An Evening in Hell: Plini, Night Verses, and Portraits at The Masquerade – October 14, 2026
There’s something amusing about telling someone you spent Wednesday night in Hell with Plini. Throw Night Verses and Portraits into the mix, and it starts sounding like the setup for a particularly strange joke.
But Hell, one of the rooms at Atlanta’s Masquerade, was exactly where three instrumental progressive acts gathered for an evening of heavy riffs, technical wizardry, and enough musical complexity to keep even the most attentive listener on their toes.
It was to be an evening of progressive instrumental performances, carried by three very distinct approaches to heavy, technical musicianship.
Portraits
The bi-coastal project, Portraits, opened the evening with technically proficient musicianship as guitarists Joshua De La Victoria and Joseph Anidjar traded leads throughout the set, complemented by the tight, rhythmic foundation of Lang Zhao on drums and Joseph Umansky on bass. Each song had its own style of heaviness, yet remained musically colorful and easy to appreciate.
Night Verses
If Portraits brought the technical precision, Night Verses arrived determined to turn up the intensity. The West Coast trio of Nick DePirro (guitar), Reilly Herrera (bass), and Aric Improta (drums) launched into what could best be described as a sonic assault that relentlessly delivered a combination of heavy, progressive instrumental music from beginning to end. Their dense, aggressive, and demanding music built a wall of sound that showed no interest in letting up.
Plini
Plini closed the evening with a performance that balanced technical ferocity and melodic intensity, proving once again that extraordinary guitar playing doesn’t necessarily require an equally-oversized personality.
Having seen him perform several times, I’ve always found Plini to be a remarkably humble and understated presence onstage. There’s something refreshing about watching a musician capable of such intricate playing approach the audience with an easygoing demeanor and a healthy sense of humor. In this case, humor that produced one of the evening’s most memorable moments.
At one point, Plini noticed someone juggling near the back of the room. Her name was Carly, and rather than simply acknowledging her from the stage, he invited her to become part of the show, asking the audience to clear a circle pit—an impromptu performance space in the middle of Hell—where Carly could demonstrate her juggling skills as Plini played “The Time Will Pass Away”.
She was still learning, but that was beside the point. It was a funny and spontaneous moment and yet a reminder that even an evening filled with technically-demanding music doesn’t have to take itself too seriously.
As for the music, Plini delivered a mix of newer material alongside familiar classics, moving effortlessly between intricate passages and sweeping melodic moments. His playing was ferocious when it needed to be, but always grounded in the musicality that makes his work so distinctive.
