Over the weekend, Kim Dracula (not to be confused with our “King Dracula spelled backwards”) brought America’s Gradual Decline In Morale Tour to Brooklyn Bowl in Fishtown. See photos from the show thanks to Digital Noise Mag plus the full setlist below.
Kim Dracula, who’s from Australia, built up a following on TikTok with their alt-metal covers of massive pop songs. Their melancholy take on Lady Gaga’s 2008 hit “Paparazzi” took off, propelling them towards the top of the list of most-followed artists on TikTok in 2020.
It’s one thing to attract attention with clever twists on chart-toppers that are already beloved. It’s another game entirely to follow through and win the loyalty of your fanbase beyond some flash-in-the-pan virality. Kim Dracula, with guns blazing, was up for the challenge.
Their debut album A Gradual Decline in Morale was released last summer and far surpassed the social hype. Alt-metal and trap collide for a wild ride that, while avante-garde, feels familiar thanks to obvious nods to early 2000s nu metal. Think: Jonathan Davis of Korn scatting over $uicideboy$ while intentionally driving a Lambo over a cliff.
If that sounds chaotic, that’s because it’s exactly that. The 20-track LP is a twisted soundtrack to biopic playing out in Kim Dracula’s mind, complete with internal commentary and a couple of palate-cleaning ‘commercial breaks’. It’s such an intimate look inside the mind of our anti-hero that by the end of the album, you can’t help but sympathize with them, even through the guttural screams about the fictional carnage left in their wake.
It’s not easy to translate all of this to the stage, but the band brought Philadelphia along for the ride at Brooklyn Bowl and it was all we could do to keep our hands and arms inside the vehicle. Screaming, dancing, moshing, a Devo cover and more than a few saxophone solos kept everybody moving.
The Philly show was the first stop on this tour, and the run will continue across the U.S. through the end of March. Check out the concert gallery below of Kim Dracula, Jeris Johnson, and Local Shots alumni Tallah.
SETLIST: Kim Dracula at Brooklyn Bowl Philadelphia, March 9th, 2024
1. A Gradual Decline in Morale
2. Reunion and Reintegration (live debut)
3. Whip It (Devo cover)
4. Undercover
5. Luck Is A Fine Thing (Give It A Chance)
6. Drown
7. My Confession
8. The Bard’s Last Note
9. Superhero
10. Divine Retribution
11. Rosé
12. Industry Secrets
13. Paparazzi (Lady Gaga cover)
14. Make Me Famous
15. 1-800-CLOSE-UR-EYES
16. Land of the Sun
17. Kitty Kitty
18. SAY PLEASE!
Encore:
19. Killdozer
