Dark Divine haunts Roseville’s Goldfield Trading Post
The pre-spring heat wave hits the Central Valley, stirring up humidity. You hop out of your car to feel your Vans’ shrinkwrap to your feet, your shirt melt onto your skin, and the sun beams blinding you as you walk block by block to arrive at Dark Divine’s headline show at the Goldfield Trading Post in Roseville, California. The anticipation for the show builds as you cross the street, you see the buses lined outside the rear entrance, the line of fans wrapping around the block, and a warm breeze.
DON’T YOU DARE
The band takes the stage with extreme urgency, leaving the fans in the crowd in shock. Immediately, they hit you with their heavy rock-inspired tones and a beautiful snare. DON’T YOU DARE is the local act out of Sacramento, California. As their set progresses, you can feel the anticipation build for their hit song “Black and Blue.” As soon as the last song hits the crowd, you feel the roar of locals supporting locals, cheering and singing the chorus of the song.
SET FOR TOMORROW
The stage gets relieved of one of the many drumsets and a lot of gear, which brings the fans closer to the artist. You expect to hear a similar sound to DYD, but you’re left surprised…within the first two songs, the lead singer is on the barricade singing to you. You chant the words, and as you look around, you see the crowd pushing closer to the middle just before a circle pit opens behind you.
Set For Tomorrow plays a catalog of songs asking for the fans to react and assist with the chants and choruses. The stage presence is so captivating and feels like your traditional metalcore/rock concert.
NOT ENOUGH SPACE
As you’re standing near the bar getting some much-needed water, you hear “Classico” by Tenacious D blasting through the PA system. You watch as Not Enough Space does their pre-show ritual, and the guitars take center stage. Standing on the risers, you work your way back through the crowd and take a barricade spot. You watch as Liv takes the stage and calls out to the crowd, and shortly after, Lizzie takes the stage, and the crowd erupts.
Many fans paid attention to the social media posts of both Dark Divine and Not Enough Space and were expecting to see Anthony Martinez, vocals for Dark Divine, to take the stage with Not Enough Space for “Eye 4 An Eye”; however, it wouldn’t happen. With a Dark Divine and Not Enough Space show, you can’t expect anything; it's always a surprise.
Not Enough Space wraps up their set with their hit song “Primitive.” The crowd sings the words. The band, with smiles on their face, fight through the song. The touching part of this was watching Liv and Lizzie with giant smiles at the end of their set. You and the other attendees feel how much this means to them.
DARK DIVINE
The lights dim, the veil covering the drums reveals the matte black and tattered set for Triston, the stage goes dark, then the fans are hit with blue and orange lights. The cryptid, Cory, takes the stage. Following Cory is Triston, then Robby, and finally Anthony. With a roar from inside the audience as Anthony hits the stage, you hear “Halloweentown Part II: Welcome Home” ring out.
The fans can only expect a haunting performance. Dark Divine took us on a ride that’s so hard to put into words. Their performance was so well put together, with the lighting, the stage presence, and the right amount of breaks. As Anthony said, “We’re going to give you a break, then absolutely rip it away,” just before they performed their new singles. The band slowed things down for the fans to catch their breath with their new song “Permanent,” then as soon as it wrapped, they led into the next song with a heavy riff and some well executed gutturals for “Midnight Masquerade.”
The set concludes, and you feel as if you just attended the most haunting funeral. You don’t want the performance to end; you hear fans call for one more song. Anthony would say earlier in the set, “We have no encore, no other songs after this, this is it…”
FINAL THOUGHTS
With this being my second time covering Dark Divine and Not Enough Space, I can say with confidence that if you have never seen these two artists, you’re missing out.
When I first saw Dark Divine, they supported Blessthefall on their Gallows Tour. Who Dark Divine was then to now is like going from great to perfect. Anthony’s vocals sounded great all night, including after arguably their heaviest song they’ve ever written, “Midnight Masquerade.” Robby never seems to miss notes or stumble, especially during the complicated intros and breakdowns. Cory is just supernatural, between having the ability to maintain rhythm with the basslines and headbang, and being creepy, it is absolutely astonishing. Let’s touch on Triston. This guy always manages to blow my mind. Triston has been active on his socials, showcasing his practice and showtime content with a drum cam. I genuinely can’t recall ever seeing him take a breather or a break. Huge cutout to him for being able to run an hour and some change, as intensely as he does, while pacing himself the whole time.
If you have time to go and see them, do it. Their shows are always absolutely stunning. You can tell how much they care about performing and the experience they want to bring.
Not Enough Space is the same way. This is the second time I’ve covered the band for RØKKR, and I was blown away this last time. The first time I covered NES during their supporting tour for From Ashes To New on their New Disease Tour. During that show, I was moderately disappointed because their lighting was mainly oranges and not really drawing my eye to the stage, and their set was short, which is obvious because they’re supporting another band. With that said, I never held that against the band or any band; I just prioritized seeing them again to get their full experience.
This tour supporting Dark Divine made me absolutely fall in love with this band, which is really hard for me to do with most bands. I caught myself going throughout my day humming choruses for “Primitive”, “Eye 4 An Eye”, and “Weaponize Your Rage.” If you get the chance to see Not Enough Space, do it.
For the other two bands, I’m all in on them. I wouldn’t be surprised to see these bands on an arena tour anytime soon. They share the same passion for entertainment and love for their respective genres.
RØKKR Rating: 8.5/10
