An Ode To The Audience (TC Blog May 5, 2025) (Patreon)

Dear Ne Obluminati,

As a performer that has gone on stage hundreds of times over almost two decades with this band, the experience of "the audience" as a collective to connect with is still such a fascinating thing to explore. As despite the fact that many shows can be extremely similar, each audience is unique in of itself. A moment in time whereby the artist and audience come together to experience a performance.

Generally I have always said that headline shows are the most "fun", as you know that when you start your first song every single person in the room (or at least close to that) paid money to see you specifically. They know your songs, they have already decided they like your band and there is normally some level of excitement about the show ahead. This creates a scenario whereby the audience can be easily receptive to "direction" or guidance from the band on how we want the show to be, and what sort of interaction the show will entail between us and the audience that night. When the people there all buy in at a very high rate to this interaction, this exchange of energy, it creates a feeling and a an emotional high which is quite simply extraordinary to feel. The sort of high that even after I walk off stage it takes hours before my nervous system settles. The sort of high that in many ways changes, or maybe more accurately, enhances, certain parts of who I am and how I connect with people when I am then not on stage. It's like the electric energy with the audience has an afterglow effect that can be very powerful for quite some time.

What is so interesting after all these years, is to realise more and more the subtle differences between crowds from tour to tour and then even from night to night. On this particular tour we have 27 shows. 19 are as part of Chaos & Carnage, 2 co-headlining with Fleshgod Apocalypse, 4 headline shows in the USA and then 2 headliners and a festival in Mexico to round things out. Each of these categories of shows creates a different experience for us as the band, but also from night to night within the same category (e.g. Chaos & Carnage) there are subtle differences from city to city. Sometimes these are a result of us having more fans in some places than others, sometimes due to different music culture or even due to the different vibe that certain venue layouts can create & more. As the artist, and especially as the bands front man within the group (now with James alongside) I have to pick up visual and energetic queues to work out what buttons to press during the show to enhance the concert to maximum effect.

Before this tour started we were a little unsure what the experience of playing these shows would be like as the 4th band of 7 in the bill as we had never done a tour like this before. We knew each show would be a mixture of our own fans mixed in with people that know NeO but have never seen us before, and those who maybe don't know us at all but are curious to check us out, and then another group of people who either are not that interested in NeO or have heard and don't really like our music. We have toured with Cradle of Filth before many years ago and knew their fans had responded well to our show, and we were very confident Fleshgod Apocalypse and NeO would gel well together. But what about the fans of Dying Fetus, Undeath, Vomit Forth, Corpse Pile? I guess we would simply have to wait and see. It was not something we were worried about. We were confident there would be enough people that appreciate what we do there to create a good vibe, but to what degree? We would have to wait and see.

Throughout this tour it has been a fun experience feeling out the crowd each night and trying to get a gauge on how many people already know the songs and how many people are seeing us for the first time (and hence more likely to just stand and watch even if they are really enjoying it). But as much as we pick up queues during the show, sometimes it can be helpful to do a bit of advance reconnaissance per se. An example of this is at the show in Reading, Pennsylvania a couple nights ago. I went into the venue to watch a bit of Vomit Forth's set, who are on stage 2nd each day and as soon as I walked in I could sense the great energy in the room. 1200-1300 people were in attendence... and even at that early hour there was circle pits, crowd surfing, lots of headbanging and lots of smiles. Even though Vomit Forth as a band are very different to NeO, generally once a crowd has hit a certain level of excitement it is easier to get them back up there again. So after having done my research for the night I found James before our set and I had a quick chat to him about the energy in the room already that night. On this tour, because many people are seeing us for the first time, for some types of crowd engagement we wait until the 2nd song ('Suspyre') to pick things up. But for this one, James and I agreed we'd go for it straight away. Sure enough, the audience in Reading didn't let us down and the electric atmosphere made for a 10/10 show.

These sort of subtle adjustments to how we "run the show" from the stage and how James & I co-ordinate things as dual-frontmen for NeO circa 2025 has been a really fun thing to explore. It's always something I've thought about over the years, but less as a conscious discussion that was talked about like James & I do now.

It's definitely one of the things that makes playing in NeO still so fun after after all these years. Every single night is a new experience, a slight variation of something so familiar. Something done hundreds of times before and yet doing in that exact way for the first time ever. A connection with each audience, with that exact group of people just once. As much as its in our control how a show goes, the height which a show can reach is dependent on the audience and the energy they are open to receiving and giving out in return. So here's to each every one of you that helps make up those special collective's each night on this tour, those past and all those in the future. Just know that when we walk out on stage I will be feeling your energy in full and sending mine back in return. - Tim