The sun had barely set when the bass frequencies began rattling the floorboards of The Wise Hall. Arriving around 6:00 PM, halfway through soundcheck, the venue felt like a living room for the city’s outcasts. The Wise is a cute, homey spot that immediately instills a sense of community, a stark contrast to the sterile, corporate venues that dominate the downtown core.
But this wasn't just a gig. FKA. Fest, curated by the industrial-pop provocateur FKA Rayne herself, was positioned as an exhibition of the Pacific Northwest's "weird" and "spooky" subcultures. Before the first chord was struck, the tone was set by the vendors lining the perimeter. From the dark, modded plushies of @build.a.scare to intricate taxidermy and alt-jewelry, the room felt like a sanctuary for the "Undead." It was a plethora of familiar faces, if you are at all embedded in the local alt scene, you knew someone here. It was a gathering of a wide group of tribes, creating a safe space where the "classy punk" fashion vibe was to die for.
First to the bat was Lola. While usually a quartet, the local Vancouver band was one man short for the evening, performing as a trio. It didn't matter. They transformed the social hall into a performance space with ease.
The lead vocalist, barefoot and clad in a simple black shirt and shorts, projected a grounded, "we'd play this even if only ten people showed up" energy. But there were far more than ten people. A steady flow of attendees began trickling in around 7:00 PM, and the room didn't stop filling up until well past 9:00 PM. Despite some necessary guitar tuning between tracks, handled with grace, Lola played a killer show. Their chill, atmospheric sound was the perfect primer, warming up the room without overpowering the intimacy of the space.
After a brief turnaround that gave the swelling crowd a chance to browse the vendors and navigate the venue’s "cash only" bar line, daysormay took the stage. This Vernon-bred band is by no means new to the scene and their years of playing together were visible in their strong live chemistry.
If Lola was the atmosphere, daysormay was the action sequence. Closing my eyes, their sound gave off a "polished grit" that I can only imagine accompanying an epic fight scene. With distinctive, actually clear guitars and a rhythm section that locked in tight, they walked the line between underground DIY ethos and clear, stadium-ready branding.
The track "Simmer" was a standout moment; its infectious groove had me forgetting to take photos, simply swept up in the momentum. They followed it with "Ego," a popular track that made it impossible not to move. By the end of their set, they had successfully shifted the energy from "gathering" to "concert," prepping the audience for the chaos to come.
When FKA Rayne hit the stage, the wooden box acoustics of The Wise were pushed to their absolute limit. Her Industrial Nu-metal sound didn't just fill the room; it hit the roof and crashed back down onto the audience.
Rayne’s performance was a declaration of independence. Since the release of "Side Effect" in June 2022, she has been on a roll, and this event felt like the culmination of her revolution against mainstream pop aesthetics. Her outfit was a direct extension of her "Undead" persona, stark whites and blacks, matching the cover art of her 2026 EP (shot at the actual Vancouver Morgue), with stitching designs painted directly onto her skin. Her performing lifestyle is truly impressive, giving her musical character a fleshed-out, larger-than-life personality that dominated the small stage.
She dropped "Praying Mantis," one of my personal favorites, as the second song of the night, a high-energy treat right out of the gate. Iconic tracks like "Disgusting" and "BITE DOWN" triggered immediate mosh pits, with the crowd screaming along to the abrasive, cathartic choruses.
Rayne’s stage banter was playful yet feral. She introduced the track "WOOF" by asking a guest feature to "bark" for her, and later orchestrated a moment of pure aggression by having the entire room scream "Shut the fuck up" during her track "SHUT UP."
The emotional peak of the night came second to last. I was thrilled to hear the opening chords of "Side Effect." Rumor has it she doesn't always play this "anthem" of her transition, but tonight she did. Me and the crowd sang our hearts out, a shared moment of validation for everyone who has followed her journey from "pop girlie" to industrial queen.
FKA. Fest was more than a concert; it was a triumphant exorcism of FKA Rayne's pop past. By reanimating the local community and filling The Wise Hall to its 250-person capacity, she proved that the "weird" subcultures of the Pacific Northwest aren't just lurking in the dark, they're alive, loud, and ready to scream.