It’s always a learning experience when you’re in between the generational crossfire of young and old shoegazers. The face of a sweet 35-year-old man lights up when he converses with an audience member 13 years younger than him, as he notices the young man’s bootlegged My Bloody Valentine shirt. They throw around a handful of recommendations beyond the world of shoegaze, are curious about the openers they’ve never heard of, and buzz with enthusiasm to catch the Philadelphia shoegaze veterans Nothing, who swung back to The Sinclair for another round on April 2nd.

The Philadelphia shoegaze scene doesn’t feel like a best-kept secret anymore. The ever-evolving DIY subculture has spurred a new inception of exciting bands elevating the typical shoegaze sound: think of Bleary Eyed, They Are Gutting A Body Of Water, Her New Knife, Halloween, Knifeplay, Blue Smiley, or even Spirit of the Beehive’s mid-2010 run of releases. The hub expanded further in the 2020s when Douglas Dulgarian (of TAGABOW) founded the independently-owned record label Julia’s War in 2021, assisting with physical distribution and releases for emerging talent beyond the world of shoegaze and Philly representation. Before any of these bands formed or Dulgarian’s label was even conceived, there were two Philly bands that led the ethereal, pedal-heavy ship: A Sunny Day In Glasgow, and for our purposes, Nothing.Since the early 2010s, Nothing has been an integral part of defining the early heavy-hitting sounds of American shoegaze and predicting what was to come. With their debut Guilty of Everything and fantastic split with California shoegazers Whirr, both released in 2014, to The Great Dismal in 2020, it feels like they have yet to miss a mark within the six year span. They definitely aren’t ready to slow down, freshly coming off this year’s A Short History of Decay, their debut with Boston label Run For Cover. Currently touring for the album and making a stop in Boston, Nothing still brings the blitzing momentum and deafening wall of sound after years of stirring up energizing performances to the extreme. On this tour, Nothing also brings along three openers that are exciting in their own right.

Kicking the night off around 8 PM was Osaka’s black metal-slash-gabber group Violent Magic Orchestra who unleashed a flood of strobing lights and opened up the pit in an unconventional style. Melding together an intense hybrid of throbbing gabber, distorted black metal, glistening and poppy techno, industrial textures with plenty of high-pitched shrieks and raspy screams – the music is overwhelming in its own right, but the theatrics were something else. With the exception of vocalist Zastar, the other members have their faces caked in black metal corpse paint and decked out in their own merchandise. Paired with projected high-strung graphics from visual artist Kezzardix, a flashlight show, and propped-up strobe lights that flickered throughout the venue – VMO turned The Sinclair into a crazy black metal rave night. Just picture Fenriz of Darkthrone blasting IDM and hardcore techno cuts from a Pioneer deck, drenched in the coolest cacophony of epileptic lighting and wispy fog. What surprised me was only six people plunged into the well-formed pit, even after two members of the group hopped off stage to get the party started. How do you stand there and willingly choose not to join in?

Going from the overtly hyper Violent Magic Orchestra to the extremely mellow Cryogeyser around 9:00 is probably the most devilish whiplash you’ll experience from a four-band bill. The Los Angeles dream pop three-piece’s set was as chill as the night would get – Shawn Marom carrying the torch with her airy, punctual vocal melodies and shimmering chorus guitar tones. Zack Capitti-Fenton always makes sure to lay down some punctuated and somewhat forceful hi-hat taps and snare hits, with Samson Klitsner plucking some occasional fat tones out of her bass. “Too Much,” “Blue Light,” and the fan-favorite “Leach” were some of my favorite tracks the band played during their set, as hues of blue and purple slowly shifted and a trippy 40-minute visual projected behind them to set the relaxed mood. I was attentive to Marom’s collection of pedals sitting in front of the stage, especially when she put them to use by modulating her voice to create backup harmonies on-the-spot or loop certain phrases. It wasn’t hard to catch a vibe from Cryogeyser, but they were a pleasant addition to the lineup for sure.

It was thrilling to hear Nothing brought on Philadelphia’s very own Full Body 2 to open for their tour as they took the stage around 9:45. Thinking about the advancement, constant experimentation and future of the shoegaze sound, Full Body 2 has their finger on the pulse. The quartet have the loud dynamics, blurry soundscapes and distorted tones all locked down, but what makes them such a refreshing modern act is their maximalist sound design and distinctly electronic-leaning instrumentation. It’s not just in their recorded music, but their live set never sacrifices the digital utopian transcendence they’ve brewed up. As the flashing neon pinks, blues and whites coat the silhouettes of each band member, their dense songs fit perfectly with their visual radiance. The sampler magic, whirling synthesizer leads, icy ambient pads, heavy tones and floating vocals from Dylan Vaisey and Cassidy Hammond coalesce to Full Body 2 as an exhilarating, original voice in the current shoegaze canon. It isn’t difficult to say that Full Body 2 had the best set of the night, or feel puzzled as to why Nothing included them in the lineup. I’m still trying to shake off how good they were days later.

The lights dim to a faint black around 10:40 with Daniel Johnston’s “Devil Town” soundtracking Nothing’s eerie entrance. Once the five-piece settles around the wall of large amplifiers and finishes setting up, a large buildup of feedback crescendos, tailing at the end of Johnston’s song as a launching-off point for their opener, “July The Fourth.” Cam Smith (of Cloakroom) goes ham, jolting back-and-forth on stage with his guitar in-the-air and throwing it around. Bobb Bruno (of Best Coast) strums some meaty bass grooves, while frontman-slash-founding member Domenic Palermo and Doyle Martin (of Cloakroom) harmonize with each other and dish out blaring guitar tones. Nothing began to delve into an assortment of songs from the Nothing catalog with the iconic “Downward Years To Come” and “Famine Asylum” a few tracks after “July The Fourth” – most of the songs in the setlist coming off of their latest album. What I liked was how seamless and purposeful the setlist was in terms of transitioning into different moods – the calamitive and hair-raising “Hymn to the Pillowry” going into the drum-and-gaze “cannibal world” was pretty cool. An uproar of folks yelling for Nothing to come out for an encore was prevalent, one guy in the crowd hurling a huge “what the fuck.” They’d eventually come out to officially close their set off with “A.C.D. (Abcessive Compulsive Disorder),” which they were met with a great applause. 
It was incredible to attend a Nothing concert again filled with moshers and stagedivers, and being able to rock out to the blown-out riffs and droning ambience. It’s also interesting to note the band is in a clear transitional period. Their lineup of band members is different, the new album is a slight detour from their original sound, and they’re fully embracing an eclectic bill. If it wasn’t for the Burial, Babyfather and Gillian Welch earworms during intermission, it’s clear that Nothing is still influenced by the past and the future even if they’re pushing 20 years into the shoegaze game. They’re still kicking it, and they’re growing with us too.

Check out all of Miguel’s photos from the show below.