It’s been six years since Turnstile last visited Asia, and it’s a massive understatement to say a lot has changed since then.
From 300 cap venues in 2018, they’re now playing to tens of thousands at We The Fest, Fuji Rock, and Incheon Pentaport Rock Festival. That’s not to mention the Coachella and Glastonbury spots, arena tour supporting blink-182, Converse collab, and GRAMMY noms — plural! — they now have under their belts.
It comes as no surprise then that an intimate, no-barricade headlining gig as their first show back in Asia would turn out to be a gathering of fans from all over the region.
I walked into Voice Space Bangkok on 18 July, and the passports I glimpsed upon registration proved that people travelled from China, Malaysia, Indonesia, and potentially many more countries just to catch this show. I flew solo from the Philippines, but it didn't take me long to hear Filipino being spoken all over the venue — from the first group of people in line to fellow photographers covering the show, even finding musicians from bands like Typecast, Chicosci, and The Mind Is A Terrible Thing among the crowd.
The event, organized by VIJI Corp (their first hardcore show at that!), was highly anticipated with fans lining up as early as noon and the entire merch table selling out in 30 minutes.
Thai hardcore act Whispers opened the pit right away, delivering a hard-hitting opening set that set the tone for the rest of the night. In between spiels in their local Thai, they commanded the crowd into circle pits as the rest of the audience cheered them on.
Everyone had a great time, so much so that in between songs, you’d see foreigners putting their hands together and bowing to each other. Don’t think I’ve ever seen that at a hardcore show before, but what’s Turnstile if not to push some boundaries?
That said, would it really be a Turnstile show without some Whitney Houston? As ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody’ rung out, the lights dimmed, the crowd huddled, and Turnstile—Daniel Fang, Freaky Franz, Pat McRory, and Brendan Yates, with touring guitarist Meg Mills—took the stage and started things strong with [a little] ‘T.L.C.’
It didn’t take long for stage divers to join them as they played into ‘ENDLESS’ and ‘Fazed Out’ before slowing things down with an ‘UNDERWATER BOI’ acapella sing-along.
The band thanked the fans for coming out, and everyone else for their hospitality, shouting out Whispers for showing them around the city back in 2018. As with any hardcore show, there weren’t a lot of words said beyond this; it’s just pure energy and emotion from both sides of the stage.
Sweaty bodies crashed and missing shoes were held up during ‘DON’T PLAY’, but the show had to take a pause when the band spotted a nasty stage dive and called attention to medics. Brendan took the time to remind us to look out for each other, checking in with the crowd and the rest of the band before picking things back up with the aptly titled ‘Keep It Moving.'
After two songs from Step 2 Rhythm, old fans continued to be treated with tracks from Nonstop Feeling — ‘Gravity’ and ‘Drop’ — as well as from Time & Space — ‘Real Thing’ and ‘Big Smile’. It was a non-stop medley of fast-paced hardcore, perfectly punctuated by one of the first songs they ever wrote: ‘The Things You Do’.
For a band that’s all drummers, ‘I Don’t Wanna Be Blind’ was extra fun with Brendan joining Daniel on the intro and Freaky jamming on the bass.
Tiring as their set is, there are no encores in this 1-hour show. At most, the band got a quick break while Daniel improvised an insane 3-minute drum solo that kept everyone on their toes. This flowed smoothly into the melodic ‘Blue By You’ for a change of pace, followed by a literal ‘BLACKOUT’ with only cell phone flashlights illuminating the venue.
Silhouetted by flashing stage lights, the horde stayed onstage as the lights transitioned to a pink haze. The intro synths of ‘MYSTERY’ hit and the crowd fully invaded the stage, jumping, diving, singing, and screaming.
Brendan invited the crowd to get up on stage for one last song: ‘HOLIDAY’. We didn’t need to be told twice. The stage erupted, almost reminiscent of the iconic end to the GLOW ON release show, where their hometown crowd surrounded them, singing along and singing back “I want to thank you for letting me see myself / I want to thank you for letting me be myself.”
This was a different, more celebratory ending. We closed the night dancing on stage, screaming “I can sail with no direction” loud and proud, free to do whatever we wanted, as pink and white confetti rained down on 1,400 of us.
I’ve heard that Turnstile shows have always been a welcoming space to experience the energy, community, and just the beauty of hardcore. But it was extra validating to see it for myself, in our little corner of the world, surrounded by strangers speaking different languages, gathered for one night to witness something special.
You really have to see it live to get it.
Turnstile Live in Bangkok Setlist:
- T.L.C. (TURNSTILE LOVE CONNECTION)
- ENDLESS
- Come Back For More (intro)
- Fazed Out
- UNDERWATER BOI
- DON’T PLAY
- 7
- Keep It Moving
- Gravity
- Drop
- Real Thing
- Big Smile
- Canned Heat
- The Things You Do
- NEW HEART DESIGN
- I Don’t Wanna Be Blind
- WILD WRLD
- FLY AGAIN
- Drum Solo
- Blue By You
- BLACKOUT
- MYSTERY
- ALIEN LOVE CALL
- HOLIDAY
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