Article and Photos by: Kyle Ostrander

Queens, NY – Texas-based alternative rock band Trauma Ray have been steadily making a name for themselves over the past several years. Having released a string of EPs and singles since 2018, the group put out their debut album, Chameleon, earlier this year. The band are currently on an extensive tour in support of Chameleon, which included a sold out show at TV Eye in NYC this past Friday.

The stage lights turned to a saturated green, fog filled the venue, and ambient synth reverberated through the speakers as the band walked on stage. Their performance launched off with the dynamic song “Ember”, the first song off the aforementioned album, which oscillated between melodic clean tones, and fuzzed out heavy riffs. Throughout the night the group played several more cuts from their excellent new record, including “Torn”, “Chameleon”, “Bishop”, “Breath”, “Spectre”, and “Bardo”, during which the crowd was singing the words “Stay here, won’t you stay here” during the chorus. The rest of the set consisted of a mix of songs from Trauma Ray’s catalog, before closing the show with fan-favorite “Relay”.

The dark and heavy energy of the music was equally matched by the band pounding their instruments as they flung them around on stage. All the while, the band members would often break out into smiling faces, highlighting just how much fun they were all having performing together. “Thank you all so much for being here tonight! It means so much to us. We’d also like to thank all of the amazing opening bands who played with us, the venue staff, and the sound guy for being so awesome” said the band in appreciation. If this show is any indication of what the group has ahead of them, it’s clear it’s only going to be larger venues, and even more dedicated fans from here on out.

Trauma Ray’s tour has only a handful of US dates remaining this month, before traveling to the UK in February next year. You can view all of their upcoming shows here.