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Magic Sword at Turf Club (May 5, 2025)
Tour Dates Magenta Vice at Turf Club (Nov 29, 2024) It was probably a good thing that this was mostly a lyric free set, as both performers were busy switching instruments throughout and between songs. As you can imagine, this had a “wall of sound” density to it, with the guitar being a striking contrast. That neon theme continued as the sticks for the drum pad lit up and again towards the end of the set as the band mates put on neon visor glasses. That neon vibe was a pretty good distillation of the musical feel for Magenta Vice. Read More
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I originally had plans for a different show, but when it fell through, it all turned out fine, as there was a band with a full lore behind it, with Magic Sword taking the Turf Club stage.
After an opening DJ set from North Innsbruck, with appropriately darkly themed electronica, Mega Ran took to the stage. Mega Ran (Raheem Jarbo), is a Philadelphia born rapper/musician, who found his niche in the hip hop intersection with video game culture and music. He’s leaned into his space, working with video game maker Capcom, and being the first rapper to play Comic Con. With a nerd rap background, he was goofily fun right out of the gate, with a song referencing many video games.
His second song, about the library, had the crown shouting L-I-B-R-A-R-Y, which was just as ridiculously cute as it sounds. Mega Ran has a positive energy that doesn’t go totally sappy. The former teacher was riding a fine line between fun and childish. This was super impressive work. A Biggie-inspired Give Me the Fruit was brilliant and had the crowd playing right into his schtick. He got to write a song for a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles video game, which was a career highlight. That’s Ok, got Mega Ran in the audience rhyming names (rhymed mine with “it’s madness”), but also getting stuck on a different name. As he finished his set with a song about wrestling and then a newer song in Clerks 3. As he left the stage, he had made true fans, as the merch line was long by the time he got back there. A real joy in a strange world.
I spoke with Mega Ran for a moment after the line at merch finally receded. Asking about how he straddles that line of fun without being childish, he laughed and said “Well, I have been writing children’s music and albums lately”. But as to how his show tonight had worked, he said that it’s all in the audience recognizing his passion and that it is real. He has also honed and changes his sets over time. Mostly he believes the audience trusted him to bring them into his world rather than vice versa.
Starbenders is a glam rock band from Atlanta. You knew it was serious when they came to the stage to O Fortuna before cutting into their nearly heavy metal sound. In many ways an opposite of Mega Ran, they were leaning into a hard-core sound and they had the exact right stage presence. An early bit of banter, about not being able to see the audience, so they would have to hear it got a huge cheer. After the deadly droll, “Is that all you got?”, ended in an even bigger cheer, the band nodded and went onto the next song.
That glam sound was perfectly held by lead singer Kimi Shelter, who centered the band throughout the set. Guitarist Kriss Tokaji was shirtless and I guess, why not, when you are that ripped? Singing backup vocals throughout, he often had the attention of the crowd and played it well for the band rather than just himself. And as bassist Aaron Lecense interacted with the band and audience, you could tell this band had a clear idea of their performance goals. They cruised their way through a surprisingly brief thirty-minute set, which had one fan disappointed afterwards by the brevity and lack of a couple of bigger songs. Still, Starbenders nailed their part of the evening as they handed it off to the headliner.
Magic Sword is an electronica, synth heavy trio who has an entire backstory to their name. The band, from Boise, Idaho, always performs in robes and masks to hide their identity. Wrapping that up in a medieval/sci-fi story as the keepers of the Magic Sword, they have all of the mystery to drive a certain kind of fan engagement. Known as the characters The Keeper (keyboardist with a red lit mask), The Seer (guitarist with a blue lit mask), and The Weaver (drums with a yellow lit mask), it’s all backstory and myth.
These kinds of bands and shows can have very committed audiences, and that certainly seemed to be the case here. I spoke to one audience member who had travelled two hours to get to see the band. I also ran into Erik from Magenta Vice, who we last saw on stage in November, 2024. Erik said he’s seen Magic Sword a number of times and loves what they are doing musically as well as artistically.
I’m not sure I can do justice to the band’s backstory, as they have released a comic book in addition to their albums. But the majority of the crowd knew exactly what was going on, erupting at the first song. This is EDM through and through, and given the masks and cloaks, it shouldn’t surprise you that there are no lyrics. With a side group of fans hoisting light sabers, this is obviously a specialized band doing their thing.
That also means that I had no idea of a set list, but I was intrigued by the easy flow of the songs and their different sounds. Th see songs all had a life of their own, and although I couldn’t link them to the story of the Magic Sword, they definitely had an overall set sound going on. When the actual Magic Sword showed up in the fourth or fifth song, no one in the crowd seemed surprised. It feels like watching a foreign cartoon or anime: you may not understand any of the words, but the emotional content is all there. There’s an understood oath that the band is taking in their story telling, and largely, it works. A metal-influenced synth sound could easily be a Metallica opener, but that doesn’t do them justice on their own terms. Good use of lights also helped the band bring the audience along in their performance.
A recorded vocal track was the equivalent of introducing the band, which allowed the members to have their moment of audience appreciation while still maintaining their stage personas. I certainly have mentioned it in other show reviews, but those moments where the audience is there for that band, at that moment? Pure magic. Magic Sword kept the beat pumping, and the crowd was bouncing along to the layered synth & guitar sounds. It’s easy to lose track in the sonic assault, but the set moved its way towards the conclusion, even if their mythic tale still has leagues to go.
| thaddeus ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com |
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