Xeno & Oaklander at Turf Club, St. Paul, MN (November 29, 2024)

It was a night of synthpop at Turf Club as Xeno & Oaklander took to the stage. They are currently touring in support of their most recent album, Via Negativa (in the doorway light).

The Quaking Bogge at Turf Club (15 Sep 2024)

Opener Magenta Vice is a local Twin Cities electronic duo, although both John and Erik are involved in many projects. (Side note: I last saw Erik at Turf Club in the gothic folk band Quaking Bogge. As he said prior to the show, “I like very different things”.) Magenta Vice, with their own neon sign, had a very busy set up, with multiple synthesizers, drum pad, and occasional guitar.

It was probably a good thing that this was mostly a lyric free set, as both performers were busy switching instruments throughout and between songs. As you can imagine, this had a “wall of sound” density to it, with the guitar being a striking contrast. That neon theme continued as the sticks for the drum pad lit up and again towards the end of the set as the band mates put on neon visor glasses. That neon vibe was a pretty good distillation of the musical feel for Magenta Vice.

As Xeno & Oaklander (aka Sean McBride and Liz Wendelbo) began their set, they had a digital backdrop that initially showed their name but played a variety of images throughout the show. It was a fine and dark atmosphere for the duo, who were lit up with reds and purples for the majority of the set.

An audience coming for synth heavy sound was not disappointed. Those synthesizers created a layered sound that was then punctuated by the vocals. Wendelbo’s ethereal tone rides on top as the highest layer, while McBride’s yelled/sung vocal style creates the bottom layer.

Wendelbo handled the majority of the lyrics and projected a cool as ice attitude that was really excellent. She often came out from her instrumental set up and roamed the stage, creating a visual focal point. McBride was tethered behind the table but looked comfortable and in the zone throughout.

The songs were very danceable, and the transitions were great, as they moved seamlessly from one to the next with little to no stage banter. It felt very well-choreographed and it’s clear they have been doing this together for quite a while.

Those smooth transitions made it hard to identify many of the individual songs being played, though the title track from the new album was obvious. When I spoke with McBride after the show about that, he laughed and said that what they played was out of order with what they had on their written list anyway.

I talked with McBride about the long collaboration with Wendelbo, asking him what the greatest joy and greatest annoyance there is with that long history. He had a good list for the joys that all centered on the shared experience and trust, saying they can add on top of each other both musically and lyrically. It creates a synergy that they both can capitalize on. For the annoyance, he said that it can sometimes be hard to truly be spontaneous.

We also talked about genre labels and, perhaps unsurprisingly, how those mostly don’t fit as they oversimplify. The cold wave label is one that McBride pointed out as being deficient, as that really should be a more time bound description of 70’s & early 80’s bands. He did say that whatever genre label people have in mind, it’s a thrill for Xeno & Oaklander to be able to tour and perform for the live audiences.