The night opened with Kristof Hahn, a solo lap-steel guitarist that also plays in Swans. His first number built slowly with layers of effects to create a heavy and engaging soundscape. That was cool and my interest was piqued. After that, most of his songs featured his gravely baritone voice, but they were also so sparse and minimal that there was hardly anything to hold on to. The most notable song was a cover of “Heartbreak Hotel” done in the style of John Cale, but his version rather suffered by comparison. Hahn was fairly reserved, but did at least address the crowd (unlike the headliners). I wish he’d done more pieces like the first one.
At this point, I find Godspeed You! Black Emperor’s staunch refusal to play by the standard rules of rock shows to be endearing. They tuned their own instruments and did not take long to start their performance. Of course, they have their own rituals, among them starting each show with their “Hope Drone”. This one was pleasant, mild, and relatively brief. It transitioned into “Sun Is a Hole Sun Is Vapors” from No Title As of 13 February 2024 28,340 Dead (2024) and from there into the next two tracks from the same album. This trilogy covered quite a lot of dynamic ground and already had the band reaching tremendous heights.
When they finally paused to breathe and tune while the familiar Murray Ostril tape played, the audience was dearly enthused. “Monheim” was as great as it could be. They returned their focus to the last album, skipping only “Broken Spires at Dead Kapital”. “Pale Spectator Takes Photographs” was devastating and haunting, but it led into “Grey Rubble – Green Shoots” with its triumphal peaks led by Sophie Trudeau’s violin. “Mladic”, from the first reunion album ’Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend! (2012) but originally performed on the last tour before their breakup in 2003, was incredible. I’d never seen it played live and it was such a powerful, enthralling rush of extremes. The fact that I caught a bit of misalignment in the latter half did not take anything away from the experience. It went hard.
I assumed that after a 20-minute epic that would be the end, but then I heard the “Gathering Storm” sample from “Kicking Horse on Brokenhill” (originally performed by Hazel Dickens for the Matewan soundtrack). However, it led into the beautiful guitar and glockenspiel of “Lift Yr. Skinny Fists, Like Antennas to Heaven…” and its usual successor, “Gathering Storm”. (I only now realized the guitar melody of the latter is based on the melody of the sample of Dicken.) Again, it was a masterful performance. The band led it into an extended drone, similar to how they ended the show the last time I saw them. The band manipulated their pedals to get it going and then just walked off one by one. It went on for a good while before some of the loops or feedback or whatever wound down and then someone finally turned the rest off.
I can’t say much about the slideshow because I got crowded out of my spot with a view before even the “Hope Drone” was over. I don’t know why I bother showing up early and sitting through openers that bore me just to get edged out by people who don’t care in the slightest about the needs of others around them. I protested people wedging themselves into my space on both sides such that we were in constant contact and I could not adjust my position whatsoever, but they did not care. I got overwhelmed and gave up. I found a chair, closed my eyes, and enjoyed the show in a relaxed, listen-only mode for about an hour. Then I realized some people (including some of the very ones who had squeezed me out!) were slowly departing, so I got up and found a decent spot where I could actually move freely. That was great.
In the end they played for two hours with just the two brief breaks with the samples. They have no real stage presence and just let the slides and music speak for themselves. And that it did. This was another great show, even with my interpersonal frustrations. Amazingly, I hadn’t yet seen them perform a single one of the songs they played.
Setlist:
1. Hope Drone →
2. Sun Is a Hole Sun Is Vapors →
3. Babys in a Thundercloud →
4. Raindrops Cast in Lead
5. Murray Ostril: “…They Don’t Sleep Anymore on the Beach…” [Tape] → Monheim
6. Pale Spectator Takes Photographs →
7. Grey Rubble – Green Shoots
8. Mladic
9. [sample from Kicking Horse on Brokenhill] → Lift Yr. Skinny Fists, Like Antennas to Heaven… → Gathering Storm
Scores:
Kristof Hahn: C-
Godspeed You! Black Emperor: A
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