing at the show that night due to a positive case within their camp.
All Hail the Yeti took the stage a little later than expected, but came out swinging. The stage was set up beautifully with their banners and decorations for their microphones. There was also a large altar-like structure on the stage with faux animal bones and candles. I had never heard of the band up until this point, but their presence and performance made me want to check them out after. They played quite a good set and had the audience amped up for Jinjer. I would recommend checking them out on this tour if you can and making sure you’re there early enough to see them.
When Jinjer took the stage the crowd let loose entirely. Vocalist Tatiana Shmayluk walked out, donning makeup which glowed under the blacklights they had on the stage, and added an extra level of “wow” with their lighting. The band opened up with the track “Call Me a Symbol” from their latest release Wallflowers that dropped in August. I was immediately impressed with their sound. Throughout the set I was truly blown away by the ease with which Tatiana switched from her gnarly screams to her gorgeous singing voice. As a woman in the scene it was so inspiring to watch her absolutely crush it on stage, and I’m sure many other fans in the crowd felt the same. Visually the band is also quite fun to watch, as drummer Vladyslav Ulasevych slams away on his kit in the back, guitarist Roman Ibramkhalilov shreds, and bassist Eugene Abdukhanov uses the riser on the stage to play straight towards the audience.
They played a great mix of tracks including “I Speak Astronomy”, “On the Top”, and “Colossus”. The crowd moshed and surfed throughout the entirety of the set, never letting up their excitement and support. The end of their set felt like it came far too fast. They encore’d with “Vortex” and left Philadelphia waiting for the time they’d come back again.
Nicole DiBenedetto is a photographer based out of New Jersey. She likes making new friends and meeting new people so catch her out in the pit and say hi!