Stabbing Westward is out on the road to celebrate 20 years since the release of their overwhelmingly popular album, Darkest Days released back in April of 1998, and is widely considered the bands best work. The album went gold and the song “Save Yourself” reached #4 on the U.S. mainstream charts, which is their highest placing single. Stabbing Westward still has two founding members left, Christopher Hall on vocals and guitar and Walter Flakus on keyboards and backing vocals, and are joined on tour by Bobby Amaro on drums, and Carlton Bost on guitar, who we have also seen play in Berlin and Orgy, as well as in Christopher Hall's project The Dreaming.
Stabbing Westward's sound is classic a industrial metal / rock sound. and Christopher Hall is an amazing frontman, who captivates his audience with his intensity and timeless vocals. The band opened the show with “Drugstore”, a song about a failed relationship with a woman who controls, destroys and feeds his addiction - a perfect song for this band to open with, as it showcases the band's writing direction. “Falls Apart” was another deep, dark song about hopelessness and despair, and “So Far Away” yet another song about a failed relationship with no hope, which was a consistent theme. Stabbing Westward's early sound is very reminiscent of NIN, the song "So Far Away" is a perfect example.
A little past the halfway point of their show the band did their take on the Garbage song "#1 Crush", and the show wound down with “Violent Mood Swings”, and by far their most popular song to date, “Save Yourself”. You would think after 20 years this album and the songs would sound a bit dated, but that is not the case - Hall's vocals and the songs sound like they could be released today, and would still have a huge influence on industrial rock music.
STABBING WESTWARD SETLIST:
Drugstore
Falls Apart
So Far Away
Nothing
Sometimes It Hurts
Slipping Away
The Thing I Hate
#1 Crush (Garbage cover)
Haunting Me
On Your Way Down
What Do I Have to Do?
Violent Mood Swings
Save Yourself
Encore:
Waking Up Beside You Shame
Stabbing Westward photos from Harold Mountain / JustAFanPhotos