Debbie Dopamine at Purgatory (photo by Amanda Meth)

 

This past Monday, September 5, four bands took the stage at Bushwick’s Purgatory for a varied night of rock music capping off Labor Day weekend.  

 

Debbie Dopamine opened the show, following a spectacular Sunday set at Rippers in Far Rockaway (see pics/writeup). Singer Katie Ortiz, bassist Dylan Lapointe, and drummer Zach Rescignano (whom Katie endearingly referred to all as “Debbies” during their set) played seven songs across roughly half an hour, including the entirety of their stunning debut EP, Pets, released at the end of July (read our review).

 

While Pets makes an ideal listen for sitting alone in one’s room with all the lights turned off, there’s an added magic to seeing the band perform the songs live. “Tight-knit,” “joyful,” and “grateful” are all appropriate adjectives to describe the ethos of Debbie Dopamine’s stage presence on Monday as they performed on a glittery blue stage in front of a dedicated group of fans. 

 

The band started off with “Get Better,” which is also the first song off of Pets. In addition to performing every song off their new EP, they also played an unreleased track titled “Marzipan,” appropriately placed before “Sour” which makes a reference to sucking on candy until it’s sour. Throughout the entirety of their set, Debbie Dopamine’s cohesiveness and talent truly blossomed as smiles were exchanged and notes were played with particular enthusiasm.

 

Rounding out the rest of the night were Stimmerman, Mister Goblin, and Maneka. New York’s Stimmerman brought some seriously good bass, Indiana’s Mister Goblin brought the soulful screams, and Maneka brought reflective rock. It was a fully fantastic night of music and each band showed their support for each other, which was lovely to bear witness to. One of my favorite parts of the night was when Mister Goblin’s vocalist Sam Goblin mentioned that the only time he’d ever cried at a show was when he saw Maneka perform. Be sure to catch all of these bands around your part of town when you can!

 

 

Scroll down for pics of the show (photos by Amanda Meth)

 

DEBBIE DOPAMINE

 

 

STIMMERMAN

 

 

MISTER GOBLIN

 

 

MANEKA