Boris in San Francisco at the Independent on 11 OctoberPunishingly loud show with 3 bands that ran up to the very last second before
I had to hire a ride to the train… or all the way home, a financial disaster.
It was sold out, packed, amazing.
The supporting bands were terrific (
ENDON,
SUMAC )
The tour has moved east, but they'll loop around to the West Coast in mid-November.
Their schedule says, Echoplex on November 18 with Torche, and that's a monster show.
Tickets still available. The Casbah in San Diego is the night before.
www.facebook.com/pg/borisheavyrocks/events/I bought a couple of CDs including the Japanese DLX
Dear.
No
Pink box set for me.
It's all a joke, you can't record their music for a home system. I'm going to play
them through headphones and cry. The speaker arrays at the Independent are
so focused that the kick drum was making my jeans flutter like flags.
Tuning upLighting upENDON was more or less doom on happy pills. Basically deep, dark metal.
SUMAC is much more deathly with growly vocals and unbelievable sub-bass.
When they'd driven us to despair, they stopped and said their music was
all about people loving each other and that's how we'll get through it all.
If we can't catch a lift from the horsemen of the apocalypse, I guess.
Boris gives you the same experience of the weight of the universe pivoting over
on top of you, but in a way that's… I dunno, objective. Classical. It's very
sobering but there's no threat implied, as they stand there shoulder deep in
artificial fog in their vampire black robes. They do serious musical theater,
coming on like supernatural beings haunting a blue, foggy other dimension.
When the fog's off, it's more of a rock show with X Japan-like flourishes,
authoritative, but actually a bit reserved and even gentle. They're like
celebrant priests of heavy, is what.
They have a sense of humor but they don't bring it on stage. Wata's standing
there with an amped up accordion in her hands, and you wouldn't think to
laugh, especially with the overdrive at 11.
I didn't know if I should be afraid of the audience. Not to worry, it's San
Francisco. One dude helicoptering and zero spinners or bulls crashing into
each other. It felt like a shoegaze show, except that my bone marrow was
pushed all the way into the ends.