Creepoid makes a triumphant return to Union Transfer

Seven years since their farewell hometown Union Transfer show, shoegaze heavies Creepoid returned to the very same stage Saturday night.  A few fog machines flooded the stage, one could barely make out the resurrected backlit bass drum head reading Creepoid. A kelly green hue shown down onto the starkly furnished stage, a color akin to the “old” Eagles colors. Crowd members in Eagles regalia packed up against the barrier and wasted no time singing the Eagles fight song. 

“Has anyone slept since the parade?” asked bassist / vocalist Anna Troxell, cracking a smile and shaking her head; clearly she was talking about herself and the day’s prior celebration. Guitarist / vocalist Sean Miller would later credit Anna for “calling it” for the Eagles last year.

Riding in like a hero on a white horse, Creepoid could be seen over the horizon, accompanied by (mostly) locals Halloween and Full Body 2 Saturday night.

Halloween, the best holiday to ever exist, is also the moniker of a moody, gothic pining and dark wave four piece. Purple and orange lit the stage, and Eli Sheppard’s bass rattled and boomed over the crowd. An uneasy feeling crept up, especially when Sheppard took his foot off the bass drum, turned around and displayed a toothy grin.

“Fate and Despair,” a single from summer 2024, laid a thick invisible layer of murky haze over Union Transfer. Heavily distorted guitar and vocals from Justus Proffit and Sia Dokos were parsed together like abstractly accompanied spoken word, macabre and mysterious. 

Building on that moody ambience, Full Body 2’s music is expansive and room filling, flush with a deep sense of sadness. For a three-piece spread across the large Union Transfer stage, it’s pulse-stopping. The crowd was still as statues.

Guitarist / vocalist Dylan Vaisey and bassist / vocalist Cassidy Rose Hammond themselves stood stoically as the colorful lights on stage rapidly bounced around them, drummer Jack Chaffer meticulously dialed in.

Full Body 2 drifted between interludes and tracks with haunting fluidity Saturday night, often peeling away Union Transfer’s sense of time and its passing, like “2g ether.” Then you have 2023’s “Blue Trio,” which is hard to nail down rhythmically and sonically; live it’s like looking at a 3D image without the glasses.

For the headliners, a LOT has happened since 2018, to say the least. Creepoid has enlisted Andrew Clinco of Drab Majesty, and later OG Nick Kulp, to join the crew, playing distorted guitar parts fans know well and hold dear.  The band also recently released their new single “Gutter Jeweller.”  More than a reunion one-off, the track is authentically Creepoid and a discerning prediction of more to come, featuring guitarist/vocalist Sean Miller’s sunken crooning. 

Eagles chants aside, of which there were multiple and sporadic outbursts, the band exuded a sense of triumph within their nine year catalog as well. Stretching back to 2009, Creepoid was Philly Shoegaze before the term Philly Shoegaze was even a thing. They wove together the harsh and soft of their creations, Horse Heaven, Creepoid, and Cemetery Highrise Slum, which turns 10 this summer. 

Creepoid blessed Saturday night’s crowd with songs they never thought they’d hear live again. “Grave Blanket” into “Yellow Wallpaper” into “Hallow Doubt” felt especially diabolical, each containing soul-tearing lyrics and haunting vocals. Together they embody exasperation, adamance, and eerie despondence.  But also due, in part, to the track’s early placement. Anna took charge of her emotions and the stage, more than her bandmates, thrashing and swinging her bass throughout.

As the set was starting to wind down, Anna Troxell stood still at center stage for Cemetery Highrise Slum‘s “Devil In the Subtext” and “Dream On” off Horse Heaven. Following the vibe of being carried to bed and drifting away, the band ended with “Enabler” off their first full length.

Creepoid didn’t play an encore during their reunion show Saturday night at Union Transfer; but maybe they will in the future.