The duo of Brian Chippendale and Brian Gibson barely made it through their opening number of "The Metal East" before they had to recalibrate and call in some extra hands as their stack of amps began to topple over. "Well that hasn't happened to us in a while," Chippendale declared as he bashed away on his kit to help kill some time before they were ready to continue their audio assault on the amped up crowd. "For months we've been confused about this show," he explained before their hit ua with the rest of their set. "We got asked to play Ruins at Knockdown and we were so hyped to be playing with the Japanese Psych band Ruins, but then we saw the poster and realized what was going on" he explained. "We're still stoked, this is gonna be fun" and the band sure did seem ready to unleash their brutal onslaught of over-powered tunes that were sure to destroy the eardrums of anyone who didn't think to use some kind of protection against their relentless sound. Between the pummeling drums and the sinister bass lines, the Brians were out in full force and ready to live up to their ever-promising hype. For decades, Lightning Bolt have lived a storied career of DIY fashion, bringing their art school aesthetics to the stage and leveling anyone who dares to bare witness to their extreme shows. With blinding lights doing their best to keep up with Chippendale's erratic drumming, the band took things to warp-speed as they bashed away and delivered a mesmerizing set that felt euphoric amongst the sheer volume of their blasting rhythms. In the same way Free Jazz ushered in chaos back in the '60s, Lightning Bolt have drawn from a similar influence where time signatures have no meaning and everything about their sound comes entirely from the chemistry flowing between the two men on stage. Moving freely and without any needed dialogue, the two led the crowd through hard hitting tracks from across their career and the pit in front of the stage never ceased to swallow the energy from the two performers and project it back ten fold. It was an unbelievable power exchange that flowed seamlessly and showcased the symbiotic nature that this kind of music can have between the creator and the crowd. To watch each song explode with such passion and be met with an overwhelmingly positive reception was certainly something to admire. It was a blazing set that never let up, each song crashing right into the next with only a slight pause to recenter the drums after a few songs due to Chippendale's eccentric playing. There's so much insanity that comes from a Lightning Bolt show, it's like a powder keg that explodes from the first second of their set and never lets up. Yet, there's still something really euphoric and inspiring about what these two can conjure up on stage and when it hits you in a live setting, it can be the ultimate release. Decades into their career, it's a remarkable thing to see these two men put on a caliber show that has maintained itself for so long and every time you're able to catch it again in the flesh, you're reminded that there's a reason this band has been a figurehead in noise music for so long. They've been doing this for ages and it's still the best it's ever been.
1 comment:
Cathartic, but also surprisingly intimate! It was great to experience them alongside you.
Post a Comment