Savages at the Webster Hall Ballroom

Vocalist Jehnny Beth, guitarist Gemma Thompson, bassist Ayse Hassan and drummer Fay Milton came together in London in October 2011 to form Savages, an all-woman four-piece post-punk art-rock band. After four months of rehearsals, Savages performed its first concert in January 2012 and released its first two songs by June. The buzz about the band quickly became intense. The band released its debut album, Silence Yourself, on May 6, 2013, and it immediately charted at number 19 in the United Kingdom’s album chart. Now the buzz has begun to make its way to American shores.

Savages will be huge, if tonight’s concert at the Webster Hall Ballroom is any indication. As the band prepared to come on stage, the roadies set only one microphone stand. The audience would only hear from the vocalist. The four very pale band members all wore black; the stage lighting toyed with sparse and dim white lights only; altogether this made for an eerie appearance. The band began to rock, led by a heavy bass and drums bottom and Thompson’s haunting guitar sound. The guitar leads were often a few slow notes, sometimes even one note, resounding into feedback through electronic gadgetry. Sometimes these guitar fills played between songs as well, adding to a mysterious and foreboding atmosphere. After a few songs, Beth spoke to the audience in poetic prose, a la Jim Morrison or Patti Smith. Beth hardly spoke after that, but sang each song in a passionate yet limited range. These compositions were not built around catchy choruses and perhaps were not meant for an audience to sing along. Maybe they were composed to be a swirl inside one’s head. Some concerts are designed to be entertainment; this concert was a psychotic experience. There is no other act presenting music quite this way, so Savages could become “the next big thing.”