all photos: Sexy Fitsum
SUPERPSYCHEDELICCOSMIC-FUCKING AWESOME is the only way to even try to describe the show the Boredoms put on last Thursday at the 930 club. Although the band has been assembled in some shape or form since the 80s, I was not aware of their music/sound/vibe until I was tipped off by a Vice magazine article and YouTube clip of their ridiculous 77 drum circle spiral that they put in Brooklyn this past summer. That sneak peak was enough to get me psyched up and eager to check this show out.
I took the advice of some other friends better familiar with the noise/psychedelic genre and skipped out on the openers because I was told “they were just weaker versions of the Boredoms” and listening to the buildup would ruin the full on effect of the headlining act.
Opening with a building drum roll that is traditionally used in Japanese music and folk performance, Yamantaka Eye conducted and led his trio of drummers and pair of sound techs through an odyssey of drum patterns, crunchy synth lines and incoherent babbling.
The hour plus performance had a beautiful flow of valleys and peaks; stereotypical Japanese precision drove the funky tribal percussion that often melded into noisy chaos or stunning minimal arrangements. The massive “Sevener”, a seven-necked guitar that Eye often banged or stroked to create strong atmospheric chords, was utilized to the fullest through several different tuning setups. While the lightman did an excellent job with the functional strobes and other colored stage lights, a more comprehensive visual experience would have been the only element that could have improved the performance. I also was semi bummed the stage setup was traditional and not the circular, central setup that the band had used in the recent NYC show.
For the crowded, but not packed audience in attendance, it was quite clear that the musically knowledgeable crowd was enjoying this aural story as much as myself.
Allegedly the band is planning on doing a similar “88″ event to last summer’s freak out and this show was convincing enough to check these guys out again.
Pretty powerful stuff.
All in all, I think they only played 3 or 4 songs too.
the new album is all just one song.
one 47 minute song.
Yoshimi and Eye melted 930–I have seen them before long, long ago @ F St. 930 W/ Pain Teens and on some island in Richmond w/ Sonic Youth and Superchunk. They brought the tribal psych tsunami this time. Whoa
April 8, 2008 at 11:08 pmt’was fucking brilliant
April 9, 2008 at 3:16 pmwhat did i miss???? and where can i hear them …
April 10, 2008 at 12:12 am
you know you’ve just seen greatness when the final note is banged upon a seven neck guitar with a window screen pulled out from nowhere followed by awesome dust particles zooming up in a spiral.
April 8, 2008 at 2:59 pm