Sunday October 9th of 2022 was a dry cool fall night, with temperatures hovering around 60-degrees. The red lettering of The Fillmore neon marquee provided a glow to Allen St. as fans waited in line to pass through the gate and head up the stairs to enter The Foundry music venue. Most of those fans were waiting for the Rare Americans to hit the stage. However it was the opening act of Dylyn that led to the excited anticipation of the show's start.
With the stage lights filling the room with a red glow, Zane (drums), Ulysses (guitar), and Maxy (bass) made their way onto the stage kicking off an psychedelic like jam band style intro. Soon after, Dylyn made her way to center stage and the music cut over to the opening song, ‘Hellbound,’ a rock song filled with multiple metaphors of a dark soul. The opening lyrics hits hard right of the bat to get the night started,
“I feel the night like a drink/ Going down like a twist/ It’s a bitch/ Like a knife in the ribs”
As the song continued the metaphors kept coming, highlighting a dark fate of being Hellbound without the ability to be saved.
As ‘Hellbound’ ended, Dylyn transitioned directly into ‘Skin and Bone,’ a song in my opinion, that has a mid-90s Weezer like vibe. At first listen, this may sound like a perfect love song with lines including
“I want you closer than skin and bone,” and “The first kiss was everything.” But if you picked up on some other words, such as a boy’s mind being like a razor blade or a girl’s heart like a hand grenade, could these harsh metaphors imply a relationship destined for a sour ending? I’ll let you make your own conclusion.
The third song of the night brought in some crowd participation with ‘Make It Naked.’ This song has a chorus that easily allows Dylyn to lead with “make it” before the crowd yells back “naked.” It’s always great to see an opening act get the crowd into it, and this song was a perfect way to increase the energy in the room.
‘Make It Naked’ was followed by a couple unreleased songs from Dylyn’s upcoming album, (The Sixty90s due out October 28th), along with a couple covers. The first unreleased song was ‘Bullet.’ Followed by a trip to the early-90s with a cover of Nirvana’s ‘Lithium’. Then followed ‘Just A Boy’. The second-to-last song was a cover of ‘Teenage Dirtbag’ by Wheatus. Another great song that pulled the audience into full participation mode.
Dylyn ended the night with ‘Liberate Me,’ a recently released song with video posted to Dylyn’s official Youtube page. In my preview of the show, I explained ‘Liberate Me’ as “a song with a perfect blend of the various eras of music that Dylyn is inspired by; heavy drums, bass solo, and vocal changes that initially make you question what you just listened too, but also cause a desire to listen again and again.” After seeing it performed live, I can attest that I can’t wait to not only keep listening via Spotify, but can’t wait to see it performed in person again.
Throughout the performance, Dylyn was in control of the stage. Her voice beautifully matched with the alternative rock sound of the band. The comfort of being the front-woman of the band was evident as she continuously worked back and forth singing to all sides of the room. I was a few rows back from the front of the crowd and even there it felt like she was trying to make eye contact with everyone. She picked up on and responded to multiple shouts from the crowd, including someone up front asking her to smile for a picture. There wasn’t a moment during the show where you couldn’t see the joy on her face as she entertained.
For all those who missed the show, be on the lookout for when Dylyn makes her way back to Philly. And if you are reading this and still have a chance to see Dylyn on this current tour, please do yourself a favor and get there.
As much as I enjoyed the wonderful performance of Dylyn live on stage, I also mentioned in my previous article that Dylyn is a wonderful person as well. You can get to know much more about the Gwen behind the Dylyn on “The Lo Life” podcast series with Lo VonRumpf which I previously listed as a 2-part podcast but has since expanded to include a third episode, and possibly more to come. It’s not just the podcast where you can see her genuine self come to light, you can see it with the interactions she had with the fans that met her after her show. She spends time with each person making an impact and being in the moment. She goes out of her way to show true appreciation for the fans being there and supporting her and the band’s music.
Let me know your thoughts in the comments below or connect on any of my socials tagged below.
Have you seen Dylyn live or enjoy her music?
Is 'Skin and Bone' a romantic love song, or a romantic tragedy?
Article and Photos by Michael Green
Freelance Writer
October 2022
p.s Yea, I know my photography skills do not align with my writing skills.
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