Starset – Rhythm In Space

Everybody here knows I’m a sports card guy.  I don’t hide that part of my life from anyone.  There’s another part that isn’t hidden from those that know my everyday life.  If you’ve ever spent more than 15 minutes with me, you’ll probably hear me talk about music.  I don’t talk about just any music either; it’s all rock, all the time.  To me, there are many different genres of rock.  Some people hear guitars and heavy drums and loud singing and just classify it as rock.  I know it as alternative rock, synth rock, heavy metal, hair metal, nu metal, thrash, ska, surf, screamo and on and on.  The genre is a big part of my soul and personality.  I don’t know if that’s good or bad for some but it’s the truth.  I could go to a rock show every night of my life and never get tired of it.  We go to 4-5 major ones a year and it’s just enough to keep me satisfied.  I won’t get started on the Deftones here but that’s how I’m known around my part of the planet, the Deftones guy.  And I love that!Another group that has become a regular part of my rotation is Starset.  And when I say a part of my rotation, I mean top 3 with Deftones and Thrice.  (On a side note, we are going to see the Tones and Thrice in Jacksonville in June and taking Bailey and Zibby for their first experience.  Time won’t move fast enough).  Anyway, Starset is a relatively new group, having formed in 2013 in Columbus, OH at the hands of lead singer Dustin Bates.  Dustin has a bachelors and masters degree in Science and Engineering that he earned from the Russ College of Engineering and Technology at Ohio University.  So yeah, this dude is more than a rock singer.  He’s a little bit Nikola Tesla, a little bit Isaac Asimov, a little bit Deftones and a little bit Hans Zimmer.  In 2017, he’s a modern day genius and it’s notable in the lyrics he writes and the music he puts with it.  There’s a great article about Dustin himself Here if you’re interested.  The band is completed by Ron DeChant on bass (and keyboards), Brock Richards on lead guitar and Adam Gilbert on drums.  They also have a touring strings section with Siobhan Cronin (violin) and Jonathan Kampfe (cello).  I first heard Starset as the opener for Breaking  Benjamin at The Tabernacle in Atlanta in 2016.  I really didn’t know anything about them going into that concert.  The one thing I’ve learned over the many concerts I’ve been to is that the opening act is a good chance to fall in love with a new band and it also can be a good chance to settle in to your seat or hit the concession stand.  Only one opener has ever grabbed me as quickly as Starset and that was when Thrice “opened” for the Deftones at a rock festival in 2006.  Starset punched me in the face with their amazing stage presence, the theatrical performance and of course, their music.  Their space element and showers of light just consumed me.  I made it my mission that night to find out more about this band and to go see them again after I learned their songs.  After spending a year listening to their first album, reading their companion novel (yes, a rock band with a companion novel) and then doing a quick learn on their sophomore release in January, I got that chance on the weekend of my 40th birthday in February this year.The wheels were put in motion when Alicia bought me tickets for Christmas.  Then, my buddy Heath bought VIP passes for my birthday.  The concert was scheduled for February 11 in Madison Alabama, a five hour hike from my South Georgia nest.  That was no deterrent though.  Their second album, Vessels, was released on January 20, 2017.  That gave me a whole 20 some odd days to learn the new album before the gig.  Again, not a deterrent.  I decided to eat, drink and sleep Starset leading up to the gig so I could get the full experience.  This is a band with a complex backstory that surrounds “The Starset Society”, complete with a website dedicated to the furthering of the message, a novel that warns of the dangers of technological advances that could be used for evil and on stage monitors that tell stories between songs.  The songs on each CD tell a progressive story that is both entertaining and deeply thought provoking.  This isn’t your mom and dad’s old rock show.  This is a sci-fi production of the highest sophistication.  The show date arrived and we took our leave to North Alabama to receive the message.  The night opened up with the VIP performance which consisted of me and about 20 of my closest friends for the night getting a front row seat to an acoustic set from the band in a laid back atmosphere where conversation was open and welcome.  That was a first for me.  I’ve met bands before and gotten autographs and even had that fateful 2 am Waffle House meal with Stef Carpenter from the Deftones.  But this was my first up close and personal acoustic set for 20 people and it was like something out of a movie.  It was unbelievable.  After that, we met the band, got autographs and snapped pictures.  When the show started, I was introduced to another great new rock band that was a pleasant surprise, Gemini Syndrome.  I downloaded their album the next day and am learning more about them.  They were a perfect appetizer for the main course that was set to take place.When Starset hit the stage, which I was standing about 5 feet from, time literally stood still for the remainder of the show.  I forgot about everything outside of that venue.  I watched Dustin portray a mad scientist on that stage running from keyboard to computer to sound machine to stage boxes to scream into theaudiences collective face.  I stood in front of Ron, mesmerized by the colors.  I watched a violinist head bang for the first time in my life.  I watched the screens as they displayed various visualizations of science and space.  And I sang my heart out!  I poured my soul into that concert in a way that made me feel like I was a part of the band.  And it felt good.  It felt like what a rock concert feels like in my wildest dreams.  I fell in love with them all over again that night.  No one will ever touch the Deftones because they have been my #1 since the first time I heard them in 1992.  They’ve been with me through the best and worst times in my life.  But Starset, they carved out a special place in my musical spirit that night.  And music to me is a spiritual experience when it’s done right.  If you go to a concert and you lose yourself completely in the music and the sights and the crowd, that show was a damn good show.  And this my friends, was a damn good show!“At night the Earth will rise, and I’ll think of you each time I watch from distant skies.  Whenever stars go down and galaxies ignite, I’ll think of you each time they wash me in their light.  And fall in love with you again.”

J-Dub