Godspeed You! Black Emperor was stupendously amazing. There hasn't been a parallel in the time I've gone to concerts that I can think of that was similar in scope and artistic vision. Breathtakingly compelling.
I don't know who these guys are
Opener of three members with 30min of set time, drone music from start to finish. After the ~20min mark, a variation switch on the drones occurred, which was fused with environmental sounds and sampling. Worked well.
The group didn't acknowledge the audience at all other than with a raised hand to the audience following the dissipation of the droning variation.
Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Approximately 1hr 40min of organic, dynamic, pulse-pounding, ear-splittingly powerful post-rock. They demonstrated why they are masters of their genre through and through.
The set begun with the introductory drone from "The Dead Flag Blues" which continued to play for roughly five minutes before a single band member took to the stage. One by one, each member of the eight man ensemble took the stage with a brisk walk, with ~30sec of time separation for each band member appearing from the sides of the curtain. The placement of band members in an arch, outside a pair of percussionists, facing each other is juxtaposition that I had never seen before. Also very courteous of the entire collective to be masked while performing, something I've also never seen in person post-lockdown.
At least six gradually ascending fortissimo flourishes existed in this setlist, with many of them extending out for several minutes past what I had remembered them sounding like on the studio LP. On the back visuals, projected by an old school vintage movie camera about 80 feet from the stage, some disturbing scenes of burning fields and buildings were depicted for the length of "Fire at Static Valley," striking a palpably harrowing chord with me...given the conflict overseas.
The closing moments bore equal amounts tension and joy. Like with the opener, not a word spoken by any of the musical collective, with each member ringing out their final note/chord and resting their instruments along its respective amplifier, emitting vociferous feedback. Just as they entered, they then calmly exited the stage on the side nearest their position after a subtle raised hang to acknowledge/thank the audience, one by one. After roughly five minutes of droning/noise following the last musician's stage exit (leftmost guitarist), some of their audio crew took stage to adjust knobs little by little to create the apropos decrescendo to finish off the set, until it was dead silent. The following applause was joyous and unforgettable.
I know my concert count is very limited, but I would file this one in my top3 without hesitation.
Post-show
Expensive vinyl/CDs at merch table, along with various shirts with all designs being sold out of M size. Just headed home immediately after a quick lookover.
consequence.net
www.thegloryfires.com
www.setlist.fm
