Circles surrounded with Loud Birds

The above mentioned title refers to the mind-numblingly fantastic post-rock show I saw last night at the Triple Rock Social Club.

Russian Circles opened up, and I'm telling you, they're pushing the envelope when it comes to post-rock/post-metal. Crushingly intense, complex drum beats, finger-tapping, occasional guitar shredding and a venerial cornacopiea of bass lines made for an eye-opening, jaw dropping performance! This band just has it. It was so refreshing to see instrumental music played with that kind of demeanor, that kind of random style. I will definitely see them again when they come back around.

I've always loved Pelican on disc, and I thought that they would blow me away live. Surprisingly, they didn't. The sound was loud, the band intense, but every song was fast and loud. They've got some quiter, acoustic songs in their catalogue, but they didn't play any of them. Whereas both Russian Circles and Mono played loud and soft songs, Pelican played nothing but loud ones. They were metal, hard-hitting and lively, but there was no real change in tempo or volume. The singer had mentioned that this was the largest crowd that they had played for in Minnesota, which was nice. However, they could have changed up their set a bit to have the music ebb and flow, upon which a lot of music (especially instrumental) is built.

Having seen Mono twice, I knew I was in for quite a treat. They never cease to amaze me, or completely refresh and floor me; mission accomplished again. They played some newer songs, and their bassist even played piano for a song intro. Like recent Sigur Ros and Mogwai shows I've been to, Mono's set was more melodic. Many songs began and ended with the two guitarists' building on each other's bright and simple harmonic picking, with quiet basslines and hushed drums filling our ears to round out the beauty they display through their playing. Absolutely gorgeous, is how I can describe their set last night. You could hear your heartbeat when songs ended, since the audience was so stunned (at least I was) by their performance. They're from Japan, but yet I've seen them three times now in the last 2 years! You can be sure I'll see them when they come back around, since they always add something new each time. If you like them, go pick up their new disc, the Steve Albini-produced You Are Here. It's perfect.