Trains and Changing Constants: KST's Theatrical Odyssey at the Great American Music Hall

KST, or 康士坦的變化球, performed the fifth and last stop of their 2024 US Tour for their latest album, 眠月線 Track to Sleeping Moon (2023) on March 16 at Great American Music Hall in San Francisco. Hailing from Taiwan and founded in 2013, the post-rock band delivered an ambitious attempt to bring an experimentally theatrical live experience to the American audience that stays aligned with KST’s consistency of style.

The four members—ARNY (guitarist and frontman), Creed (guitarist), SionC (bassist), and Gail (drummer and vocalist)—took the stage clad in long, white suits reminiscent of a doctor’s lab coat, a stylistic choice that reflects the band’s signature approach to music: an examination of life’s heaviest themes through powerful yet controlled outbursts of energy. The name of the band is derived from a quote from Heraclitus: “Change is the only constant in life.”

The band’s recent tour across Taiwan and mainland China serves as a testament to their commitment to constant evolution, in which they showcased their dedication to their audience with an immersive, multisensory experience that combined innovative stage design, visuals, even collaborating with VM Theatre to merge rock music with theatrical elements.

However, it is worth noting the limitations they faced during their first American tour due to venue restraints. After watching clips of their performances last year in Chinese cities, I quickly realized that the Great American Music Hall, while historic and intimate, couldn’t fully encapsulate the grandeur of KST’s vision. Despite this, the band adapted admirably, dividing the show into four distinct chapters—”Journey,” “A Calling,” “The Forgotten,” and “Choice”—by interjecting visual compilations of rapid-fire text and spoken word tracks, constructing the narrative of a moving train and its passengers. Hence, KST extends the metaphor in the album in its attempt to grasp the feeling of loss, grief, and regret in the irrevocable passage of time. Although their performance in San Francisco was undoubtedly mesmerizing, I couldn’t help but wonder what the full effect would have been if they had been given fewer physical and spatial restraints. As a band popular in Taiwan for their lyrical exploration, it will prove a challenge for KST to translate this experience to a larger audience outside the Chinese language-speaking community.

Track to Sleeping Moon is a tapestry of cinematic and poetic elements, exploring the complexities of human emotion with analytical instrumental precision, a legacy of their signature style. One of my favorite tracks on the album, 人格補完計劃, seems to be a nod to the “Human Instrumentality Project” from the Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise, featuring piercingly yearning lyrics over a cinematic soundscape with science fiction overtones. Design choices for the album cover as well as live visuals also reminded me of the visual aesthetic and stream-of-consciousness internal monologues of the series. However, other tracks on the album, as well as the accompanying music videos, remain grounded in the everyday scenes of modern Taiwan, detracting from the dreamlike quality of the album. Personally, I would have wished to see the overall vision of their last album lean in this latter direction as a departure from the portraits of urban life in their previous albums. With the band’s serious dedication to their craft, their audience, and continual progress, KST’s natural ability to transform their stage presence into a whirlwind of explosive energy has strong potential to blossom into a more artistically mature experience for their newfound audience in the US.

In conclusion, KST’s performance at the Great American Music Hall was nothing short of captivating. While the venue may have posed some limitations, the band’s unwavering commitment to pushing artistic boundaries shone through. As I reflect on the evening’s experience, I can’t help but eagerly anticipate the day when I can witness KST on a grander stage, where their unique brand of musical exploration can truly flourish. Until then, their music will serve as a poignant reminder of the beauty found in embracing change and challenging the status quo.