“What I want is a fire that never goes out / I’ve got all this desire / In a world of doubt“
SPELLLING – “Revolution”
Words by Ethan Kung / Photos by Ella Gibson and Ethan Kung
Magic was certainly in the air the night of SPELLLING’s headlining show at the Teragram Ballroom. A fading sunset painted the Los Angeles skyline as I waited in front of the venue with other fans who had lined up early to step into the famously whimsical artist’s world. Sandwiched between two doting couples, it felt like love and excitement was literally all around me: the perfect energy for a SPELLLING show.
My first exposure to Chrystia Cabral’s music project was through internet word-of-mouth following the release of her 2021 cult classic The Turning Wheel. It’s among the most uniquely beautiful albums of the decade so far, synthesizing gothic witchcraft, Disney soundtracks, and the collective wisdom of the art pop canon into one surreal package. The Turning Wheel, even more so than her previous works, also speaks to Cabral’s feelings of being an outsider in search for her lot in life.
Fittingly, this year’s Portrait of My Heart sees Cabral reimagining herself, channeling her theatrical songwriting into pop-punk and alt-rock aesthetics. First teased by the criminally underrated SPELLLING & the Mystery School in 2023, this new design was still a surprise for a fanbase used to more baroque and otherworldly sound palettes. Regardless, Portrait of My Heart still exemplifies the thematic ethos of SPELLLING – that passion and a love for living can be as powerful as fairytale magic. The prospect of hearing the rock extravagance of the album live was incredibly exciting, though I also had to wonder how die-hard fans of her older work would react.
Opening for the night was whine, a hardcore metal band from San Francisco who didn’t make answering that question any easier. Blasting through their set with reckless abandon, the duo exchanged blistering drum barrages and lightning fast guitar shreds, often with little to no buildup. At first, the crowd didn’t seem to know how to react, especially with the dialogue interstitials between songs that switched between passionate political spoken word to less serious clips. But song after song of masterful walls of sound won the audience over, with headbangers young and old giving whine the recognition they deserved.
Up next was Anthony Family, the moniker of guitarist Anthony Anzaldo, whose vibrant synths explored more familiar territory for SPELLLING fans. Known for his time in oddball punk band Ceremony, Anzaldo instead brought new-wave synthpop and a deadpan sense of humor to the stage. Even when technical difficulties stopped him from using his backing tracks, the musician proved quick to adapt, switching to only his vocals and his guitar. It was an impressive display of versatility that the audience loved, an enthusiasm which carried on after his backing tracks returned for anthems like “Sex In The Car” and a cover of Toni Braxton’s “Another Sad Love Song.” Cascading synth soundscapes then closed out his set, revealing a more atmospheric side of Anzaldo and his unique skillset.
After a brief intermission, SPELLLING and her band finally entered the stage to thunderous roars from the crowd. Almost immediately defying the expectations of her typically otherworldly persona, Cabral walked on stage with little buildup, only saying a quick “hello.” This surprisingly simple start quickly escalated into the stratosphere when the band began playing “Alibi,” a triumphant piece of pop punk from Portrait of My Heart that was brought to life by a blitzing light show and the absurdly tight playing of the band. Of course, Cabral’s vocals took center stage – despite being able to see her physical presence, it was still hard to believe that such a voice was coming from a real human being and not some kind of mystical fairy.
As the band sped through a barrage of more Portrait of My Heart tracks, I found myself quickly realizing just how well live rock instrumentation worked for SPELLLING. The beautiful “Mount Analogue” proved a crowd pleaser with its buzzing chorus, while slow burner “Ammunition” was easily one of the highlights of the night. The cut was already electrifying on the album, but the colossal drum fills performed by Patrick Shelley combined with Cabral’s yelps put much more emphasis on the song’s tortured lyrics. Despite starting the show with so many tracks from Portrait of My Heart (six of them, in fact), the crowd didn’t seem to mind one bit, cheering at every guitar solo and impressive vocal performance.
The band then began a brief run of deep cuts from older records, reformatting them to fit with her new aesthetic. Particularly, “Real Fun” from 2019 darkwave opus Mazy Fly came as a total surprise – the sinister electronic track is among the most underrated in SPELLLING’s catalogue, and its new form cements that. At the song’s halfway point, Shelley’s pounding drumming began building the track to a fever pitch, with Cabral covering her eyes as if afraid of what she and the band were about to unleash. After what felt like an eternity, the song erupted into a cacophony of noise courtesy of guitarist Wyatt Overson, with the crowd roaring in approval. It’s clear that this energy was already present in the original track, but plugging that energy into new instrumentation truly gave it new life and displayed just how well SPELLLING have mastered the rock aesthetic.
After rounding out her main set with a couple more Portrait of My Heart rockers, Cabral began the encore by simply asking “what song is this?” with a coy smile. Overson quickly answered this question, playing a drawn out version of the intro for “Boys at School” and sending the crowd into a frenzy. Across its seven-and-a-half minute runtime, the fan-favorite song reached its most cinematic form yet, with layers of guitar hits replacing its original strings and an extravagant guitar solo replacing its horns. Put together, it was a monstrous synthesis of SPELLLING’s many styles, preserving all of the lightning she had originally captured and somehow managing to add even more.
However, the band still time for one more song, choosing to close the night with Portrait of My Heart’s anthemic lead single and title track. “‘Cause I dare to fiddle with the work of God,” she sang with the fervor of a frenzied evangelist. “I don’t belong here!” Reaching her hands out to the crowd as she screamed, audience members jumped, cheered, and sang along to every single word. It was the sound of a lover finding pride in her eccentricity, a band finding themselves as true rockstars, and outsiders both on and off the stage reaching catharsis together. Again: the perfect energy for a SPELLLING show.
You can listen to Portrait of My Heart below:
