Mallavora turned accessible venues into immersive experiences on their headline tour, What If Better Never Comes, proving what is possible with the vision and willpower to make it happen. As we heard in our interview with them at Download, it’s hard work finding local venues that are wheelchair accessible, but they did it and turned them into an experience that was truly unforgettable.
While the animation preview of their immersive start to the set was released back in August, the true experience was beyond anything I would have expected. A countdown raised curiosity amongst the crowd, and once the surround-sound music took over the room via additional speakers and the video started, it was as if a silence spell had been cast over the audience. The opening felt like a story, one which we were all made part of. Guitarist Larry Sobieraj entered the room so ominously that his presence was felt without even needing to see that he was the only lit subject in the room. It created the illusion that he had been part of the animation all along, appearing as a saviour to the figure we had seen, whose words, “will you help me?”, had been silently lingering in the room.
But this calm moment was fleeting, as Jessica Douek easily took back the room with vocals that, throughout the set, went from soft, almost shoegaze sounds to harsh growls. She truly is a loud woman! The crowd, of course, took this as an opportunity to start a mosh pit from song one, and while they definitely went wild, it was also the safest I had felt being amongst the action. The community was there and it was strong, with everyone looking out for each other while having an immense amount of fun.
And then, of course, there were the songs that the crowd were not only encouraged to sing along to, but already knew the lyrics to. One of the most memorable was ‘Lilith and Esther’, where we as the audience became a choir backing Douek’s vocals. It’s a truly powerful moment hearing everyone sing their part as the room is split in two, before coming together in unison with each other and the band. It carried that interactivity from the screen projection into the real-life experience. There is no better way to make your audience feel part of a community, because while you are in that room nothing else matters, even if you can’t sing.
Some praise also has to be given to the lighting tech. The sets seemed to have been planned so carefully that the lights matched the mood of the room beautifully. The most memorable example came during ‘Hopeless’. A spotlight focused purely on the middle of the stage managed to stop the adrenaline-fuelled crowd and gather their attention once again in silence, with the calmness of the guitar and Douek’s words as she addressed the crowd about feeling hopeless.
What surprised me about the lyrics to ‘Hopeless’ the first time I listened to the song was the lack of a happy ending. For me, it seemed unusual. I was expecting a solution, maybe even a saviour, but there wasn’t one. I wasn’t disappointed by it; it almost made it feel more honest. But being in the room, right at the front where I was able to watch the crowd, changed my perspective. The happy ending was right there: all of us standing together in the same room, singing together and feeling each other’s presence in the moment. Followed, of course, by the mosh pit going back to being wild.
Mallavora were supported by Sixth Wonder, a Scottish djent-pop band. And wow, I walked in as they had already started their first song and, from the photos of the band that I had seen, I was definitely not expecting such raging metal vocals, but Rebekah Kirk blew me away.
The aggressive nature of the metal influences in their music brings just the right amount of intensity to get the crowd riled up, both through the vocals and melodies. Meanwhile, the pop elements seem to give the band more space to bring creativity to their songwriting and storytelling. Having the ability to move from one to the other, even within a single song, is something I will never get bored of experiencing in the alt-metal and rock scenes, and Sixth Wonder do this quite well.
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