Molchat Doma and Sextile at the Fox Theater in Oakland

Words by Andy Pohl

The Fox Theater in Oakland played host to the East Bay debut of Belarusian post-punk trio, Molchat Doma. The band has managed to build a sizable audience since starting in 2017, thanks in part to going viral on social media platforms like TikTok. The gorgeous theater was an excellent setting for the two band bill.

First up was Los Angeles electronic outfit Sextile. Featuring a mix of electronic and analog instrumentation, the co-vocalists traded off on lead duties while their frenetic synth sounds pulsated through the house speakers. Their sound was aggressive, but not abrasive, and oft-times very infectious. The live drums added a bit of raw warmth to the otherwise super clean production quality of the music. The group were very engaged with the audience and made use of the space on stage by moving around quite a bit, and on their final song bringing out a flag which stated “Abortion Rights Now!”, which according to the singer, was apropos to the theme of the song they were singing . Having never seen them, or even heard of them before, I was quite pleasantly surprised by how much I like them! I always love when you find a new great band at a show.

Next up was Molchat Doma. The trio, composed of two instrumentalists and a lead vocalist, played a set of songs that incorporated a mix of post-punk, electronica and new-wave. Singer Egor Shkutko sings in a deep, crooning style which adds an extra level of brooding to the music. On several songs, he would break out some tasty dance moves that one might see at discotheques. Instrumentalists Pavel Kozlov and Roman Komogortsev switched regularly between guitar or bass and synths depending on the song. They, too, would periodically find themselves dancing along with the song. Every song had an accompanying drum track that had been pre-programmed. The group played through their set with very little dialogue between songs besides a few “thank yous” (“spasibo”) to the audience. After a small break towards the end of their set, they returned for a 4 song encore, which included what is notably their most popular song, “Судно (Борис Рижий)” (translated to English, “The vessel (Boris Rizhiy)”) which was met to a huge reaction from the audience.

Setlist