So WKNC sent a group to Manifest this earlier this month, and it was a bit more Halloween-y than initially anticipated. While genre variety was plentiful, there was an overwhelming theme of SCARY. The Local 506 had a end to end metal setlist on Friday, there was hardcore punk, a little bit of goth dance music, but most tuned to my tastes was the Noise and Dark Ambient thrills of Raleigh’s own Spookstina performing at NightLight.
Spookstina is a witch, and I mean that metaphor in the most literal way possible. She has raven hair, a high, raspy, and vaguely ominous singing voice, and a musical style that reeks of death and depression. Her SoundCloud bio is just the single phrase “The topography of an unmade bed after a restless night,” and it is awesome. Her music floats in that vague noisey electronic haze that goes by a million labels. Dark Ambient, is my first instinct, Death Industrial is another contender, but the point is that she’s very spooky.
Her performance was a wash of contradictions laid out for our viewing pleasure. She was in an intentionally catatonic trance for the whole set, barely vocalizing above a whisper in the small venue of Nightlight. Yet her theatrics loomed large in my memory of the night. Behind her was the scenery of a small apartment complete with Gen Z approved multicolor lighting. In front of her: a sewer grate ladder…. she started to whip the sewer grate ladder with chains halfway through the performance.
Yes, despite her listless, almost Shoegazing persona, her set was one of destruction. The entire venue was filled with a low electronic gurgle for more than thirty minutes, complete with a bass sound that made my organs shrivel. She smashed, clattered, and abused various inanimate objects, including a guitar which was played more as percussion that instrument. And while I cannot confirm this firsthand, a few of our other content creators swear there was a fire on stage briefly after she smashed a Christmas light.
I’m not sure this article amounted to a recommendation per se, but those of you who are into that sort of thing have doubtlessly put a full Spookstina concert on your bucket list already. She’s local to Raleigh, so you ghouls should have no trouble finding her.
