Veil of Maya Live at The Gramercy Theater

Chug Chug Chug. Double Bass. Cookie Monster. Breakdown!

Event Details:

• Date: February 13, 2024

• Venue: The Gramercy Theater (Manhattan)

• Ticket Price: $35.25

• Artists:

  • Veil of Maya

  • AngelMaker

Veil of Maya was always one of those bands that was cool to jam when I was working out or needed a quick shot of adrenaline but I never followed their music too closely. I was more curious to experience how they sounded live and there is nothing better than a concert on a Tuesday night!

To begin, the place was way oversold and when I arrived as the co-headliner was playing I could barely get through the door before I was met with a wall of people. It seemed a noticeable number of people left after AngelMaker’s set, so the crowd opened up a bit and I was able to find a more comfortable place. The crowd was full of out of shape, wannabe alpha males doing karate kicks and “dancing” as they call it. Not surprisingly, a fight almost broke out a few songs into Veil of Maya’s set. I do appreciate the lead singer saying between songs, “I don’t want to see any fighting. If you can’t keep your shit together in here then get the fuck out!”

The thing about Veil of Maya and AngelMaker (whom I had never heard of before tonight) is their music is so formulaic and predictable it is almost a bit boring at times. There wasn’t anything outstanding about the show tonight, just some good jams and really average vocals. Not sure if the mix was out of balance, since the vocals just seemed way too high, or if their music translates poorly because the tone is so processed. I am more inclined to say the latter given similar bands I’ve seen like this have had the same issue.

Overall, the songs I was looking forward to hearing sounded decent and the guitarist was fun to watch when he actually decided to express himself and utilize his talent. Can’t say I will be jumping at the bit to see them the next time they come to town but it was worth $35.

Cheers and keep rocking!