Live show reports / comments

Started by FreakAnimalFinland, July 25, 2011, 09:35:36 AM

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FreakAnimalFinland

It was mentioned earlier in live show announcement board that if you got reports of the shows, you can post it on main discussion. It would be good to hear about good gigs that took place anyways.
It would be good to mention location/date and then proceed with reports.

E-mail: fanimal +a+ cfprod,com
MAGAZINE: http://www.special-interests.net
LABEL / DISTRIBUTION: FREAK ANIMAL http://www.nhfastore.net

Nyodene D

Friday in Chicago:



Friday, July 29th at Enemy Arts (1550 N. Milwaukee, 3rd Floor) in Chicago

- KOUFAR - final Chicago performance

- NYODENE D - Cleveland power electronics / death industrial. 

- JASON SOLIDAY - Chicago harsh electronics

- SHATTERED HYMEN - Chicago self-destructive harsh noise

- BLESSED SACRIFIST - Milwaukee power electronics

- HATE BASEMENT - Chicago harsh noise, members of Bongripper, CSTVT

$5 donations, BYOB, show starts at 8 pm


Gig report to follow soon.

FreakAnimalFinland

I mean, ads about gigs = gig announcements
reports = here.

I'm sure plenty don't check out announcements because they simply can't attend (like two above), but I'd be curious to read reports of both!
E-mail: fanimal +a+ cfprod,com
MAGAZINE: http://www.special-interests.net
LABEL / DISTRIBUTION: FREAK ANIMAL http://www.nhfastore.net

XE



Same venue where CON-DOM played in Hki. Now there is a new owner and improved PA system. Sounded good!
LOINEN 2xbass,drums and vocals. Ok slow (sludge?) stuff. Pretty original I guess. JUMALATION old thrash copy/homage band. a`la Dark Angel etc.  RIDE FOR REVENGE! Played new material from upcoming Full Lenght. Hypnotic, low tuned as hell, massive and noisy. Impressive,innovative! For my ears its pure GODFLESH "Streetcleaner" era rhythm/beat. Besides usual vocal style there was few very nice anguished close to spoken word lines. ya know a la CELTIC FROST..  I am not a good writer so this doesnt do justice how damn good RFR was!! Guest vocalist from PRO-DEATH and GOATMOON.

On a side note there has been some disscussion on punk forum here. There has been some "hailing" and fight on event. Oh dear! kids and internet. One guy was hailing front of stage(could be also regular fist in the air action- hard to tell)  And "fight" was over in a 10 sec. I knew both guys.  Both drunk as fuck. In a front row. some accidental push- beer was spilled- more pushing.Both on floor few seconds and thats it. 

Nyodene D

Show report: Final Koufar show, Enemy Artspace, Chicago, IL

Pre-show:

Mack (Koufar), Jay (Blessed Sacrifist) and I got to the spot around 8:30, to find it in the middle of a brownout, so there wasn't much in terms of light or ventilation happening. We killed time waiting for the power to come on by passing around a 2L bottle of Lebanese moonshine that Mack's friend had sent him for special occasions.  Anise-flavor, reminded me a lot of Ouzo. Too much apparently causes internal bleeding.

The Enemy space is really huge, with a massive (say 40x30) performance area opening out into the kitchen and sitting room.  There were people there pretty early, both performers and crowd members.  There seemed to be, throughout the night, a group of about 50 people there to watch the show, which is great.  There were some random hipsters who came up to drink, but they bolted almost as soon as the first act started.


Hate Basement:


Duo of Nick Dellacroce from Bongripper (on electronics and vocals) and Will McElvy from pop-punk act Castevet on moog and electronics.  Utterly nasty thick harsh noise. It was my first time checking them out, and I was not at all let down.  Unexpected inclusion of vocals from Nick, had some serious Deathpile vibes to parts of it.  distributed collage xeroxes stained with piss. 

Shattered Hymen

Last time I saw Vadim play, he had a lot of technical difficulties stemming from his setup, which was all digital synth modules.  This time was different.  Shattered Hymen played pretty much in the dark, used a table full of digital rack units and a Nord synth as well as a sturdy contact mic and a piece of metal sheeting.  Really bassy harsh noise sound to it, much better than his set where his gear gave him trouble. Set up a nice harsh synth wall and then brought in more and more scrap, taking the synth out until there was only scrapwork left. 

Jason Soliday

Jason Soliday is one of the three roommates that calls Enemy Arts home, and is perhaps one of the most adept electronics performers I have seen live.  He played a massive 30-minute set of buzzing nasty synth cutup and blasts of harsh noise, using a variety of consoles.  I'm not exactly sure what they were, there were a few oscillators and two synth boxes with an assload of alligator clips all over them.  Huge stereo panning effects and fast cutups.

Blessed Sacrifist

Jay played next, using his rig of mixers, digital delays and synth loops.  Blessed Sacrifist is a dark industrial / power electronics project that uses a lot of melodic string, synth and piano loops along with walls of harsh noise.  Symphonic P.E. if that makes sense.  Reminds me of a more formless Nothing or a more ornate Cocaine Death-era Prurient.  His set was creepy, strong deep vocals fighting through the washed-out depressive synth loops and crackling harsh noise. Really great.  Jay's other projects are worth noting too; he plays with Peter J. Woods in straightedge P.E. project xALLxFORxTHISx and is the bass player in a sludge metal band (Slob Donovan) and atmospheric black metal act Owlscry, both of whom are excellent.  Owlscry shares members with Shroud Of Despondency.

Nyodene D

I was playing my last (planned) Nyodene D set until my upcoming December tour and was ready to play a longer one and make it worth it. Despite some technical difficulties (table leg giving out while moving it, starting over about 20 seconds in because a digi reverb wasn't set on the right setting, PA speakers overheating one at a time during my second song), I think i managed a pretty good set.  I got a lot of compliments.  Played two pieces from upcoming CD on Black Plague, tenatively titled "Maruta" and "Last Disciple Of Christ".  Simple setup: vocals, iPod with samples, Casio SK-1 through pedals / reverb units. Really enjoyed my vocals and was glad that people didn't seem to notice (or pretended not to notice) that the moonshine kept me from playing my synth with some amount of accuracy a couple times.

Koufar

The star performance of the night was Koufar, his last before moving out to the Bay Area.  Apparently, Disgust will be taking a backseat to both Crown Of Cerebus (Mack's new analog tape / drone / industrial project) and Koufar, for which he has written about a half-hour of new material.  Mack's setup was different for this gig.  Two Fostex MR-8s, a meatbox pedal, a Kaossilator pad and an oscillator box (repurposed from some science lab).  Very synth-y loop sound to it, cold synths, manic glitched-up vocals, worming oscillator tones, etc.  Awesome 25 minutes, played about four or five new songs, including a reworked version of "Patriot" off his split with Persistence In Mourning. New look too, no longer with the keffiyeh, but now in old-school Ben Sherman english skinhead regalia, covered in Maronite Militia tattoos, etc.  Mack got a five minute ovation at the end for his set.  Jason Soliday recorded it, but not through soundboard.  I have soundboard recordings of everybody buy Hate Basement and probably Koufar (ran out of space and powered down in the middle of his set).  Mack is in Dayton, OH for a few weeks before moving out west, so I imagine he'll maybe get to record this newest effort soon. 


POST-SHOW


Awesome show, everybody's sets were different, but very high quality.  Even though Mack is leaving, it seems like there's a really strong HN/PE scene left in it's place.  Can't wait to go back.

post-morten

Norberg Festival, Sweden - July 28-30

This 3-day festival for all sorts of experimental electronic sounds has been going for well over a decade now, and this year's lineup was one of the most interesting... even though I didn't care much for all the various flavors of extreme dance music (techno/breakcore/chiptune/etc), nor the more serious electro-acoustic and sound art performers/composers that were represented. It takes place at an abandoned mining site, unfortunately not in the subterranean shafts, but in various ground-level buildings. The main stage being inside the pithead frame of the mine, an enormous concrete structure with fantastic space and natural reverb. So this is what I sampled over the two days I was there...



IRNI was the new collaboration between Thomas Ekelund of Dead Letters Spell Out Dead Words and Joachim Nordwall who's in the Skull Defekts when not operating the Ideal Recordings label. This sounded pretty much as expected considering the members, dark drones and static noises with Ekelund's tortured vocals on top. I thought this was quite good save for some stretches of uninspired knob twisting.

Next was The Magic State aka Nadine Byrne, the solo outing of one of the two Byrne sisters that comprises Ectoplasm Girls (whose debut LP is out now, after a six month delay). She's also a visual artist with a penchant for exploring myths, rituals and transcendence in her works, some of which were shown on the backdrop projections. Her music is a sort of semi-ambient, cosmic hotchpotch where laptop meets synthesizers. Very enjoyable.

I admit haven't heard much Sudden Infant before, but still knew pretty much what to expect, and I don't think anyone left disappointed. Joke pulled of a great show with fragmented noise loops, spoken word stuff, and frantic use of contact mics. Picked up his massive 4xLP career retrospective afterwards, which proved to be a wise move.

By Raionbashi I had heard exactly zilch beforehands, and did not know what to expect. He staged a ritual; hooded, cloaked, and standing on a chair with arms spread, like in the infamous pictures of Iraqi war prisoners at Abu Ghraib, while his music was playing in the background. This was obviously something very personal for him, and hard to get into for an outsider.

Stephen O'Malley went on stage armed with guitar, loads of fx, and a wall of amps, and started riffing... a 45 minute riff-o-rama stripped of the Spinal Tap factor that the SunnO))) context provides - well, this gets pretty dull after a while.

Twice a Man are Swedish ambient/electronic veterans that have sustained since the early 80's thanks to doing commissions for theatres, radio, and even music for PC games. I haven't followed them closely, but they proved to still be in good shape when performing their sofisticated (some would say pretentious) filmic music - at times reminding a bit of the Legendary Pink Dots. A nice surprise.

Then came :zoviet*france* who - just like Twice a Man - also have a near 30 year history. A couple of their albums are definite desert-island-discs for me, and I've enjoyed many concerts by them in the past. While there certainly still are moments of pure bliss, I felt that there are stretches when they just go through the motions. I miss the ethnic elements that Robin Storey brought to Rapoon.

Last but not least another legend, Lustmord. Strangely enough he's played in Sweden twice in a half year now, after hardly not performing at all previously. In Stockholm in January he had complaints about the PA not being up to the standards he requires. Nothing like that this time, with this venue's stellar Funktion One sound system. At times the building was pretty much vibrating from the crushing bass frequencies, and the cavernous space filled up with ominous sounds. The set was somewhat other than in Stockholm, though the biggest difference was this time your body actually resonated with the soundwaves. A fitting midnight mass in the concrete cathedral.

Niko

#6
Just saw Godflesh live and damn they were good! I think they played pretty much every song from Streetcleaner.
If someone had doubts about the Godflesh reunion, I don't think they'l have any after that gig. Very powerful and crushing.
www.obscurex.org Noise, Power Electronics, Industrial & Experimental Label.

bitewerksMTB

I didn't know Zoviet France was still around. I saw them in the late '90s? in Dallas. 2 guys with a tableful of wooden toys/instruments/things, a couple of open mics, a few pedals. They'd pick something up, fiddle with it, hit it, whatever in front of a mic. Lots of delay, I think? Wish I could remember more. It was interesting & took place in a very proper bar where you would not expect an experimental performance. Basically a yuppie bar. A few years ago at the House of Tinnitus in Denton, I met a guy who was at that performance.

SKY BURIAL

#8
Human League and Men Without Hats, Boston, September 22.

There is far more to MWH than being a one (or two) hit wonder.  They've always been one one favorite synthpop acts, from their first ep in 1980 though their first few lps. They played a good cross section of singles, early and obscure tracks and a new track which stays true to their original sound. Ivan's baritone voice still sounds good. They are working on a new album.

I had seen the Human League 3 three years ago on Cape Cod so I wasn't as excited to see them as Men Without Hats. I was never really a fan of HL past the Hysteria album so those songs did nothing for me but it was great to them do the pre-Dare tracks Being Boiled and Empire State Human. They also played a few new tracks which were ok. The one new track MWH played is better than the whole new HL album.

fetch the rope

Quote from: Niko on September 25, 2011, 01:28:30 AM
Just saw Godflesh live and damn they were good! I think they played pretty much every song from Streetcleaner.
If someone had doubts about the Godflesh reunion, I don't think they'l have any after that gig. Very powerful and crushing.

This was a good show indeed! At least the first 40 or 50 minutes were excellent. Not every track from Streetcleaner was played. For example my personal favourite Pulp was not played, neither was Devastator, or Locust Furnace... But Avalanche Master Song from the first EP got played! Great. After the Streetcleaner part of the show was done, they moved on with material from Pure and I kind of lost the feeling there. Also the volume could have been a lot louder.
I think the setlist was like this: http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/godflesh/2011/hmv-forum-london-england-2bd31406.html

After Godflesh it was good to head up for checking out Ride For Revenge, once again and sure it was okay. Obviously not their best effort, maybe a bit too drunk. BlackGoat came naked on stage, even with his cock painted, haha. It was the last RFR gig for a while.
Affirmative Apartheid

https://outofthedungeon.net

XE

Quote from: fetch the rope on September 25, 2011, 04:47:11 PM
Quote from: Niko on September 25, 2011, 01:28:30 AM
Just saw Godflesh live and damn they were good! I think they played pretty much every song from Streetcleaner.
If someone had doubts about the Godflesh reunion, I don't think they'l have any after that gig. Very powerful and crushing.

This was a good show indeed! At least the first 40 or 50 minutes were excellent. Not every track from Streetcleaner was played. For example my personal favourite Pulp was not played, neither was Devastator, or Locust Furnace... But Avalanche Master Song from the first EP got played! Great. After the Streetcleaner part of the show was done, they moved on with material from Pure and I kind of lost the feeling there. Also the volume could have been a lot louder.
I think the setlist was like this: http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/godflesh/2011/hmv-forum-london-england-2bd31406.html

After Godfleah it was good to head up for checking out Ride For Revenge, once again and sure it was okay. Obviously not their best effort, maybe a bit too drunk. BlackGoat came naked on stage, even with his cock painted, haha. It was the last RFR gig for a while.


GODFLESH were ok." Streetcleaner" tracks even great! But you could ask is this really needed? Why now when your erection angle is not what it used to be to travel all around to perform old stuff. You got nothing new to offer. I guess its a good excuse to get away from wining cunt and annoying brats.

SISTERS OF MERCY live at same venue few months earlier was shit. Pretty embarassing. I wish people would get old w/ some dignity and self criticism.

On the other hand BLASPHEMY reunion was fist in your face! So go figure...


moozz

Quote from: Markkula on September 27, 2011, 10:42:41 PMSISTERS OF MERCY live at same venue few months earlier was shit. Pretty embarassing. I wish people would get old w/ some dignity and self criticism.

I saw SoM finally live about two years ago and it was a huge disappointment. They had "upgraded" their sound and it was closer to something like Rammstein than the old albums. Didn't work for me at all.

SKY BURIAL

Quote from: Markkula on September 27, 2011, 10:42:41 PM
SISTERS OF MERCY live at same venue few months earlier was shit. Pretty embarassing. I wish people would get old w/ some dignity and self criticism.

This is nothing new. I saw them 20 years ago and it was one of the worst/most disappointing shows I've ever seen.

IanDB

http://thephoenix.com/Blogs/onthedownload/archive/2011/09/28/the-return-of-the-repressed-sudden-infant-at-starlab-9-23-11.aspx

wrote a brief review, accompanied by a live video, of Sudden Infant's recent performance in boston.  have a look.  thanks!

pleased to see a thread dedicated to live reviews.

ARKHE

#14
Got up a few hours ago after reaching home at 5.30 in the morning after the JAAKKO VANHALA etc show in Copenhagen yesterday. As usual, a nice evening at Mayhem! Good gathering of Danes, Swedes and Finns. Even though it took perhaps a bit too long to go there from the station, hah... always good with some exercise.

The bands were as always numerous, and perhaps a bit too many (before the first act, the "stage" area with the tables was bigger than the audience area...). Hard to keep track of who played at which table with what sound. But I'll give it a try... when arriving at the venue, a disturbing tinitus-like sine tone was hovering around the venue, I suppose this was the sound installation. I remained outside till it finished.
AMPHETAMINE LOGIC (Christian Stadsgaard) began with some droney melodies, building up to some nice noises with some kind of metallic spring contraption wielded like a keytar. Good, but lost in the blurr of the evning.

Second up, ASSAULT GUARD. Thenceforth referred to as "the young guy in camo jacket". IT felt... young. A lot of machines that I don't know the name of making good noise sounds, but slightly lacking in the department of purpose and direction. Will surely improve as time goes by.

ALLEYPISSER has (I think) been around a bit longer, moving into the tape loop and scrap metal-area. The sounds were really good, especially some the loops. The metal scraping didn't really come out at all in the mix. As the impressions I have from ALLEYPISSER's recordings, the sounds are good but go on for a bit too long; though what I hear as a bit of treading water, is someone else's amazing minimalism. I enjoyed it, but for the evening perhaps slightly too long, with only 3-4 acts it would have been better.

TUFTHUNTER came afterwards, synthesizer noise. I think it was the same person responsible for the sound installation earlier? I didn't appreciate the melodic noodling (also increasing fatigue + hunger starting to take out its toll), but the background sounds where violent enough!

FUZZARDS, also a new project from the Posh Isolation crew, I think? Klaus from Ashley C and that other guy whose name I just can't remember right now (Kåre?). Brutal and competent electronics, burly and minimal. Highly appreciated. Should've picked up their tape.

The only vocal act for the evening, LR is also the only one of these projects I've seen before. Aggressive un-confrontative power electronics, a lot of microphone feedback and great screaming vocals. Seems there were some technical issues, the second song (interspaced by some metallic clattering) was cut short, mr. LR storming out of the venue. Perhaps part of the performance though? Anyway, one of my favourite performances of the evening.

As the clock was reaching 2 in the morning, it was time for the headliner JAAKKO VANHALA to perform. I missed him on the tour with UMPIO earlier this year, so I was looking forward to it. What can I say? HARSH NOISE. Then I made the mistake of sitting down, and fell asleep for most of the performance. Sounded great though.

As said, a bit too many acts to enjoy them all, fully. But definitely worth the trip...
So now the question remains - who won, Freak Animal or Unrest?