Oldest Sea and Oktas Announce New England Shows for November
Geez, guys. If you wanted to go look at leaves, it’s fine. You didn’t have to book a whole long-weekender in New England to make it happen. But I guess while you’re there…
Both from the Philadelphia-ish area — Oktas in the city proper, Oldest Sea somewhere on the other side of the river in my beloved Garden State — and both supporting ridiculously strong 2022 releases, it would seem that Oldest Sea and Oktas fit well as tour partners despite not having a whole lot in common sonically. Actually, maybe in part it’s because of that disparity in their respective approaches that the match feels like it makes so much sense. Yeah, they’re both under the general umbrella-categories of ‘heavy’ and ‘dark,’ but Oktas dove headfirst into extremity on their 2022 debut, The Finite and the Infinite (review here) while Oldest Sea‘s Strange and Eternal (review here) leaned into folk-tinged doom.
You know, it’s funny. I say those things like they’re two completely different worlds, but people outside of this thing? Outside of the sphere of underground influence? They’d neither know nor care about any aesthetic distance between one and the other here, or about the bands themselves, or the styles more generally. When I drop my kid off at school, I see all these normal people getting ready to go lead normal lives. I don’t think I’m better than anyone for being involved in what might be kindly regarded as a deviant subculture (definitely a compliment given dominant culture), but it sure does feel weird to have a bunch of specified knowledge about something that’s invisible to more than 99 percent of the general population.
Life is weird, is what I’m saying.
I’d do with new releases from both of these bands — gluttony forever — but for now I’m just glad they’re getting out, since the more they can spread the word about what they’ve done so far and what might come next, the better off they and anyone fortunate enough to attend one of these shows will be. I was talking about the many joys of Ralph’s Rock Diner the other day, and not sarcastically. Easily was my favorite venue in Massachusetts when we lived there, and this is exactly the kind of show that’s best to see in that spot.
Wherever you are though, give consideration to something new even if you’re not familiar with the bands. Think about it. Take a listen. Enjoy a bit of adventure. Maybe you want to go see the leaves too:
OLDEST SEA & OKTAS – New England Fall 2023
TOUR ANNOUNCEMENT
This November we’ll be heading up to New England with our buds in @oktasband
11.09 – Ralph’s Diner – Worcester MA
11.10 – The Mayday – Providence RI
11.11 – Urban Farm Fermentory – Portland ME
11.12 – The Monkey House – Burlington VT
11.13 – Desperate Annie’s – Saratoga Springs NY
Thanks to @stephasketch for the beautiful flyer artwork (#128420#)
Says Oktas: “We put together a fun New England tour with our friends Oldest Sea this November! Big thanks to Steph Stevenson for lending us one of her paintings for the poster!”
https://www.facebook.com/oldestsea
https://www.instagram.com/oldestsea/
https://oldestsea1.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/oktasband
https://www.instagram.com/oktasband/
https://oktas.bandcamp.com/
