A Cult of Community: Turnover Tour
MY NIGHT STARTED OUT WITH A CULT INDUCTION CEREMONY LED BY AN EERILY, TALL ALIEN GUY—OR AT LEAST THAT’S WHAT IT FELT LIKE. I WAS ATTENDING A SHOW THAT I HAD BEEN SO STOKED ABOUT FOR SEVERAL MONTHS. THE LINEUP WOULD INCLUDE THE REPTALIENS (A BAND I ONLY KNEW BY NAME), TURNSTILE (PUNK/HARDCORE AFICIONADOS), AND VIRGINIA BEACH’S OWN DREAMBOAT BAND, TURNOVER. THE SHOW, LOCATED IN NORFOLK, VIRGINIA, WAS A HOMECOMING OF SORTS FOR TURNOVER, BUT THE OTHER BANDS WERE JUST AS WARMLY WELCOMED. THAT FEELING OF WARMTH AND EMBRACEMENT WOULD BECOME PURE MANIFESTATIONS OF A CULT THAT I JOINED THAT NIGHT—A CULT OF COMMUNITY.
NOW WHEN I SAID THAT I FELT LIKE I WAS BEING INITIATED INTO A CULT, I WASN’T REALLY KIDDING. THE REPTALIENS STARTED OFF THE NIGHT WITH A GRANDEUR OF PURE PSYCHEDELIA—LEAVING BEHIND A FEELING THAT WOULD CONSUME US ALL THROUGHOUT THE REST OF THE NIGHT. IT FELT LIKE WE HAD ALL UNCONSCIOUSLY STEPPED INTO A TIME MACHINE AND WERE WARPED BACK INTO THE LATE 60S/EARLY 70S—LIKE SOME FULL ON TIME VORTEX, BACK TO THE FUTURE STUFF. BUT THE BAND CONTINUED ON AS IF NOTHING WAS OUT OF THE ORDINARY. THEY SWAYED EFFORTLESSLY THROUGHOUT THEIR OPENING SET BRINGING US THROUGH A WOOZY JOURNEY. A JOURNEY THAT WOULD INCLUDE A GUITAR-PLAYING MICHAEL MYERS AND A DANCING DINOSAUR IN A DETECTIVE CLOAK—I’M NOT CRAZY I SWEAR. DESPITE THEIR ONSTAGE ANTICS, THE REPTALIENS PROVED THAT THEY WERE MASTERS OF BRINGING ALL OF YOUR INNATE SENSES TO LIFE. SOME FAVORITE MOMENTS OF MINE WERE THEIR PERFORMANCES OF “SIMULATION” AND “VENETIAN BLINDS.”
NATURALLY, THE NEXT BAND TO HIT THE STAGE WAS TURNSTILE—LIGHT-YEARS DIFFERENT IN SOUND. YOU COULD PRACTICALLY FEEL THE ELECTRICITY GENERATING IN THE ROOM RIGHT BEFORE THE BAND GOT ON STAGE. BEFORE ANY SONG BEGAN, CROWDS BEGAN TO PART IN DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS—READYING THEMSELVES FOR THE EXPLOSION THAT WAS ABOUT TO HAPPEN. THOSE HEIGHTENED SENSES WOULD SOON BE GRATIFIED AS “GENERATOR” KICKED THINGS OFF, LEAVING ALL HELL TO BREAK LOOSE. ALL OF THE POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE ENERGY, PENT UP IN ALL OF US, BEGAN TO EXIT OUR BODIES IN MASSIVE WAVES. SONGS LIKE, “RIGHT TO BE” AND “GRAVITY” WERE ESPECIALLY MEMORABLE SONGS FOR ME WITH LYRICS LIKE, “THEY WANT TO TAKE/ MY RIGHT TO BE/THEY WANT TO TO TAKE/I WANT RELEASE,” AND “I KEEP ME DOWN/IT’S JUST THE GRAVITY I KEEP AROUND,” GIVING ME A MUCH NEEDED CATHARTIC RELEASE. WHAT FELT EVEN MORE COMFORTING WAS THE FACT THAT OTHERS AROUND ME WERE SCREAMING THESE SAME LYRICS WITH ALL OF THEIR HEART—I WASN’T ALONE.
THE HARMONIOUS INTRO OF “NEW SCREAM,” WOULD START OUT TURNOVER’S SET BRINGING WITH IT A WAVE OF NOSTALGIA AND EXCITEMENT. THE PURE JOY THAT I WITNESSED THROUGHOUT THEIR ENTIRE SET WAS SOMETHING THAT I FELT HEARTENED BY. DESPITE ALL OF THE ISSUES GOING ON IN THE WORLD, AND IN OUR OWN LIVES, WE HAD A TIME TO FORGET EVERYTHING AND JUST BE ENVELOPED BY THE MUSIC. AND REALLY, THAT’S WHAT IT’S ALL ABOUT. COMING TOGETHER, WITH LOVE AND ACCEPTANCE AND WARMTH, TO CELEBRATE SOMETHING THAT MAKES US FEEL GOOD…SOMETHING THAT IS CAPABLE OF TAKING US AWAY—IF EVEN FOR A MINUTE. TURNOVER USED THEIR NATURAL ABILITY TO BRING THAT FEELING TO LIFE. SO YEAH, I JOINED A CULT…A CULT OF COMMUNITY.
