Tuesday, July 3, 2007

Wolves In The Throne Room, Weedeater, Earth and Sunn O))) at the Casbah, San Diego July 2, 2007

Southern Lord's 777 West Coast Tour kicked off in San Diego last night. I'm unaware if it was sold out, but there were many folks on hand to throw up some horns and doom claws.

Wolves In The Throne Room got things started with a couple of long songs. After their first song was over the guitarist/singer announced they were playing their last song of the night. About 20 minutes later they were done. The first thing I noticed about Wolves was that they don't have a bass player so their sound lacks the bottom end that I love so much. They have a blackish metal sound that incorporates some ambient and progressive rock elements. Not exactly my type of music but I they were good at what they do.

Next up was Weedeater from one of the Carolinas (I forget which one). They play a mix of doom and stoner rock with a their bass player handling frontman duties. The drummer and bassist put on a hell of a show but the guitarist seemed like he was going through the motions (I guess he's just a low-key type of guy). Despite falling in genres that I like, I couldn't get really into them. But I'd like to hear a record of theirs before I pass complete judgment on them.

Earth had a lineup of some kind of keyboard, drums, bass and of course Dylan Carlson on guitar. They played almost (if not entirely) new material from their new album which is due next February. The material continued where they set out with Hex, but with a bit more variety in the mix. The guitar parts had some nice fills and touches not present on Hex and the keyboards played a larger roll in the sound. The title track from their upcoming album and "Carrion Crow" are sure to be highlights. Can't wait to hear the finished album!

Sunn O))) capped off the night with something I didn't expect from them. Earth's keyboard player (who I believe is Steve Moore) joined the band along with an upright bass player and vocalist Attila Csihar. After a heavy amount of fog pumped out of their fog machines, Steve, Stephen (on guitar) and Attila took the stage for about 15 minutes that a mix of guitar noises, both Golem-like and Gregorian chant-like vocals and trombone. It's one of the better and unique songs I've heard Sunn O))) perform. Then came Greg and the upright bass player to add the low end to the performance while Steve switched from trombone to a Moog synth. Eventually they built up a massive drone that had long periods of the sound waves beating and Attila took a nap on the stage until coming back with Golem-like vocals in the end.

Having never seen Sunn O))) before, it certainly was an experience. I can't remember having felt the music so much as the speakers pushed enough air to vibrate my entire body. Along with the fantastic "tour only" merchandise from Sunn O))), it was a fantastic night of music.

New goods:
Sunn O))) - Oracle 2CD
Sunn O))) - Oracle LP

No comments: