Godspeed You! Black Emperor Concert Review

Godspeed You! Black Emperor on Thursday, October 4, 2012 at Cat's Cradle in Chapel Hill, NC


After listening to F# A# Infinity on vinyl and looking over some faulty schematics to a ruined machine at my cousin's apartment I was in a GY!BE mood. We ate at a pub across the street from Cat's Cradle at the same time the band did. Efrim, Sophie and co. walked in while we were having a nice talk about measuring the worth of science. They ate at a booth adjacent to us and out of eyesight though, and we didn't bother them on the way out.

I bought the 'Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend! LP as soon as we walked in the venue, as the merch guy told us it was probable they'd sell out before the show finished. Other merch they had included 'Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend! and "God's pee" t-shirts. I talked to some UNC kids, met up with some friends, sat through a monotonous opening band's set, then hung out for about thirty more minutes (at least, probably more like forty-five) while Godspeed set up, and then Hope Drone started and one by one the members came out on stage.

"Hope" started flashing on the projection screen in scratchy font, like it always does.  

My good friend standing beside me said, "it's an Obama ad.""Hope" flashing was followed by images of trains, dead bodies, decayed buildings, etc.  


Lineup in attendance:

David Bryant
Efrim Menuck
Mike Moya
Sophie Trudeau
Thierry Amar
Mauro Pezzente
Aidan Girt
Tim Herzog (of NC's Black Skies)


Setlist:

1. Hope Drone
2. Mladic
3. "Murray Ostril" ...They Don't Sleep Anymore on the Beach
4. Monheim
[a shit ton of new stuff I didn't recognize and long drone interludes, some of which easily could have been "Their Helicopters' Sing" and "Strung Like Lights at Thee Printemps Erable"]
8. The Sad Mafioso


There were at least three songs in between Monheim and The Sad Mafioso, none of which were on any of their albums, along with a ton of drone material. They're calling one song "Behemoth" on setlist.fm but I don't even know what that is so I'm not putting it in this set. They played for about two and a half hours.

A lot of that new stuff, according to my cousin who's a music guru, was atonal and used eastern scales (which I could never pick up by ear). There was one song in between all the droning that was really good - it seemed like a typical Godspeed song that built up over fifteen or so minutes and reached a massive climax. Of course when the Murray Ostril recording came on, and when Efrim played the opening notes to A Sad Mafioso, the crowd went wild. Cat's Cradle was sold out. Godspeed has become more popular probably than they ever wanted to be.

After the show Efrim was outside the venue talking to some folks and my cousin and I went and asked him what kind of literature he was inspired by. The only answer we got was "The Savage Detectives" by Roberto Bolano.

Slow moving trains and blueprints of drilling rigs

 

The Seven Mile Journey's Notes for the Synthesis

The best album of 2011.

This is easily the best post-rock release since Sigur Rós' last album in 2008. It's as close to perfect post-rock as you'll get from any band not named Godspeed You! Black Emperor or A Silver Mt. Zion, and without a doubt, it's my favorite album of 2011. I can't say how many times I've listened to it. It's done more for me emotionally than any album in a long time. And part of that's due to the environments I listened to some of these songs in. Not only has this album been played more than tany other album in 2011, it's been played during some of my most special moments of 2011.

Notes for the Synthesis pretty much covers the entire emotional spectrum except for joy and happiness. "Departures" starts off as a painfully depressing intro which evolves directly into "Alter Ego Autopsies," which is, from a musical standpoint, the most accomplished track on the album. It represents, over the course of twenty minutes, neurosis, psychosis, mental instability, and a mind that's trying to come to terms with its insanity. It's twenty minutes of structural magnificence, starting out as sounding like something horrific and extremely unsettling, before finally building into something a little more stable. It's just a giant of a song - right up there with some of the more powerful works of Godspeed You! Black Emperor (which I really don't say lightly). "Simplicity Has A Paradox" represents a juxtaposition of desolation and self-preservation. "Transits" might be the most poignant track on the album, which is a piano-led passage of introspection, nostalgia, and something we all fear at some point in our lives... "moving on." "The Etiology Diaries" is kind of an extension to "Transits," signifying the passage of time, reliance of the self, and fortitude. It's super impressive how seamlessly the songs fade into each other.

It should be noted that The Seven Mile Journey limits themselves instrumentally to bass, drums, guitars, and an occasional keyboard. That's an automatic red flag to me. It tells me, like any other record featuring these instruments would tell me, it has the potential to be great, but also a handicap in that it lacks that extra element that could push it over the edge. No horns, no violins, no strings, etc., means almost invariably an inability to compete with bands who've mastered the usage of these instruments with their music. This isn't the case with The Seven Mile Journey, which is a further testament to their artisanship. They don't need that extra element to distinguish themselves from other post-rock bands.

"Transits" -> "The Etiology Diaries" is the most powerful sequence on the album. It's difficult to explain in terms of technicality, but the way the songs move forward is just exceptionally impressive. It's so subtle at times, yet noticeable. At one point in "The Etiology Diaries" I feel like I'm completely unstable emotionally. Like I'm going to lose it. I think music that has an effect of this magnitude on the listener is truly something special.

Overall, this album paints a hauntingly beautiful picture. It's full of climaxes, build-ups, twists, colossal arrangements, juxtapositions, and different sounds that are layered perfectly to mesh together. I don't know how to better explain it. It's just a colossal piece of work. It manages to build suspense and momentum over very long periods of time. This band's career spans over a decade, and this is only the third album they've released. This makes one thing clear... they like to breathe. They aren't in it for the quick kill. And this definitely comes across in their sound. It's the product of a lot of time and a lot of patience. Popular post-rock releases of the year like 'Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will' by Mogwai and 'Take Care, Take Care, Take Care' by Explosions in the Sky are pale in comparison to this masterpiece. Any fan of post-rock who hasn't heard this is missing out not only on the best of 2011, but one of the genre's best ever.

HIGHLIGHTS: "The Alter Ego Autopsies," "Simplicity Has a Paradox," "Transits," "The Etiology Diaries"

Originally written for my 2011 End-of-Year List on MetalSetLists.com

Explosions in the Sky Concert Review

Explosions in the Sky concert on Sunday, April 3, 2011 at Amos' Southend in Charlotte, NC

The third post-rock show of the year for me.  And it didn't disappoint.  Amos' Southend was packed.  There were as many people there as there were at the Avenged Sevenfold and Black Tide show I went to back in '07, which I didn't expect considering the region's weak post-rock scene.  There are tons of kiddies in the Charlotte area, and neighboring areas, that love that A7X/Carolina Rebellion-type of music (you know tickets for Carolina Rebellion are going for $200-$300 now?), but there aren't a ton of kids that like post-rock.  The crowd really was surprising.  I got the vibe there were a lot of concert virgins there though.  I stood on the balcony to the left of the stage (from the audience's POV), with a bunch of kids who I think were part of a youth group.  There must've been twenty or more of them.  When the opening band, The Octopus Project, said "fuck" on stage, they all looked at each other in puzzlement.  Needless to say, regardless of the venue being packed, it wasn't the most vivacious audience I've ever been apart of.

The Octopus Project was a funky type of post-rock/electronic band.  They weren't mind-numbingly good by any means, but they were entertaining and fun to listen to.  I can see why EITS would choose them as an opener.  The chick in the band played one really weird electronic instrument that made noises according to the frequency she neared and distanced her hands from its motion sensor.  It made a high-pitched whirring noise.  I think the crowd really dug them.  They got about as much applause as Explosions in the Sky did.              

Explosions in the Sky Setlist:

1. Postcard From 1952

2. The Birth and Death of the Day

3. Your Hand in Mine

4. Last Known Surroundings

5. The Only Moment We Were Alone

6. Catastrophe and the Curve

7. Let Me Back In

8. Greet Death

9. Trembling Hands

They played a lot of their new material, which isn't as good as some of their older stuff.  "Postcard From 1952," "Last Known Surroundings," "Let Me Back In," and "Trembling Hands" are all from their 2011 release Take Care, Take Care, Take Care.  I think it's a pretty solid album - not the best I've heard this year - but solid.  Explosions in the Sky isn't going to write a 'bad' album.  But it's pale in comparison to The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place, How Strange, Innocence, All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone, etc…  They did play two songs from The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place, which was nice.  I really really really wanted to hear "First Breath After Coma," but I don't think it'll be on a setlist for this tour.       

Their sound was ace live.  I think the dynamics of what this band does come across beautifully in a dark venue.  They're one of those few bands that I'd actually say sound as good, if not better, live than on a disc.  The guitar tone is crystal clear.  The drumming is very martial in tone.  That is, instead of playing a 4/4 kick heavy drumming style, Hrasky plays more tom and snare - the type of drumming similar to what you'd hear in a marching band.  It helps to push the music during a slower, arpeggio paced song.  When the drum beat speeds up, it's usually when the guitars are going hard and heavy.  This band is centered around their beautiful guitar work though.  Three guitar players, at times, and one bass, interlocking melodies.  They can go loud and aggressive and they can be soft and sensitive.  Like a lot of post-rock bands, many of their songs are crescendo driven.  They build up slowly before reaching a climax.  They are very technically proficient.  They excel in playing and feeding off each other.  Their style makes for a magnificent live performance.


I was so damn hungry during this show though.  I feel like I could've enjoyed it even more if I hadn't have been thinking about eating.  


It's easy to see how this band has become such a massively influential post-rock giant.  They maintain their loyalty to the first wave of post-rock, but stray enough to create their own brand of innovation.  I think they're close to solely responsible for this new wave of post-rock we're hearing these days.  While their brand can't rival the GY!BE's and ASMZ's of the world, it's certainly created it's rightful spot in the genre.  I look forward to seeing what direction it will take in the future.     

Godspeed You! Black Emperor Concert Review

Godspeed You! Black Emperor concert on Tuesday, March 22, 2011 at the 40 Watt Club in Athens, GA



I made plans some time ago to go see this one with one of my cousins, which is incredibly appropriate since he's the one responsible for introducing me to the post-rock genre a few years ago, and in particular, introducing me to Godspeed You! Black Emperor.  There's not another soul I know (personally) whose musical tastes, and whose reasons for listening to music, are so similar and so compatible with mine.  With that said, this was an incredibly highly anticipated event for me.  When GY!BE announced the tour back in September I could hardly believe it.  But at the same time I figured it would happen eventually, considering the greatness of the project.  It comes as no surprise that this band has sold out nearly every venue it's been hosted by, including Athens, GA.             

I had to do some research before this show, which has been an ongoing thing for a few weeks now, not because I was unfamiliar with the band's music, but because I'm still not completely familiar with all the subnames of the songs.  I'm only real familiar with the full names of the tracks (i.e.: " Sleep," Static," "Providence," etc etc).  I know a few subnames of particular portions of tracks I like, but not all of them.

First of all, it should be known that I had to sacrifice a day of school to attend this show, which meant rescheduling an exam.  Since it was roughly a 5-hour drive from northwestern NC to Athens, and the show ended at 1:00am, it put me back around 6:00am, on a day of two exams (on top of the one I had to reschedule).  As far as school goes, the timing could't have been worse.  But it was the chance I took when I ordered these tickets before the start of the semester, and the bad timing didn't come as a surprise.  Nevertheless, nothing was stopping me from going to this show.     

Athens is a real neat town.  It reminded me a lot of Asheville or Wilmington in that it's maintained an element of natural beauty despite being metropolitan.  Plus, it just has that hipster vibe to it.  This show was right in downtown.  Upon arrival, I wasn't surprised Godspeed You! Black Emperor chose it as their one destination of the South.    

After eating at a local pizza restaurant, we walked down to the venue and got in line outside and stood there, waiting, for at least an hour.  Everyone was really friendly.  Two dudes inside the venue told us they'd driven 14 hours from Texas.  I thought "holy shit… I thought I was a hardcore Godspeed fan…" I wouldn't be surprised if the band is anti-South.  We should probably consider ourselves lucky they managed one date as far south as Georgia.

I was surprised they had merch for sale.  I figured the band was anti-merch as well.  I remember reading somewhere their philosophy was "make your own Godspeed You! Black Emperor t-shirt."  They're so anti-capitalism and consumerism.  I'll bet Constellation forced them to sell some stuff.  They had two t-shirts for sale at $20 each, all their albums, and a beautiful glossy silkscreen poster for $20.  I went with the poster.  (See picture below)

As far as standing position in front of the stage, we were pretty close to the front.  There might've been two rows of people in front of us?  The most irritating part of the night was crowd chatter during the opening act.  The opener was an individual artist who played multiple guitars.  He was actually really impressive and technically proficient.  His playing reminded me of Trace Bundy (except he probably wasn't quite that good), with more wailing and capo switches.  He was extremely kind and gracious considering the rudeness from his audience.    

Godspeed You! Black Emperor Setlist:

1. Hope Drone

2. Lift Yr. Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven

3. Gathering Storm

4. "Murray Ostril"  ...They Don't Sleep Anymore on the Beach

5. Monheim

6. 9-15-00 (outro) / The Albanian

7. Atomic Clock

8. Chart #3

9. World Police and Friendly Fire

10. Slow Moving Trains

11. The Cowboy

12. Moya

13. Blaise Bailey Finnegan III

14. String Loop Manufactured During Downpour… [Outro]

The only one I'm not positive about is the outro to 9-15-00 played after Monheim.  They played a lot of interludes in-between songs, a lot of which were hard to decipher, and they ran together.  They definitely played something between Monheim and Atomic clock.  It might have been a snippet of The Albanian, a track I'm fairly unfamiliar with, but I'm not confident.  They might have mixed 9-15-00 and The Albanian together (which I feel was probably the case, but again, not sure).  One thing became apparent after seeing this band live, and my cousin commented on it as well.  Just like A Silver Mt. Zion, this band is incredibly influenced by free jazz.  A lot of their interludes were very chaotic and uncoerced, much like in free jazz.  I think the chaotic aspect of their music is probably symbolic to their anarchistic tendencies.  A lot of their songs disintegrate from something beautiful into something chaotic and tumultuous.  They did this even more so live.  Blaise Bailey Finnegan III, at around the 14:00 or 15:00 minute mark, went into something highly varied from what it sounded like on Slow Riot.  The intro, Hope Drone, is another example, as is virtually all the interludes that consisted of tons of feedback and reverb.    

I've come to realize nearly everything this band does is done to convey a message.  Whether it's the monologues or voice tracks (and the music that encompasses them), the song titles, the sound that's meant to evoke a particular emotion, the artwork… nothing is inconsequential.  The film loops are no exception.  The films played during the set were fantastic.  Nicely contrasted.  My favorites were the ones, I think played during Moya, that consisted of ancient script-type writing, and even occultist symbols.  Some also looked to be Hebrew.  Others included typed texts from war documents.  They flashed so quickly I could't make out what they said, for the ones in English that is.  I only saw single words as I focused in, and that was enough to let me know they were documents regarding wars or foreign policy of some type (very fitting for BBF3).  

I also liked how the band did absolutely no talking during the show.  One track ran into another.  It was like one long 2 1/2 hour cohesive piece of music, woven together.

As I expected, they sounded amazing.  Monheim and Moya, in my opinion, were the best played tracks of the night.  My cousin liked what they did with BBF3.  I honestly couldn't have asked for a better setlist.  I'm not sure there's a single "bad" part to any Godspeed song.  It's just some are better than others, and they played a lot of good ones last night.  Not to boast, but I think Athens might've gotten the best setlist of the tour so far.  The only song missing that would've been amazing to hear, that they've played at a few previous shows (DC for sure), is The Sad Mafioso.  But the set ran well over two hours as is.  It was very strategic for them to put on that recording of String Loop Manufactured During Downpour as an outro.  It prevented the audience from being able to ask for an encore.  They slowly left the stage one by one, waving to the audience as they went, while we listened to "where are you going?" over and over along with the droning of distorted guitars.  It was awesome.    

Just to critique though, there were some variances I wasn't crazy about.  One of them was Efrim's slight switching of the notes played during Chart #3.  Recall the notes of the gentle atmospheric strumming of the guitar while we listen to that insane man describe his dream about passing through corridors and dark serpentines and penetrating to the most high god.  Yeah, Efrim didn't play those notes as they were on the album.  Also, there was no trumpet or French horn in Lift Yr. Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven.  That one's pretty picky, but it's something I noticed; I'm sure there's nothing they could have done about it.  I don't think any of them even play horns.  Also, during the same track (Lift Yr. Skinny Fists), maybe it was just me, but the drum beat seemed a little different.                    

During World Police and Friendly Fire

During Moya

the 40 Watt Club  

My beautiful, glossy, silkscreen tour poster

Simply put, I've never been to a show like this before.  It was absolutely fantastic.  If I didn't have school, I'd travel long distances to see it again.  The show is unique because the band is unique.  There is no other band that even comes close to being similar to Godspeed You! Black Emperor.  Now that I've seen them in concert, I can spend my days yearning for a new album.        

   

Caspian Concert Review

Caspian concert on Wednesday, March 9, 2011 at Snug Harbor in Charlotte, NC


So far this year has been a pleasant surprise for concert goers of my type in the NC region.  3 awesome post-rock concerts have/are hitting the southeast in a 4-week span: Caspian, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and Explosions in the Sky.    On top of that, Rush has launched a second leg of their Time Machine Tour which is hitting the eastern part of the U.S. starting in late March.  All that, combined with a road trip up to Cleveland to see Agalloch, is making for a damn fine start to 2011.  


I went to this show with two buds, neither of whom cared about seeing Caspian (probably because they've never heard of Caspian, and, I'm not sure they're fond of this genre of music), but both of whom were gladly willing to pay the low price of $8 a ticket to ride down to Charlotte with me and make an evening of it.


The venue was one I'd never been to before, called Snug Harbor. It was tiny. I probably could've sprinted the length of the room in about 2 seconds flat. All the employees looked like pirates. Skull & crossbone flags hung all over the place. Regardless of its size, it was a neat atmosphere. I was worried about a low turnout at first. When we walked in there not long after the doors had opened it was deserted. A few pirates stood around and drunk beer, there were the occasional stragglers at the bar (the type of which were obviously oblivious to whatever music was about to be played), and one woman voiced opposition when I demanded the bar tender change the channel from CNN to the Big East basketball tournament. By the time Caspian took the stage though it had filled in. I'm glad; I wanted Caspian's first show in Charlotte to have a decent turnout. Charlotte's never been the place for much of a post-rock scene.



The opening bands were't very impressive. Chiaroscuro was the more impressive of the two, being bland post-rock. Very little sound variance (everything they played had the same structure: start off soft and melodic and quickly turn into something more heavy and less melodic). They weren't bad bad though. Native was much worse. They were a post-hardcore sounding band with screaming vocals and a bunch of young kids playing instruments. Considering their age, the instruments were all right, but the vocals made the band near unlistenable. I tried to drown them out sitting at the bar watching the Marquette vs West Virginia game.




Caspian took the stage around 11:00pm or so, or maybe a tad later.





Caspian Setlist:



1. Of Foam and Wave

2. Malacoda

3. Moksha

4. Quovis

5. Further Up

6. Further In

7. The Raven

8. Sycamore





I was pretty happy with what they played. Obviously, I've never seen them live before so it's not like I had to worry about seeing repeats. Moksha and Sycamore are two of Caspian's best songs, so I was happy with those. I really would've liked to hear Brombie or Concrescence or Loft or Last Rites though. They had a decent variety of material from all their releases. They didn't play an encore, which I thought was a bit strange. The crowd kept yelling for one after Sycamore, but Philip was like "the bass is broken" and "we don't usually play encores," and so they didn't. It would've been amazing to go out on Brombie or Last Rites. Their sound was great. Beautiful guitar tone - especially for the beginning of Sycamore. The tone catered to their softer material. Concrescence would've sounded amazing. I was standing left of the stage right at the front, so it was all in my face. Very emotional show.




The crowd was pretty decent except for one drunk guy up front who kept thrashing around like he was at a Slayer concert.





Overall though, great performance by Caspian.