SATURDAY, OCTOBER 18: MAIN SHOW
I was going solo for the third night of the festival, and this was one of the nights I was really looking forward to; mostly for two bands, Author and Punisher and Neurosis. I arrived maybe 30 minutes before the show began, and grabbed some merch as usual and found a spot inside the venue. The opening band of the night was another band I have reviewed for this site, Sorxe. Having not been happy with their record I had no real desire to see this show, but was open minded enough to see if they could impress me. Sadly they did not. Musically, they have no real issues. They are not sloppy, or even inconsistent, but the music itself just feels lifeless and does nothing to move me. Live was no different, and I found myself spacing out and missing about half of their set. Sadly, these shows have had a real knack for starting off lackluster, but usually pick up later on, and I was hoping this night would be no different.
After Sorxe finished, Author and Punisher sole member Tristan Shone took stage. For those unaware, Tristan has background in mechanical engineering and worked with an artist building installations that he had manipulated into instruments which he plays live. There are no “traditional” instruments, and seeing his brand of industrial influenced doom was something to behold. One man manipulating these machines in such a way to create drum beats and various sounds was fascinating. I can’t even really explain what each little piece does, but when put together, the sound is mechanical (as expected) and cacophonous, but at the same time there is something human within the music, and it was one of the more interesting things I’ve ever seen live. I had heard the band before online, but there was nothing that came close to actually seeing the project live. There really is not anything like it in metal as far as I’ve seen.
Next up was The Body, a two man group based in Portland, Oregon and formerly Providence, Rhode Island. The band had a big following at the festival, and despite having given them a chance a few times before, I would not consider myself a follower or real fan of the band. They are decent but at times lose my interest. The live situation was a bit better, but ultimately did nothing to change my opinion. The drumming was great, which made me realize that all of the two person groups this weekend had great drummers. There was heavy guitars, pounding drums, samples and some noise elements mixed in the bands sound, but the issue for me was and has been the vocals. I can see the appeal; as the low, frail vocal approach has been used by various acts, and can add atmosphere, or even some unearthly feelings to the music. However, in case of The Body, I cannot get into it. I was impressed that the low sounding vocals (mixing wise, not in tone as the vocals are a very high shriek) was duplicated live very well. However, instead of adding any feeling or even atmosphere to the music (like a band such as Venowl does incredibly well) the vocals come off as weak, and do not add to the music at all. The performance was fine, and I did enjoy it more than I had expected, but again I was not converted to a Body fan and felt no desire to rush out and buy any of their shirts or albums.
Finally, We got to witness to one of the biggest bands on the Festival: Neurosis. For the first time since 1999, Neurosis took stage in Arizona and played a two to near two and half hour set. Combining tracks from the bands catalog and giving the audience a perfect mix of soft, loud, fast, slow, and ambient/noise interludes, this set was simply fantastic. I’ve always enjoyed Neurosis but not to the extent a lot of others have. I do not own all their music, and I have not had “life changing” experiences with music because of them as many others during the festival talked about; yet that did not prevent me from enjoying the hell out of the show. There was no lag in the show, one song after another, and each element came together perfectly. Quite a bit throughout the show, I found myself with my eyes closed, just listening to; taking in, and feeling the music deeply. Neurosis played a great set, and the fans showed their appreciation the entire time. Neurosis clearly does not tour/play as many shows as they would have years ago yet I can only hope they don’t take another 15 years to come back.
The After Show for Saturday I did not attend so I cannot provide any impressions/reviews of it. I was not interested in really any of the bands performing, and after the insanely crowded house the prior night, I frankly did not want to deal with that situation again when I was not interested in the bands. Further, after what I had seen Neurosis do at The Rialto, I had serious doubts anything that night would come close to touching that.
All Pictures courtesy of Valerie LittleJohn for Violent Resonance at www.violentresonance.com except Daily Flyer and Neurosis Set List courtesy of www.facebook.com/southwestterrorfest
