Föllakzoid

An evening with a slightly surreal aftertaste that catches you off guard, the perfect crowning of a Saturday full of unexpected twists. September marks a season of fresh starts, and the reopening of Covo Club in Bologna did so under the banner of the avant-garde with Föllakzoid, the creative vehicle of artist, musician and director Domingæ Garcia Huidobro.

Warming up the atmosphere (and duly preparing the eardrums) is the dark techno and industrial-punk blend of Torba, the project led by Luigi Pianezzola (Soft Moon, I Am Titor, Bruuno), performing here as a trio. What stands out most are the powerful distorted beats of the latest single "Wire", while some tracks taken from the self-titled debut "Torba" (2023) take on sharper contours in their live versions, further charged by the drum rhythms, though not always effective or distinguishable; among the best moments is the choral "Repeat", which treads territory close to Giant Swan.

Following the long synthetic intro entrusted to drums and synth/console, which will bear most of the burden of weaving the sonic fabric for the entire set, the mysterious figure of Domingæ appears among the audience, heading towards the stage with two lit candles in hand. The scene is dimly lit and will remain so for most of the performance, save for a few flashes of light.

Performed in a single stream of consciousness is the latest album "V" (2023), with a more decisive push towards hammering club techno. Domingæ is absolute ruler of the stage and of what turns out to be a genuine artistic performance made of precise, carefully calibrated rites and gestures, going well beyond the concept of a traditional concert. The artist dances, directs the sound engineer and her bandmates like a kind of conductor, at times picks up the guitar and fiddles with the pedalboard, between blessing the audience with her little water bottle, a striptease, a "candle stage dive" passed from hand to hand through the crowd (a fitting quote from a dear friend, duly credited, even though the right term here was probably crowd surfing; but regardless of wording, the writer's mind was focused on the terror of setting her hair on fire), a lit cigarette and a proper toast.

Seductive and hypnotic, but also rather abstract, and for that reason perhaps not for everyone, Föllakzoid's magnetic performance is practically impossible to forget and, at the same time, hard to put into words; what is certain is that if the goal was to induce a trance, amid the sounds, the lights and the whirl of gestures, it was fully achieved. Shedding their sophisticated, somewhat "staged" performer personas, Domingæ and her bandmates will have the time of their lives at the DJ set afterwards, blending right in among the venue's regulars.

The new season seems to have gotten off to the right start, and amid so much good music, old and new friends, and a few stolen kisses on the dancefloor, there will be plenty more stories to tell at Covo Club.

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