Stabbing Westward, Bellhead, Caustic

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Erica Vincent

A close-up of the band Stabbing Westward.

Stabbing Westward

Stabbing Westward emerged as one of the finest bands from the late-1990s industrial alt-rock movement — enjoying major-label success, five Top 20 mainstream rock singles and tours with The Cult and Depeche Mode. Even today, the band doesn’t play smaller venues like the Crucible very often, which makes this weeknight gig especially worthy of attention. Stabbing Westward fell apart in 2002 but reunited in 2015 with two of its original members; 2022’s Chasing Ghosts was the band’s first full-length album in 21 years and proved that anthems full of rage, dejection, betrayal and heartache never go out of style. Bellhead (a Chicago-based guitar-free, post-punk male-female duo) and Caustic (an industrial/powernoise band straight outta Madison) open.

$35 ($30 adv.).

media release: Crucible is thrilled to welcome Stabbing Westward for a rare smaller venue show! Bellhead and Caustic open.

Blending the scathing electronics of underground industrial/rock with the emotive melodies of goth and a decidedly radio-friendly sensibility, Stabbing Westward rose to great heights in the mid-‘90s alternative boom. Formed in 1986 by Walter Flakus and Christopher Hall, the band went from underground cult sensation to the heights of critical and commercial success thanks to such songs as “Shame,” “Save Yourself,” “So Far Away” and “What Do I Have to Do?”. To this day, these songs remain anthems of heartache, dejection, rage, betrayal and depression.

With two Gold albums and numerous hit singles, Stabbing Westward fell from grace with the 2001 self-titled album amid personal and professional turmoil, disbanding the following year and leaving a void in modern music that was somewhat filled by Hall’s later work in The Dreaming. However, it was the release of that band’s Rise Again in 2015 that the seeds were sown for a reunion. That album saw Flakus once again making music with Hall, with Stabbing Westward guitarist Mark Eliopulos joining The Dreaming onstage in Chicago for a set of past hits. In 2019, Hall and Flakus came together again to release the Dead And Gone EP, the first new Stabbing Westward material in 18 years. Written and produced by Flakus and Hall over the course of three years, and recorded in multiple states and time zones, these new songs capture the very essence of the Stabbing Westward sound. Adding longtime bandmate Carlton Bost (Orgy, Deadsy, The Dreaming) and new drummer Bobby Amaro (Orgy) to the official lineup, the band has also once again recruited the talent of producer John Fryer—instrumental on early albums “Ungod” and “Wither Blister Burn + Peel”—for a new album, Chasing Ghosts released in march 2022 through a new partnership with COP International.

"Chasing Ghosts might be Stabbing Westward’s best album to date, this isn’t the sound of a band trying to recapture their old sound, it’s the sound of a passionate band feeling revitalized and building off of their strengths to propel them to a new future and new heights.” therockpit

Bellhead is a post-punk male-female duo band. Two basses and a drum machine. No Guitar, No BS. MADE IN CHICAGO.

Caustic is an industrial band from Madison, famous the world over for playing vulgar, distorted beep-boop music.