So I didn't hear about this show until just a few days ago, maybe a week. I'm not sure what's up, if it was just a rush job or if there was simply little publicity. Eventually I figured out that it's a yearly event that happens when the colder weather starts setting in. The festival is called Fall Into Darkness and I think that's a pretty rad idea. I'll look forward to the next one.
I don't read the local rags anymore either so I don't find out about smaller one-off shows like this until it's too late and it's sold out or I'm too broke to go. I thought for sure this would be sold out by the time I got myself in line, but no, I got in and everything was just fine. Over all it was a very pleasant show, no drunken assholes making a scene, very little pushing and shoving, polite security guys who I got into more than than one "no, no YOU go first I'm sorry" encounters with (perhaps because it was a nice, grown-up environment as opposed to some dingy craphole where all-ages shows are held in this town... It makes a person wanna be polite). I usually end up at shitty little bar shows, or big venues with asshole security and all that, but The Star theater is a cool place that I end up at frequently for Goth night because... well... habit. You'd never guess that the sound is so good for live music though. There are plenty of options for watching the show too. You can be right up front, you can be back a ways sitting in one of the booths or milling around the bar area, or you can sit up in the balcony which is really cool. I wish I had gone up there for one of the openers just to see what it was like.
Eight Bells opened the show to a lot more interest then I'm used to seeing in the first of a 4-band lineup. What I'm about to say might piss some people off, but I feel like metal bands that are primarily comprised of women are a gimmick, regardless of what the band intends. It's just what they end up being. I also feel like they've given a pass for talent and technicality. Eight Bells were not at all BAD, but they weren't great either. They played music similar to to the main act in that it's largely more quiet and sweeping, then drops into bouts of screamy, blastbeaty metal. I think my biggest complaint os that the singer who was doing the harsh vocals was *just* screaming and not seeming to put any art into it.
Botanist were up next and boy were they going all out... They has drums and a bass, but also a harmonium and two large zithers (actually, I'm not sure sure what they were, but they were close relatives of the zither) which took the place of guitars, playing off one another just like guitarists would. They were dressed in the requisite hooded robes of the current metal scene and chose not to interact with the audience except a curt hello and thank you goodbye unless they were dramatically announcing the title of the next song. I'm all for ambiance and whatnot, but this was a little over the top and i thought the super serious song announcements were kind of cheesey because they all sounded like incantations of some sort. It just all added up to a bit much for my taste.
I don't know how to describe their music due to the bizarre instruments used, but it was heavy and well-structured. However, the songs all sounded far too alike for me and either they take a lot of familiarity to "get", or they need to keep working toward whatever the hell it is they're aiming to become. They have a lot of potential and I suppose I could best describe them as a cross between Junius and... oh god... what was the other band? There's that damned concert amnesia. They had that strange, many-layered epic sound of Junius, but had much more Black Metal influence happening.
Behold... The Arctopus was the only opener who I had heard before and when they started playing, I was more entertained by the fact they were keeping such chaos in check and were playing so tight. than i was by the music itself. I really want to be one of the cool kids who can truthfully say they like Fantomas, but I'm not and The Arcopus are like Fantomas on PCP. I just don't derive any pleasure from listening to this kind of music, but I can certainly appreciate the talent it takes to play it and it's enjoyable to witness in a live setting. The drummer was getting way aggro over the monitors and it looked like he was about to give up and quit, while the rest of the band just kind of laughed at him and kept playing. that was a weird moment. I later heard that he had driven the band that same day from the bay area, so one can understand his pissiness.
Finally, around MIDNIGHT, Agalloch took the stage. By then I had also found my concert-buddy Yousef of Faces on The Radio.
I saw then earlier this year, in February I think at Mississippi Studios. I had a bad time because I wasn't down with the crowd, I was too drunk, it was just not a good night for me. But I do remember the show being super good and they played Not Unlike The Waves, which if my memory isn't too bad today, they did NOT play lastnight. That's too bad because it's one of my favorite tracks from the band.
Agalloch are great live, but they become a different band to me. I spend a lot of time dicking around in the woods after dark while listening to them. Notably all last winter I would go up to Forest Park after work, have a few beers in one of my hidden spots and walk around until I was good and ready to leave. Repeatedly doing something like that with a band will build up one's own sorta fantasy life around the music that can't be brought into a concert hall. They try to make it as naturey and sacred as possible by burning sage and using a few other small ritualistic props, and the music itself of course, but it's just not the same and I'm sure the band would agree.
 |
| The generic brand bottled water represent's Odin's thirst while hanging from Yggdrasil. |
The sound was great, their set went off without a hitch. Their lead guitarist was waaay into it, almost to an 80's hair metal level. Dude was jumpin' around, getting down on his knees, back up, the whole 9 yards. I never see musicians act like that because it's, like, uncool. Agalloch don't seem to care much about that sort of stuff, they just do their thing and write the music they want to write regardless. I don't know what they listen to in their spare time, I don't know their influences, but I'm willing to bet there's a lot more neo-folk and post-punk than there is metal. They're the band people automatically think of when you say "Cascadian metal", and not without reason. Beyond music, they're heavily influenced by the natural surroundings you find in this part of the country, everything is wet and covered in moss, it rains most of the year, cities are spotted with areas devoted to preserving the wilderness that once covered the whole area. If you get in a car drive for about half an hour east or west from the city center, you will reach wild nature. Give it another 30 minutes and you're in places where people get lost and die.
 |
| My new camera still isn't great at concert photography but I can assume you this is the band. I'm pretty sure my camera is a stoner who can't focus on anything but stimulating colors. |
