20-09-2019 Föllakzoid

Location: Von Krahl, Tallinn (Estonia)
By: Daniel Picón

It was a dark rainy Friday night in Tallinn, the date was the 20th of September so naturally as things happen on the northern hemisphere, the chills start to kick in. I’m walking towards the venue which is right in the centre of Tallinn’s old town, I skipped the warmup band and timed it perfectly so I would arrive just as the Chileans are setting up. 

As I enter the venue I notice that the whole place is dead silent, the crowd are like standing zombies but there is a low frequency pulsating in the background. I realise, okay this is going to be something else, let’s dive in. First human element I noticed from the band was the tall guitarist Domingo Garcia-Huidobro waving his hair side by side. The hair looked like it was its own entity, it was almost like creating its own rhythm adjacent to the low frequency oscillator which grew in presence as the rest of the band comes on the stage, it was hypnotizing. Then the drummer kicks in, and the show starts, the crowd of zombies that seemed like they were hired as extras for this weird avantgarde play of a show started moving, it’s almost like the crowd and the band were in sync, they were all the same band, part of the same cause, and they had one leader or conductor; Domingo.

I cannot talk about the songs because with their show, there is no differentiation of songs within the apparent conventional norm. It was simply a full hour of seemingly experimental post-krautrock dwelling into meditation and trance. In order to enjoy their show you really have to embrace the music, and if your body wants to move, let it move! Don’t try to label what you’re listening to like I just did a second ago, just listen. Why I am saying this is because when I was there I had a moment of self analysis, the dilemma was: Am I at a rock show or an electronic music show? I know this is somewhere in between but really am I supposed to be dancing or should I look at the band and treat this as I treat most rock shows that I attend. By now you can probably understand I was totally new to Föllakzoid, but as I got to know them, I accepted them and I also accepted myself within that space. Yep! Deep stuff. 

Some highlights of the show: There was a point where things got a bit interactive, the frontman gave a candle to somebody in the crowd and asked (rather commanded) to pass it around. The crowd obeyed and “pass it around” they did, for almost 10 minutes, I am sure everybody in the crowd got a feel for the unholy candle.

Another moment that stood out was when the guitarist started stroking the guitar maniacally in a very Pete Townshend fashion, the windmills did not deliver classic rock chords though, it was pure drone noise insanity, I liked that.

At some point the show was over, I still had the chills, this time not due to the northern weather but due to the Föllakzoid!

Links:

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