I’d consider making the trip for this if I can get off work
…and the sound in KOKO is pretty damn good too.
Got my tix for this. It’s happening. Any prongers going give me a shout
Hit this the other night. A very cool place Koko; it’s a grand theatre building and, as Mooney noted, the sound was incredible. I was on a tier about half way up and I was still getting pummelled by the speakers.
Grouper opened; it was a great, spooky ethereal performance. Perfect opening act and her closer was amazing.
Xiu Xiu I couldn’t get into - not my thing. His guitar work and sounds were interesting but his singing is too intrusive and gets old very quickly
Ben Frost was fucking superb. This guy and his drummers were intense. I already am pretty fond of his albums but his live show completely blew me away. It got so heavy and, dare I say, industrial at times. He’s basically what Trent Reznor cannot be or is too much of a wuss to be. I could detect sounds from his albums but then he just takes them and blows them into something huge. One of the most rewarding performances I’ve ever seen. Cannot wait to catch him again. (and the drummer on the right reminded me of the tall skinny nihilist from the Big Lebowski)
Mercury Rev played quite a cool concept thing, playing along to the The Red Balloon on a screen behing them. Neat idea and it went down well.
Swans
I never thought I’d say this but… Swans were BAD. And Gira pissed me the hell off.
When I caught them last in 2010 they were playing loud and long but still got in 7-8 songs in the setlist and you could make out the songs. But the other night they just basically masturbated all over the stage for about 2 hours. They played maybe 4-5 songs but made a mess out of nearly all of them. One song in the middle went on for about 30 mins and was just pure loud noise with little distinction at all, And Christoph’s instrument was too loud and fucking obnoxiously repetitive the whole way through.
The problem is Gira is enjoying too much of a free rein. He badly needs an editor, or someone who can put him in his place. He doesn’t realise how messy he sounds. And looks. That’s another thing; he’s just too old now on stage, he jumps like an old man, struts like an old man, and has the belly of an old man. He also likes to try and give out to his bandmates which is ironic as the only obvious mistakes discernible were made by him.
If you like a wall of screeching noise for 2 hours, Swans is your thing. I was sick of them after 30 mins though. Such a shame considering they have one of the best catalogues around. The new stuff is trying to hint at 80s hard and direct sort of stuff but then gets too noodly. The new song Oxygen has this sort of harsh bass driven sound.
They did play Coward though, which was maybe a highlight.
Also pissed off by some of the “fans”. There was a VIP area just in front of me and all these people were trying to look cool and go crazy. You could tell they weren’t comfortable but had to look into it. I never associated phonies with Swans but they’re there alright. I did notice some people who seemed pissed off with the performance and had either left early or moved away from the front.
If Swans continue like this (which they probably will for the time being) I would have no interest in going to see them again). Jesus, I think I’d take Angels of Light back before this. At the end of the night Gira highlighted Xiu Xiu over the rest of the acts and was all “but his albums now!” which just cemented my dissatisfaction with the man over the night. Maybe Xiu Xiu is on hard times or whatever but he, along with Swans, were the worst acts of the night.
Grouper - 8/10
Xiu Xiu - 3/10
Ben Frost - 9/10
Mercury Rev - 7/10
Swans 3.5/10
Grouper:
Ben Frost:
Yo Zick are you catching Melvins doing their residency @ Electric Brixton on May 19th & 20th??? On the 19th they’re playing Eggnog, Lysol and Houdini and on 20th they’re playing Stoner Witch and Bullhead…I imagine they’ll also throw in some of their Everybody Loves Sausages cover songs too. I am coming down for those two nights.
Swans are test driving new tunes now for the most part with their live shows from what I can gather from interviews. I saw them a few months back and they were pretty awesome. Coward of course was the highlight. These curated things can be a bit hit and miss…funnily enough I have kind of rediscovered Deserter’s Songs recently and been thrashing it again.
Living in a tourist area, I have noticed that sometimes random people wander into gigs not knowing the music/band. Along the same lines, sometimes people get free tickets/are industry people who know nothing of the band/songs.
Yo Zick are you catching Melvins doing their residency @ Electric Brixton on May 19th & 20th??? On the 19th they’re playing Eggnog, Lysol and Houdini and on 20th they’re playing Stoner Witch and Bullhead…I imagine they’ll also throw in some of their Everybody Loves Sausages cover songs too. I am coming down for those two nights.
Swans are test driving new tunes now for the most part with their live shows from what I can gather from interviews. I saw them a few months back and they were pretty awesome. Coward of course was the highlight. These curated things can be a bit hit and miss…funnily enough I have kind of rediscovered Deserter’s Songs recently and been thrashing it again.
Won’t be around for those shows (just flew in for Mouth to Mouth) but would be cool to catch Houdini live. 19th & 20th is a Sun & Mon so that rules that out for me - won’t be able to take any more leave days till August.
This is some of Ben Frost’s stuff on YT by a guy who was pretty close to stage, but the sound is not good: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEI9NefMQjU
The heaviest parts of the show are later in the performance (that are not in this vid). I’ll keep looking to see if I can find more
Swans are test driving new tunes now for the most part with their live shows from what I can gather from interviews…
This true. Probably the reason the gig didn’t work as such. I think alot of the new material is still in the writing stage and ist not fully formed. They are using these gigs to road test them, bang them around a bit and see what improvements they can make.
You are right though, Gira seemingly answers to no one as his ego does not allow for such discrepancies. He needs to stop being the dictator and share the acclaim. The latest album suffered from being way to masturbatory at times. Whole 10 minute sections could have been cut from The Seer to greater effect. Definitely needs to reign it in. New album should be out early next year from what little info we have so far. Should be interesting.
Also, I am a huge Grouper fan. Stoked that someone was able to give a rundown of what she is like to see live. Personally I would not be able resist the urge to fuck her brains out.
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Swans are test driving new tunes now for the most part with their live shows from what I can gather from interviews…
This true. [/reply]
And if it is true I’d say it’s not really that fair on the fans at shows…they should be test driving these new rhythms/songs during rehersals so they can deliver optimum live shows…especially at a time in their career where they are selling more records and concert tickets than ever before.
However Swans is Gira’s baby…like James Brown, Gira is the conductor if you will of this beast and imo doesn’t need anyone else to take the reigns. Yes he’s getting old and looking old but man there is no one else out there that age making such punishing records and delivering that type of a live show.
I really loved The Seer and bought it on both vinyl and cd. But I agree, it could do with a trim. Looking forward to what he has in store for us next year.
Probably my favourite band of all time.
I really loved The Seer and bought it on both vinyl and cd. But I agree, it could do with a trim. Looking forward to what he has in store for us next year.
Probably my favourite band of all time.
Yep I think The Seer is brilliant too and the vinyl is a nice slab of wax.
The Seer has great elements but is significantly flawed to the point where I’d be inclined to be critical and make a note of such instead of overlooking it. They certainly are going for a more intense sonic experience than say with ‘Soundtracks for the Blind’ - which is a league above The Seer - but it gets tiresome. I thought Swans were excellent in 2010 and know they’re still fine tuning new stuff but the signs are leading to less control and more waste.
It is interesting how they are now essentially an amalgamation of their (roughly) 1st - violence - and 3rd - epic scale - periods. But that’s academic and doesn’t matter if they are losing their way.
Anyways Id still hold Swans to be the most important, and probably best, band ever. Just I didn’t want to get to the point where I was pissed off with them. But so what I guess.
What should be really cool however is the new album currently in the works by Ben Frost and Thor (Swans). If it can reach 50% of the intensity of the live show the other night (in which Thor played with Ben for a bit) it will kill everyone
Ben Frost was fucking superb. This guy and his drummers were intense.
I saw him once but without the drummers and it was great. He’s a great sound designer and can translate that into a live show.
I love Grouper and had the chance to see her live but was so tired that day that I missed the show. Won’t miss next time.
Swans should do more testing in the rehearsal room and less in live shows… but it is what it is. I saw them before The Seer and the show was great, the improvisation parts had some structure and they balanced it with actual songs quite well. Besides, I was so stunned with the wall of sound that was hitting me that everything else seemed less important.
Never saw Mercury Rev but I like Deserter’s Songs. And they have an awesome Neil Young cover.
I agree that Swans need to reign it in pretty badly. There are some great ideas but the “jam” element is over the top. As someone else said, they do have a great catalog and to not play those songs in favor of 30 minutes of dicking around is frustrating.
I saw them when they’d just reunited and it was really intense…which was awesome…but even then it felt long-winded on the jamming and they played like 10 songs including classics…
With all that said of course Gira has earned the credibility and the right to do what he wants but I have friends who are serious fans that have expressed similar disappointment and would not see them live again due to this, which is unfortunate.
I’ve also experienced this phenomenon of people noticeably pretending to like something because they think they’re supposed to, pretending to “get it” rather than being able to discern between the good and overindulgent with regards to experimental stuff. There is a ton of the that in the Noise scene I feel. A lot of bad, endlessly repetitive stuff that is just obnoxious but people act like they “get it”. At the end of the day it’s all opinion but you can tell sometimes people pretend and there is this sense of obligation to prove how obscurist and hip they are…
Swans shows aren’t really concerts anymore, they are endurance trials for Gira’s amusement. Really, wouldn’t you? It’s totally sadistic.
Yeah, I’ll be skipping Swans next time they tour. I’ve seen 'em three times now (and Angels of Light once and Jarboe three or four times) so I doubt I’ll regret it. There’s only so much I can take.
That said, I’ll buy the next album in a heartbeat. The long jams can still work as background ambient music even if it doesn’t make for an immediately engaging live experience.