Apr 5

Apr 5 Show Review: Zero 9:36 Delivers Powerful, Intimate Performance in Sacramento

Zero 9:36
w/ Fame on Fire, Garzi
’Monster Energy Outbreak” Tour
March 31st, 2022
Goldfield Downtown
Sacramento, CA

Photos and Review by Jared Stossel

Back in November, I ended up catching Neck Deep’s U.S. headlining tour at The Warfield Theater in San Francisco. The show started at 6 PM and featured four openers. To say it was a long show would be an understatement, but every opener was unique in their own way. One of those acts was Zero 9:36, who I’d never even heard a single song from until that evening. I was impressed by their set, and it reminded me a lot of the hip-hop and early 2000s “nu-metal” era of music that I grew up listening to. On my quest to try and catch each of these opening acts on their own tours, I ended up stopping at Goldfield Downtown in Sacramento, CA to see Zero 9:36 take the stage for a captivating hour-long headlining set.

The show was kicked off by Garzi, an up-and-coming artist in a wave of genre-bending musicians that are combining elements of hip-hop, rock, metal, pop, punk, and everything in between into a unique mix of sounds. I give Garzi a lot of credit for this performance; he’s touring the country by himself; no backing band, just the MP3s and a microphone. He’s onstage by himself, having to read the room every single night and try to give the people in the room who generally don’t give two shits about the opening act a great performance. With any other opening act that would do this, I can tell you now that I would feel incredibly awkward watching it unfold. But not with Garzi; he’s engaging and fun to watch. You can tell that if he had a band playing there with him, the performance would be elevated even more; I’m looking forward to watching him grow as an artist.

Fame on Fire followed next in the main support slot, and my attention was immediately drawn to how many people were in the audience specifically for them. This wasn’t a Slipknot/Coal Chamber situation where the opener was vastly outdrawing the headliner in terms of crowd attendance, but it did surprise me; you don’t see this that often. Regardless, the Palm Beach, Florida four-piece put on an entertaining show, bringing forth their brand of rap rock to get everyone in the mood for the evening’s headliner. There is clearly some form of nu-metal resurgence happening in the rock world, but it feels like it’s being improved upon with this newer crop of artists.

It also surprised me to see that Zero 9:36 only played for an hour (the show ended at 9:15). Granted, it was an hour-long show, which is how long a headlining act should always perform, but it hit me; Zero’s only been putting out music since 2019 and has only two EPs that clock in around a half hour each (as well as a few singles). Technically, he’s still brand new! But this was definitely a quality over quantity situation: Zero 9:36 performed about ten songs, each one more powerful than the last. He’s a bit soft-spoken in between songs, but there was an intimate feeling to this show that made it more unique than seeing him on a larger stage like The Warfield. The Philadelphia-based artist powered through track after track, ending with the hook-laden track “Adrenaline” before the lights came back up in the venue. My personal favorite moment, though? “The End”, the second-to-last song that mixed Linkin Park-esque riffs with an Eminem-like delivery that explodes out of the speakers upon hitting a crushing chorus.

These artists are all part of the “Monster Energy Outbreak” Tour, a tour that usually highlights that are just “breaking out”, poised to be the next big thing in their prospective genres. The tour finishes up on April 15th, and if you have a chance to check it out, grab a ticket. Next time around, these acts might be in arenas. You never know.

Zero 9:36 Set List
I’m Not
Leave The Light On
II X Two
Take Me Instead
Fade Out
In My Hands
Reset
WWYDF
The End
Adrenaline