Hessler Concert Review
HESSLER ROCK FIRST SHOW WITH NEW SINGER
Show Date: March 20, 2014
Location: Chicago, Illinois, USA
Venue: Double Door (via live internet feed on Gigity TV)
Reviewer: Olivier
Band Websites: www.hesslerchicago.com – www.facebook.com/Hesslerchicago
I only ‘discovered’ Chicago based metal band Hessler in the last three months or so — but that time has been eventful for the band given that they made the bold move of switching lead singers. What I discovered while researching the band a little bit prior to recently interviewing band founder Igz Kincaid and new vocalist Jessikill for Sleaze Roxx (read the interview here) is that the band seems to go the extra mile in terms of innovation to get to the next level. For instance, even though Hessler only formed back in 2010 they are already the feature of a film documentary called ‘The Last Kamikazis Of Heavy Metal’ that was recently screened in Texas.
Hessler were scheduled to play their first show with Jessikill at the Double Door, a club in Chicago with a capacity of about 500 people. I would love to have attended my first Hessler show there, but distance and life in general were major impediments. Given Hessler‘s penchant for innovation, I was not that surprised to read that the band would offer the opportunity, to whichever fans could not attend their historically groundbreaking show, to see that concert free of charge through a live feed transmitted via the internet.
The live feed was courtesy of Gigity TV, and to my surprise gave a good shot of pretty much the entire stage along with one additional camera providing a side angle. To Hessler‘s credit, the band also provided the live feed to the opening bands. Although I did appreciate the opportunity to witness Hessler‘s show in Chicago via webcam, there is definitely no substitute for going to see a concert live in person — watching a show while sitting at home instead of live is akin to attending a meeting via telephone or videoconference. I think it is widely known that it’s always better to have a meeting face to face, and the same certainly applies to attending a concert in person — except make that hundredfold!
Following their opening intro, which I believe featured part of the entrance music from wrestling’s legendary Road Warriors (“What a rush!”), Hessler kicked off their show with their first released single with new singer Jessikill — “Never Lost My Way”. That song’s beginning is highlighted by a long scream courtesy of Jessikill, and she certainly nailed it at the concert which at the same time reinforced that the lead vocalist change may well have been a wise move! As I suspected, the band’s energy level was quite high and despite watching the band move around from my laptop screen (which is pretty shitty in itself), I found them entertaining to watch.
Surprisingly, the set was heaviest on material from ‘Bad Blood’, the band’s 2011 debut EP, with four songs played from that EP including “Windy City Wild Child”, “Kamikazi” and “Crash ‘N Burn”. Three new songs from the Jessikill Hessler era were played including what appeared to be the debut of the song “Between You And Me”, “Never Lost My Way” and “The Cure” (check out the YouTube video I found for that song from this show). Certainly Hessler‘s live performance viewed from my laptop re-affirmed that I want to see the band play live in person.
Hats off to Hessler for making their live debut performance with Jessikill available free of charge to everyone around the world. That being said, I hope not to watch too many of these live events through the internet in the future as nothing — and I mean nothing — replaces going to see a band play live in person.
Hessler setlist:
01. Never Lost My Way
02. Windy City Wild Child
03. Who Will You Run To
04. C’mon
05. Kamikazi
06. The Cure
07. Waste Away
08. Between You And Me
09. Last Alive
10. Crash ‘N Burn
11. Nightrain (Guns N’ Roses cover)