Another night of spooky marvelousness from Kosmic City that I plan to slight. And ain't one of you brave enough to stop me.

RxGhost stepped onto the stage just after 8pm, greeted by a wall of fog. The obscuring miasma was repeatedly replenished by a giddy, shadowy figure who I couldn't quite identify, yet I vowed to beat up later in the parking lot all the same. The club lights were low – maybe off – allowing the act's own floor lights to create an atmosphere too lovely to capture with a camera. The auditory portion is always difficult to share, but since I can't be shut up, here goes: This was guitarist Jeremiah James' last show with the band and he played like it, coloring the entire set with post-punk leads, punctuating string scrapes, and aggressive solos that grabbed the audience by its velvet lapels. The rhythm section of Chris Mead and Justin Brooks found ways to cut through, with each claiming shining moments during the group's half-hour set. The quartet's indie rock sits just shy of shoegaze, yet demonstrates every bit of the shy slacker vibe you'd expect. Much of that aura came from vocalist/rhythm guitarist Josh Thomas. His vocals wove in and out of compositions, riding the undulating waves of strummed hum. His lyrics were mumbled and muddled, yet still surprisingly evocative. The majority of the twelve-song set was built of unreleased tunes, signaling that a second album is close at hand. While I'm told that James will feature on the LP, RxGhost has since hitched its star to Jen Kean (ex-Still Ill). That's just piling intrigue on intrigue there.

The break between acts was substantial, but somewhere after 9pm the night picked back up with Denver's Plague Garden. The live incarnation of the band is led by vocalist/guitarist Fernando Altonaga and bolstered by five-string bassist Stephen Hannum, and rhythm guitarist "Sergio," who was playing his second show with the group. The usual keyboardist was unable to tour, so backing tracks alone were responsible for the icy synth beds and the pounding percussion. The sound on the stage was wild, flummoxing Altonaga. Eventually it was tempered, but not entirely tamed, as squalls of feedback echoed throughout the long fifty-minute set. The project is goth. Maybe you want to ascribe post-punk or darkwave qualities to it, but that's your business. Altonaga had a deep resonant voice that called out from the grave. He swayed a little when playing guitar and danced a bit more on the rare tracks where he didn't. His melodic leads were one-string concoctions that were received well. As the set wore on, I disappeared to the back of the room in search of a different sonic profile, less fog, and a place to sit. Either the relocation worked wonders or the back half of the ten-song set was loaded. A cover of Garbage's "#1 Crush" pulsed with bigger drums. Another song was programmed with frantic percussion revealing a previously-unseen bold edge. A strong bass line in another had me captivated. By the end I was really feeling it. Softened, I decided that I'd like to see Plague Garden again when it's at full quartet strength and unbothered by soundboard gremlins.

The room cleared at that point. It seems many goth baddies head home after 10pm. This suggests that some were only cosplaying as vampires, while the fifteen who remained in the dark room were the real deal.

Reviser went on at 10:30. The assembled undead started dancing immediately. It was infectious. In a good way. The band is a three-piece again. It's still led by the vocals and baritone guitar of Krysztof Nemeth, the guitar and backing vocals of Dedric Moore, and, now, the vocals of Breaka Dawn (of hardcore punks The Bad Ideas). That's a bold addition. Dawn never stole lead vocals, but she often overlapped Nemeth's to add a fuller sound. I'm sure comparisons to The March Violets would be taken kindly. Backing tracks provided sparkling synths that bordered on new wave and lively percussion that bristled with post-punk energy. I remembered the band as colder. As dirgier. As more sterile. Maybe I misremembered. Maybe Doktor Avalanche has thawed some. The New Order-esque leads, however, were just as I remembered them. Sometimes Moore's guitar carried the melodies, sometimes it chimed from Nemeth's baritone. Backing keys occasionally doubled either player for effect, creating nice variations in the thirty-five-minute set. If you're not on the group's regular I-35 touring corridor, then you'll have to check them out online. The latest single – "Celestine" – features Dawn's backing vocals and is a grand example of what Reviser currently has to offer.

Oh, one more thing. While waiting on the sidewalk outside of the club after the show I found out that it was Krysztof Nemeth who was the maestro of the perpetual fog machine. However, by that point my mood had been elevated by delay pedals and chorus and flangers and whatever else makes this sort of gauzy music magical. Or maybe the fresh air fixed me. Either way, I decided to forgo the fisticuffs and head for home instead. After all, he who slights and runs away, may live to slight another day.