Written by Kevin Silva
A cool Saturday night in Garden Grove, California was moments away boiling over with the energy one has come to expect from a Turnstile set. The band performed at the Garden Amp to celebrate the release of their third full length album Glow On that came out Friday on Roadrunner Records.
I never got to see Black Flag in their heyday but I can only imagine the feeling in those rooms is akin to how it feels when Turnstile explodes on stage.
Turnstile kicked off their 19 song set with the first single and intro track from Glow On, “Mystery” which has singer Brendan Yates singing “it’s been so long” to an eager crowd that absolutely agrees.
About five songs into the set, a young woman and her boyfriend were discussing how she had just gotten a fist right into her face. She was in tears but nothing was going to pull her away from the show. She was oozing pure happiness not even one song later. That’s what Turnstile does.
The band ripped through a set containing tracks from the last decade of their career including new album favorites “Holiday” “Alien Love Call” and “Blackout”.
Bassist “Freaky” Franz Lyons laced his gorgeous vocals over 2018 release Time & Space’s “Moon” and it just always puts a smile on one’s face.
A non-stop pit accompanied by stage dives galore and some of the most graceful head walking I’ve seen to date ensued during the hour long performance as Yates called for everyone to come down to the floor of the venue to show some “TLC” as the bad closed their set. No encore needed. Everything was left out there on that stage.
When you see Turnstile perform live, it’s not just a hardcore show, it’s a genuine experience that stems directly from the ethos of the genre.
Turnstile is the “it” band without losing a single ounce of authenticity and heart.
It’s almost ironic that the band held a record release party the day before in Los Angeles at BABYLON, a clothing store owned by Trash Talk’s vocalist Lee Spielman, as Turnstile has seemingly taken on the role that Trash Talk filled years before.
Crossing musical boundaries as the band you can see on any show. From being 311’s Nick Hexum’s favorite band to heading out on the fall Grey Day Tour with hip-hop artists $uicideBoy$ and Chief Keef not before stopping at KnotFest on September 25th.
Glow On from Turnstile is currently available via Roadrunner Records - HERE
