Bands Bands Bands
It was a long wait outside the Corner Hotel to see The Horrors. Glamorous teenagers in tight jeans with floppy fringes lounged against the wall. I wasn’t the oldest person there but I definitely was over a decade older that most people. The Horrors are a curious blend of theatrical circus and dark angry rock creating a wall of sound that made your entire body vibrate. We had seen the gyrating keyboardist on the video and were disappointed that he wasn’t there. Then we realised that the bass player who was throwing himself into the music was actually the keyboardist. These multi-talented musicians were able to swap places depending on the song. Over all it was a great gig, though the keyboards were a little to high in the mix, their carnival sound overpowering some of the other elements. However during the encore the rest of the instruments increased in volume almost blowing their listeners away. We both left exhilarated by the power of the show.
The following evening we went down to the Palias Theatre to see the classic 80’s band Echo and the Bunnymen. You may remember “The Killing Moon” and “Dancing Horses. ”
The ornate Palias had echoes of past splendour and great acoustics. Despite being almost empty when we arrived, the first band was already playing. I was so impressed by the energy and professionalism of Black Gold that I bought their CD. The singer managed to bop to the music, play keyboards and do vocals all at the same time. The theatre filled up for Echo and the Bunnymen but even though we were near the front, it was a struggle to see anything. Not only was the stage dimly backlit so we could only see silhouettes but I also had to peer over the shoulders of the people in front of me. Despite the visibility issues, compelling vocals emerged from the gloom, in the same achingly sweet voice recorded decades ago. Even the bad knock knock jokes between songs could not dispel the magic of the music. .
In complete contrast to the previous event, Justin and I squeezed into a tiny underground concrete bunker to see the industrial band Aesthetic perfection. The band exuded boundless energy bouncing around the stage and working the crowd up into a frenzy. The singer yells ‘Are you having fun yet?’ and the crowd roars in response. It was pure fun, dancing to the drums. I was able to get some close up photos in between bouncing
We decided to get ear plugs for “A Place to Bury Strangers” as they claimed to be the loudest band in New York. We were up close to the front so could see everything that was happening but the sound overwhelmed the visual element of the performance.
I was glad that we had ear plugs. My entire body vibrated right down to my nasal hairs. It was electrifying and horrifying, like going on a rollercoaster except all the screams are internalised. Justin was buzzing for an hour afterwards.
Justin also saw Mastodon with our friend Dennis. Coming up in the next month is The Prodigy and Massive Attack so the music magic contines.