Godspeed You! Black Emperor - "GREY RUBBLE - GREEN SHOOTS"

Prolific Canadian post-rock band Godspeed You! Black Emperor have announced a new album and shared the lead single, "GREY RUBBLE - GREEN SHOOTS."

Godspeed You! Black Emperor played Knockdown Center

Post-rock icons Godspeed You! Black Emperor played their first show of 2024 in front of a sold-out crowd at Knockdown Center in Queens as part of the Outline winter program.

Godspeed You! Black Emperor - all lights fucked on the hairy amp drooling

The mythical "debut" from the iconic post-rock titans Godspeed You! Black Emperor is given an official release by the band.

Godspeed You! Black Emperor played Brooklyn Steel

Godspeed You! Black Emperor are on the road in support of last year's great album Luciferian Towers. On Monday, the band played their first of two shows at Brooklyn Steel.

Godspeed You! Black Emperor played Warsaw

Canadian collective Godspeed You! Black Emperor wrapped up a three night run in New York with a stellar performance at Warsaw.

Nine Inch Nails and Godspeed You! Black Emperor played Prudential Center

The Tension 2013 Tour crashed into Newark's Prudential Center for the second and final New York City area show this week and post-rock titans Godspeed You! Black Emperor handled the opening duties for the show. With their typical venues being small intimate (and non-corporate sponsored), this was a rather bizarre setting for the band. Hearing their delicate rumbles transform into monstrous storms in such a cavernous space felt extremely out of place. Nevertheless, the group was still in top form. Slowly assembling onstage in near darkness, grainy and out of focus film began to backlight the band as their tracks swelled to epic proportions. While Godspeed and Nine Inch Nails seem like such great tour mates, it was evident that those strictly in attendance for the headliner did not know what to make of them and chatted away through their all to brief set.

As the lights darkened for NIN, all the chatter disappeared. When the curtain fell, the band was revealed in stark cubes of light as Trent led his impressive backing band into a full on rage, starting with the recent "Copy of A" and never turning back. The show catapulted to a start by banging out classics "1,000,000", "Terrible Lie" and "March of the Pigs" to which the audience erupted in chaos. Slowly the lights transformed and the show was taken to a new level. NIN may have been off the map for a few years, but this spectacle was something to behold and as near perfect as a show could be. Everything was on cue and seemed to go off without a hitch. Lights seemed to come from every part of the stage and just when it seemed to be peaking, another set of light encircled the band providing one of the most visually arresting performances I've ever witnessed. The set certainly favored Hesitation Marks, Trent's excellent come back record, but there were plenty of old favorites thrown in the mix as well. The main set ended with "The Hand That Feeds" and "Head Like a Hole" which were met with enormous joy. During the encore, Trent introduced a cover of Bowie's "I'm Afraid of Americans" to much amazement before closing out the night with a haunting rendition of "Hurt". Listening to an arena of people sing that song isn't something I'll soon forget. These days, playing an arena doesn't come with the same accolades as it did in the past, but Trent and company are here to raise the bar and take people back to a time when big budget rock music was something worth caring about and from which to be inspired. With the brakes slammed on side project How to Destroy Angels, it doesn't seem like NIN will be slipping back into darkness anytime soon, and with a stage show that impressive, perhaps only Radiohead (another band still praised for their 90s glory) can conquer an arena like Trent Reznor.

Albums 2012

Following my favorite songs of the year, here are my favorite records of 2012. Thank you so much for reading all year. I'll finish up the year end posts with my guest lists next week.

Godspeed You! Black Emperor played Brooklyn Masonic Temple

Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Brooklyn Masonic Temple - 3/16/2011 from Francesco Marchione on Vimeo.


It began with a stage shrouded in darkness. A small red glow and the flicker of the projectors ushered in the band members, one by one, as a slow rumbling began to pour out of the speakers. As the ensemble broke into their set, terrifying drones played underneath flashes of the word 'hope' and slowly these sprawling orchestrations erupted in monstrous form. These post-rock titans built towering swells of sound that would climax in ear splitting and body melting pinnacles before returning to calm yet gloomy arrangements. Without ever speaking a word, the band established a presence that commanded pure silence and devotion from everyone in attendance. Hiding themselves in shadows the band let the music speak for itself demanding not only attention during long exhilarating crescendos, but also demanding the endurance to withstand the pure intensity that came with each mountainous wave of sonic blasts concocted by the group. While listening to the band in an intimate private setting can prove to be a truly pleasurable experience, the raw impact of seeing this illustrious sound performed in front of a devoted crowd can only compare with few other live acts.

Setlist:
Hope Drone
Gathering Storm
Monheim
Albanian
Chart #3
World Police and Friendly Fire
Rockets Fall on Rocket Falls
Moya
BBP3