Live Review from Kowloon Thunder:
1. Walk through Hell
2. into ashes
3. ghost of me
4. nightfall
5. false heaven
6. dark impulse
Searchlight is a 5-piece metalcore band, with its music infused with electro, emo, and pop elements. Overall, the band’s performance was tight, with solid vocals. With spooky eyes and smooth transitions between clean singing and vocal fry, the vocalist was especially captivating.
Where it could improve is in its delivery: for example, asking the crowd to move aside to make space for a mosh/circle pit. When the crowd did clear about two-thirds of the floor, only four people came out, which makes me think the band should reconsider whether to try that again. The band called for a mosh pit during the second and third songs in succession, but then immediately asked the audience to move closer because it felt “a bit lonely up there”—when in fact, it was the band that cleared the space in the first place. I understand the first time, but repeating it right away in the next song got a little old. Towards the end (I think it was during False Heaven), the band called for another mosh pit, though the song wasn’t really suited for it, which led to some rather confused and lacklustre action on the floor.
Another tendency I found a bit annoying was the singer’s habit of asking the audience to “make some noise” right before going into a quiet passage. The band needs to pay more attention to how it interacts with the audience and learn to read the mood of the room, rather than relying on the usual clichés just for the sake of it.
I hope the band takes this feedback positively—the music itself is solid in terms of composition and technical execution, and it’s clear the members have invested a lot of effort into playing tightly as a group. With a little more attention to how they connect with the crowd and deliver their set, I believe Searchlight has the potential to strengthen not just their performance, but the entire live experience for their audience.
– Hazel-Rah
