Show Review: For You, Always for You. at Commonwealth Skateboarding

There are precious few good sight lines at Commonwealth Skateboarding. The skate shop just off Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard has been hosting amazing punk shows in the space adjacent to its indoor skatepark for the past few months. But with no stage to speak of, both artists and their fans are literally on equal ground, meaning that during packed events, unless you are mere feet from the folks thrashing away at their instruments, you might not be able to see them at all. A poured concrete platform nearby isn’t much help. Perfect for railsides, terrible for visibility.

Does this matter to anyone packed into the space last Monday to hear Swedish noise pop artist Weatherday and local emo stormbringers Southtowne Lanes? Not one bit. Simply knowing that the bands were there, soundtracking an evening of jostling about with a few dozen other like-minded souls, was more than enough. Catching a flash of the musicians’ bodies or faces beyond the rabble was merely an added bonus.

The only performer I could see fully and clearly was For You, Always for You., a one-person passion project by an artist known simply as Lillyn who astutely categorizes their work as “gay screamo on a banjo.” At its most ecstatic, the music feels like a klieg light pointed right in the listener’s face, blinding and smoldering in its intensity. But throughout, the spotlight dimmed and we were faced with shatteringly direct lyrics about the death of a close friend or the shedding of one’s skin.

Their performance had a dual effect on both Lillyn and their audience, draining us all emotionally but enlivening us spiritually. Our collective shoulders slumped under the weight of their words and their heated wails, but our eyes widened, thrilled at the realization that we could carry that burden a lot easier as a group.