At Elsewhere Hall, Trauma Ray and Glixen made their New York stop with Philadelphia-based Knifeplay and Her New Knife as supporting acts for the first leg of their North American co-headliner tour. The room already had an unspoken dress code of black, whether a jacket, a band tee, or just an accessory. All four acts on the bill share an underlying current of shoegaze, whether they lean soft or heavy, and the crowd embraced it from the moment they walked into the room.
Glixen, the Phoenix, Arizona four-piece, followed the openers. Aislinn Ritchie on vocals and guitar, Esteban Santana on guitar, Sonia Garcia on bass, and Keire Johnson on drums had a blend of fiery and relaxed energy on stage throughout. Ritchie has the power of a delicate and hypnotizing voice, though the mix at the Bushwick venue made it hard to catch lyrics at times. She broke the ice with the Brooklyn crowd early, joking that they were intimidating and it worked. By the end of their set, the room had loosened up completely.
Trauma Ray, the Fort Worth five-piece, closed the night with Uriel Avila on vocals and guitar, Jonathan Perez on guitar, Coleman Pruitt on guitar, Darren Baun on bass, and Nicholas Bobotas on drums. Pulling from debut Chameleon and recent EP Carnival to a pumped up crowd, Avila caught the attention of fans immediately, catching an “I love you” from somewhere in the crowd and yelling it right back. Between songs he checked in with every section, reminding fans to keep each other safe during moshing and crowd surfing on a night of unleashed chaos.
Words and photography by BellaJoli Gedeon
Glixen at Elsewhere Brooklyn NY April 21 2026 photo by BellaJoli Gedeon
Order tickets for Trauma Ray and Glixen HERE