S.Lo on April 28th, 2019

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Tamaryn casted a spell worthy of a late-night festival on a crowd of thirty- and fortysomething post-punk, shoegaze and goth fans on Friday night, headlining the Echoplex in support of her new album, “Dreaming the Dark,” released last month via Dero Arcade.

Spinning throughout like a whirling dervish amidst pulsing beats and an impressive light display that involved the entire system in well-coordinated strobe, the singer-songwriter began with the dreamy “I Won’t Be Found” from 2015’s “Cranekiss” before sliding into the title track of her new album.

Notably freed from the isolation of her in-ear monitor headphones, which refused to connect to the sound system during setup, she performed an enthralling set feeling the full energy of the room with wedge monitors, just like back in the heyday of new wave and punk rock in the ’80s. The evening leaned entirely on her latest two albums, both produced by Jorge Elbrecht (Ariel Pink, Frankie Rose, Wild Nothing, Gang Gang Dance) — who himself was the most gripping of the evening’s openers.

There was plenty of reverb washing over the set, drenching the live guitar, bass and vocals. Her new synth-pop-driven sound proved powerful, with a hiccup just once (actually twice on the same song) mid-set when the drum tracks cut out. Refreshingly calm with the encouraging audience, Tamaryn stayed focused and finally found the culprit with a bad cable connection which, after she replugged to the stage box, the show was off running again.

Third time being a charm, “Cranekiss,” the title track for her previous album, was a thrill with its siren alert and catchy chorus, “You’ve seemed to move on now / Forget what you wanted / Take what you want / Get what you want.” Tamaryn gave her all and her admiring audience ecstatically took it all in. The hazy “Intruder (Waking You Up)” closed the evening, just as it does the new album. After Gene Loves Jezebel’s “Heartache” arose on the PA and the strobes darkened, the crowd had to accept there would be no encore and, like bats disturbed from a dream, dispersed into the night.

Orchin, who opened for Tamaryn on her tour last year of the major cities in China, started the show with their hazy, jangly, dreampop reminiscent of Bay Area fey indie bands. Salt Lake City darkwave duo Fossil Arms followed with a synth- and track-driven set that was the lovechild of a Joy Division, Cure, New Order, Nitzer Ebb and Arista-era Ministry orgy.

Preceding Tamaryn, producer Jorge Elbrecht followed with a presentation of psychiatric and mythologic archetypes — a masked female dressed in a white toga miming at the mic while he sang from a suitcase (hiding a synth) in the dark, stage left, with a male nurse minder lording above him. The point was well understood that he represented a night of escape from the mental ward with the dancing, miming figure in the spotlight as his temporarily liberated soul/id. His set was sonically bass heavy and synthy, with dramatic drums tracked with occasional acoustic guitar flourishes, a departure from his latest metal guitar-driven release, “Coral Cross.” It would have been atmospheric and satisfying even had there not been the performance art aspect. 

Tamaryn setlist: I Won’t Be Found, Dreaming in the Dark, Paranoia IV, Angels of Sweat, Cranekiss, Sugarfix, Terrified, Softcore, Fade Away Slow, Path to Love, Last, The Jealous Kind, Intruder (Waking You Up)

Photos by Buzz (S. Lo)