I wasn’t going to single out any particular performance from this weekend’s Dark Side of the Con because all of the artists are great and the two-day virtual festival was a helluva feat to pull off.
But New York City’s Interface gave such a fantastic performance and it’s such a compelling story that I have to mention them. They performed virtually on Sunday night. I’ve embedded the Youtube playback below at the start of their performance.
Interface played in a three-panel Zoom room with each of its members appearing from their own homes to respect social distancing. It seems like this would be a trainwreck given Zoom’s lag and other issues, but it looked and felt perfect. I have no idea how they pulled this off.
The guys played for nearly 45 minutes with a setlist that includes some of their best-known songs and several tracks from last year’s excellent release, Where All Roads Lead. They played latest single, “Not With Me,” which now seems like an anthem for these stay-at-home times. They closed with a cover of “Land of Confusion” by Genesis. It was an incredible set.
But an even bigger reason to recognize Interface is that keyboardist Jon Billian is an EMT with the New York Fire Department whose been on the frontline of the coronavirus pandemic since it began. Jon has recently become ill, yet he still performed for us! You can see him visibly coughing during part of the performance. I have tremendous respect for the work he does professionally and as an artist. Please get well soon.
Interface is releasing a new EP on Friday, May 1, called Dystopia. It will contain unreleased material from the Where All Roads Lead sessions and a new song called “When You Fall (You Don’t Rise Again).” It’s a pay-what-you-want download at Bandcamp, and all proceeds will be donated to a Help Fund that was created to support emergency medical technicians and paramedics of the FDNY. Buy it.
