‘Spin The Bottle’ UK/Europe tour on 21st November 2024

Words & Pictures by Kieran Atkinson

Tonight, an excited crowd of eager fans welcome an evening’s entertainment from co-headliners: Chrissy Costanza, and VOILÀ, at Birmingham’s modern-music venue, 02 Institute. Having just recently completed a 12-day stint in the States, the troupe are here tonight, delivering their brand of Pop-Rock/Punk, on the second date of the UK leg of their sold out ‘Spin The Bottle’ tour. Taking place inside ‘Institute 2’; the second room of this multi-room venue, and having a standing-only capacity of 600, it made for a more intimate occasion, and it was rammed from the outset.

This show is a mainly collaborative affair from the union that comprises: Costanza, and LA-based duo Gus Ross and Luke Eisner from VOILÀ as her backing band.

Christina, a 29 year old singer from New Jersey, is best known as the vocalist and primary songwriter in the rock band Against The Current, (ATC), from New York, who formed in 2011. Having been with the band since she was 15, right now, she is taking a bold departure to embark on her first solo tour and explore a new form she felt was not possible within ATC. Early fruits of this new project manifest in the form of the single ‘7 Minutes in Hell ft. VOILÀ’, and her first EP ’VII’ co-written by VOILÀ - released back in October, and very much the centerpiece of tonight’s offering, with the fans eager to witness her new direction.

As a prelude to the show, the crowd were introduced to their new AI companion, ‘Charlotte’, proceeded to guide the crowd through three varying stages of karaoke montages, for the purpose of readying the vocal cords for what they were about to participate in. She played songs from the likes of ‘Panic At The Disco’, ‘Blink 182’, and ‘My Chemical Romance’. The crowd invested their energy wholeheartedly into this; it proved to be a successful device.

The show kicked off with the jointly produced, and performed, ‘Caught It’, a belter, oozing energy and fun.

Straight after that, VOILÀ performed three of their own songs without Chrissy on stage including ‘Drinking With Cupid’ and ‘Don’t Say I Didn’t Warn You’, sustaining an energetic atmosphere, and with singer Gus Ross delivering an impressive vocal range. The show continued in this vein with Chrissy and Guss trading vocal performances.

Chrissy returned to the stage and ripped straight into ‘But, What If I Fly?’, her first solo song and the first track on her ‘VII’ EP. In fact, almost the entire set is previously unheard material. It’s easy to notice her genuine personal connection to the lyrics through her soaring vocal delivery, dripping in melancholic reflection, with the overall mood being enhanced by ethereal synth backdrops, a common theme for all the songs on this EP.

Chrissy explained that the driving force behind her pursuing this solo project was to prove she could do something as ‘her’, after many years in her youth being the one on the outside.

At about mid-point, the show takes an unusual twist. An elaborate prop is brought on to the stage; a vertical spinning wheel, adorned with flashing LED lights, like something from a TV game show, and bearing song titles along the many segments. A random audience member is selected to spin the wheel to choose what song is played next. Misery Business by Paramore landed on the arrow on this occasion, and the band rendered an amazing version of this in their own inimitable style.

The crowd were later treated to a demo version of an as-yet unreleased Chrissy song, ‘What If Sin Could Save Me’. Given the crowd’s reaction, this is likely ear marked for imminent release.

Two of the evening’s songs were taken from the hit game League of Legends, the first was ‘Phoenix’, the 2019 single, that originally featured Cailin Russo on vocals. Then, following VOILÀ’s performance of ‘Figure You Out’, the second from League of Legends, a cover of ATC’s - ‘Legends Never Die’, a collaboration she did for the 2019 World Championships.

The last song of the evening was the powerful, gothic tinged ‘7 Minutes Of Hell’, released as a single featuring VOILÀ and performed by Chrissy and VOILÀ tonight. Chrissy hails this as her first solo project without ATC and proclaims it ‘a direct expression of her creativity’, while assuring us not to worry as ‘ATC is still alive and rocking!”

This performance will no doubt go a long way towards shifting large quantities of the ‘VII’ EP and leave people anxiously waiting to see what she has to offer next as a solo artist.

After their final UK show in London, they will venture into Europe to conclude their tour with dates in Paris, Amsterdam, Cologne, Hamburg and Berlin.