GIG ARCHIVE: #121 - Godspeed You! Black Emperor 23/10/2015

[ originally published 20/11/2015 ]

GODSPEED YOU! BLACK EMPEROR
Colston Hall, Bristol - 23rd October 2015
Support: Dead Rat Orchestra

So this was always going to be something a bit special. I wasn't disappointed. It was worth going out of my way to pick up our mate Colin in Cardiff, getting lost trying to get out of Bristol after the show and even the ridiculous people who went to the gig only to spend most of it running in and out of the auditorium to go to the bar/toilet every 20 minutes while I tried to immerse myself in the extraordinary sounds of GYBE.

Colin was immediately taken by the support act, a couple of blokes with bushy beards called Dead Rat Orchestra who describe themselves as "avant-folk". They were a bit like putting John Cage, Dead Can Dance and a wily old fisherman in a room together to see what happens. I wasn't convinced, but Col has bought their CD so I'm not going to argue.

Godspeed were an altogether different affair though. Two hours of enormous, slow-building epics that not only filled the Colston Hall, but pretty likely the whole of the city. They appeared onstage gradually. An opening drone kept us on tenterhooks before the cellist and violinist entered stage right. For the majority of the show though, all 8 members (and their massive supporting cast of effects pedals) combined to create a sonic thunder of post-rock tension and euphoria. Visuals flickered and pulsed on the screen behind them, but they were somewhat secondary and, other than during the final track, didn't really add a great deal to the overall performance. No vocals, of course, but who needs them? GYBE's music says more than mere words can.

Both longform tracks from the band's latest album 'Asunder, Sweet And Other Success' were aired, but like everything they play live, were altered or rearranged for the concert setting. Highlights included Gathering Storm (a segment of Storm from the band's seminal record 'Lift Yr. Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven!') and the quite frankly incredible closer The Sad Mafioso (a segment of East Hastings from debut album 'F#A#∞').

MrsRobster said there were times she drifted off and forgot where she was before being drawn back in by the music again. This is probably the intended effect of the band's music. It does transport you sometimes, although sadly too often for the younger 'hip' members of the audience and their ever-shortening attention spans, it was to the bar. For those of us who do not seek instant gratification, who can sit for two hours without once checking our phones, who can remain riveted to a 20-minute instrumental piece, a Godspeed You! Black Emperor show can be a highlight of our year.