Gothic Summer Tour featuring The Veronicas and Jesse Jo Stark

at kismet

PRESENTS

GOTHIC SUMMER TOUR

IN THIS ISSUE: THE VERONICAS JESSE JO

STARK

jessejostark

JesseJoStark

If you did not know who Jesse Jo Stark was before you decided to attend the Gothic Summer Tour with The Veronicas as the headliners. You will know who she is by the end of the night. Fans were beginning to trickle into the iconic South Street venue Theatre of Living Arts as Stark rocked up on stage. Her stage presence was that reminiscent of Kitana from Mortal Kombat

Jesse is vicious, tenacious and a force to be reckoned with. She made sure she left her mark on the fans here in Philadelphia. And was authentically herself and made sure fans knew what kind of woman she really is. With songs like “so bad”, “skeleton”, “slayer” and “patterns” you would be getting a little bit of everything. She even covered Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire” that made it’s way to the formidable “Fire of Love”.

Before bowing out for the night she made sure everyone knew that her shows are a safe space to come and be your authentic selves. And what a first impression she left on the hearts of Philadelphia fans.

Photography: Meg Duong at kismet + co

THEVERONICAS liveattheatreoflivingarts

The summer I visited Southern California for the first time ever. I happened upon a CD of a playlist that had all of the emo, alt pop punk, and pop music one can ever want to have on a single disc. It was just like a mixed CD your friends would burn for you and excitedly run up to gift you with it’s scribbled and smudged sharpie writing. Except this one was $10 from a video shop that sold a lot of Paris by Night and dubbed Chinese Soap Operas I knew I wanted to listen to the CD on my 5 hour flight home to Philadelphia. One song in particular stood out and made me hum all the way to baggage claim and that was “Untouched” by The Veronicas. Now fast forward to 2024, yes that’s 20 years later, and I am standing in the front of the stage awaiting the Australian duo to come on stage AND BOY WAS IT ELECTRIFYING.

The sisters, Lisa and Jessica Origliasso, formed the group back in 2004, and would release their first single a year later was as magical as everyone described them to be The energy from start to finish was on a 10 and the entire venue was so deep in nostalgia and good vibes. You could not help but catch them and get into it. I find that is a defining moment in live music: infectious vibes and unadulterated joy Not only were the sisters in fashionable form so were the fans decked out to the nines in all of their gothic summer attire. For first timers, there was quite a bit of songs that many of them knew the lyrics too. Whether it was from the radio, or MTV or a TV show You knew the words and the sisters It was hard not to

I was in awe and when I would lock eyes a few times with them from the pit — they’d smile at me in such an inviting way. It was hard not to be sad. And I think that’s the point of being at a show like theirs because for a moment you step out of the chaos of society and into a space where you belong and with fans who will sing along with you, dance the stress away and even cheers with you if you’re one to drink while you’re out for the night. Whatever the case maybe — they pull fans into a place where they could envelope themselves in nostalgia and forget the woes of 2024. And I think that’s all that is needed right now

setlist:

Take Me on the Floor

When It All Falls Apart

Everything I’m Not

Detox

Hook Me Up

Revenge Is Sweeter (Than You Ever Were)

This Love

Lolita

This Is How It Feels In My Blood

Jungle Here to Dance

4ever

Untouched

And as the lights went down on the crowd that packed the TLA the iconic first few chords of “Untouched” came booming in and with it the screams and cheerful singing of the crowd backing up The Veronicas. It was a sight to behold and one that I knew fans had waited for the entire night. And that’s a core memory you can’t ever take away from them.

The Gothic Summer tour is currently in Atlanta, GA at The Masquerade and will make it’s way to through Florida (Ft. Lauderdale, Orlando, and Tampa), onto Texas (Dallas and Houston), with a stop in Las Vegas at the House of Blues and ending the tour in Los Angeles at The Fonda Theatre on May 5th.