Concert Recap: Makes My Blood Dance — The "Vortex Fest" Tour in Wilmington, NC (April 17, 2024)
Concert Recap: Makes My Blood Dance — The "Vortex Fest" Tour in Wilmington, NC (April 17, 2024)
Being no strangers to mixing genres, the disco-metal quartet effortlessly translates their high-energy music to the stage and turns a rock concert into a party
It’s hard to believe that two months have passed, but I can’t go without talking about the Wilmington, NC stop of Makes My Blood Dance’s “Vortex Fest” Tour that I was able to see earlier this spring, so consider this a Throwback Thursday story. For those who don’t know, the Brooklyn-based “disco-metal” band has been on my radar since the release of their debut single “Beaming Right Up” in early 2019, and I’ve been a huge fan of vocalist Evan “Evo” Saffer’s work all the way back to 2006 with the now-defunct hard rock band Fixer. To this day, my interview with Evo from about a year and a half ago is still one of my favorites I’ve done, and while I’ve been a fan for over 15 years, this past spring marked the first time I’ve been able to see him perform live.
One of the topics covered when I interviewed Evo was about the business practices of Makes My Blood Dance, particularly when it comes to touring, and I found it interesting to hear how each show is like a small festival — MMBD books all the shows themselves, embarking on tours that last a few weeks at a time, and they hand-select support bands for each individual stop, making for a unique bill every single night. What’s even more unique is the sonically diverse nature of the lineups — MMBD are genre-benders in their own right, so it only makes sense that they put together concert lineups that showcase a variety of genres like punk, R&B, metal, instrumental rock, and everything in between.
Another ingenius concept is MMBD’s set time — while they’re the headliners and the overall stars of the show, the band is the third or fourth act out of the six to take the stage. What makes this advantageous is the fact that they’re not playing too late at night, and it gives them more time to talk to people after their set, and it feels like a sort of after-party for the rest of the artists on the lineup that play after them — some standouts from the show at Reggie’s in Wilmington included Terrestrial Animal, an instrumental rock quartet, and HyperLoops, a psychedelic trio from the Wilmington area. Hearing Evo talk to me about these different tour practices over Zoom during our interview was one thing, but getting to experience it in person was a great eye-opener to see how well it actually works. It made for a great night of music that mixed genres and didn’t get stale as the night progressed.
Makes My Blood Dance’s set consisted of seven songs — two previously released singles, four new songs, and a cover of Macy Gray’s “Lately” — honestly, the only complaint I have for their entire performance is that I wished they played longer. As a hardcore fan, I was happy to hear some previously-released material that I was familiar with, but also more than content to hear a plethora of new stuff as well. Of course, “Communion” is a perfect closer and “Together Apart” goes well anywhere in the set, and I had a blast getting familiar with new songs like the upbeat earworm “Time and a Place” and the sentimental “Invisible Friend,” with the latter bearing a bit of a sonic resemblance to Queensrÿche’s “Everything” (maybe it’s just me, but that’s what I heard anyway).
Additionally, the lighting made for a much more immersive show. One thing I noticed was how the set started with deep blues and more unassuming colors, and as the show went on, there were brighter reds, yellows, more strobes, and it just got brighter and more energetic throughout the show. As opposed to some bands that go through the motions and just play through the songs, the lighting and sequence of songs made it feel like there was an upward trajectory from beginning to end, with the show ending at its most upbeat and aggressive. By the final chorus of “Communion,” the audience was left wanting more, and I know I’m not the only one from that crowd hoping that MMBD returns to Wilmington.
Having gone through a few lineup changes over the years, Makes My Blood Dance has always been Evo and Jon Kristian at the helm, but this current configuration of the band is likely the most cohesive both on and off stage. With Lucy and Ray rounding out the rhythm section on bass and drums, respectively, it was easy to hear the chemistry that each of the members have with each other from a musical perspective, along with seeing how well their personalities worked with each other, both during their performance and just hanging out off stage. Coupled with how promising the new music sounds, the possibilities are endless for this band, and as a fan I can’t wait to see what the next few years have in store for them.
All in all, Makes My Blood Dance brought a fun night full of music and made a great impression on a bunch of new fans in the eastern North Carolina area. Again, for a hardcore fan like me, it was a dream come true to finally see these guys live, and I’m already looking forward to the next show. The band is always doing short tours throughout the year, so if they end up playing near you, I can’t recommend seeing them enough.
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