Austin, Texas’s Porcelain and Oakland, California’s Facet get loud, fast, and noisy at Houston’s Starseed Hostel with support from locals Goodgirl and Charm.
Summertime was in full swing on a hot Saturday night at Houston’s DIY venue, Starseed Hostel, when Porcelain and Facet brought their loud, noisy, post-hardcore through Texas with support from locals, Goodgirl and Charm.
Audience members arrived at Starseed Hostel where local analog glitch VJ, Siphonophore AV, began to project his psychedelic visuals across the back of the warehouse wall, setting the tone for the night. Soon enough, Goodgirl stepped up and immediately drenched the space in their dreamy, alt-grunge sound. Goodgirl always cast a spell on their audience, it was obvious the room was locked in as heavy guitars and metallic melodies overtook the crowd.
Next up was Oakland’s Facet, bringing their noisy, post-hardcore to life with a punchy, loud, performance that had the audience’s undivided attention. Facet plays in your face, with their whining guitars, thick basslines, and pinpoint drumming it’s impossible to not be completely immersed in the sonic blanket they lay on their audience.
And if the audience didn’t think the night could get any louder, it was finally time for Austin’s Porcelain to begin. Porcelain is a band who delivers. Their set starts like an engine with their signature sound that blends noise and art rock with abrasive post-punk grit. Powerful bass lines and aggressive vocals guide the audience through hypnotic moments of droning noise and steady drums before they’re suddenly hit with a wall of heavy, dense, sound that drives through the crowd like a bulldozer. Porcelain leaves their audience disoriented with aching ears, the true sign of a successful rock show.
It was time to shut the night down as locals Charm took the stage. With bright, echoey guitars that weave themselves in and out of big, grungy, dreamscapes, Charm lulls the audience into a space that feels both warm and melancholic. Charm’s set felt like it gently brought the audience back down to earth from their raucous night.
As the audience dispersed there was an amiable energy in the room amongst the post-show mingling. A DIY rock show in a warehouse on a hot summer night in Houston is a special thing, full of community and the united love for music that continues to push local scenes to gather and share what is most important to them. This show was an exemplary display of how special that can really be.
I’m a photographer born and raised in Houston. Music has been a huge part of my life since I was a teenager, I love attending local shows and supporting the Houston music scene. If I’m not at a show I’m probably making my own music, hanging out with my cat, or binge watching RuPaul’s Drag Race.
