An exhibition of sight and sound
Talking about a perfect plan for a Saturday night evening: to attend a concert of THE BLACK ANGELS and A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS. For the first band it was their first time visiting Finland and bringing us the best psychedelic rock from Austin, Texas. Then again for the second band this was already the fourth time they stepped on Finnish soil with their explosive and unstoppable noise rock from the loud city of New York. A central concert venue in Helsinki, Tavastia, hosted the fantastic concert of these well-known American bands. In the below review you can find more in detail what happened on that rainy Saturday night of September in the city of Helsinki:
A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS
A few days later my delicate ears were still affected by the thunderous, chaotic and superfluous performance of the band A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS (hereinafter referred to as APTBS). The crushing drumbeats of Lia Simone Braswell (ex-LE BUTCHERETTES) could be said to have been the highlight of the trio’s performance. The drummer did not stop, she kept the adrenaline to the maximum at the same time as she beat the restless drums sticks against the fragile drums again and again. At the same time Dion Lunadon stood with his leafy bass and captivated the audience with his aggressive look and tireless energy that applied on the thick strings of his instrument. Oliver Ackermann with his guitar served as a ceremony master guiding the ears of the audience to a long journey filled with a lot of feedback, broken strings, atmospheric noises, sound imperfection, and both pure and hard psychedelia. Another highlight of the night was during those last minutes of the performance in which the group descended from the stage to the dancefloor among the audience and played and improvised one of their songs.
This time there was not that dense fog that the band normally uses during their live sets. Rather, the group managed with only 3 weak lines of light next to each member and a stage in total darkness. Being one of the noisiest bands in New York and having produced four studio albums, their entire 45 minute set was enough time to prove their great live sonic power. Among the songs featured were «You Are the One», «We’ve Come So Far», «Ocean», «Dead Beat» and «Drill It Up». Only in few occasions the opening band shines the same or a little more than the main band, but this time APTBS exceeded both the public’s and my own expectations. Even the pain in my ears may continue for several more days, the memory of witnessing the stifling, indescribable and passionate live set of this American trio will last forever in my mind!
THE BLACK ANGELS
What can we say about that sublime and transverse sidereal trip offered by THE BLACK ANGELS? As they are considered one of the most respectable and interesting bands from Austin nowadays the Americans offered a modest performance including no major surprises by playing eighteen songs during an hour and a half. The band started strong with the astral travels «Currency», «Bad Vibrations» and «The Prodigal Sun», and the songs were loaded with long instrumental segments full of spacy guitar solos, dirty riffs, uniform drums, and acid keyboards. Throughout the recital, psychedelic technicolor images were shown behind the band on a huge screen courtesy of Bob Mustachio and his Mustachio Light Show who is in charge of programming the visuals for this European tour.
When the band played their other songs such as «Medicine», «Young Men Dead», «Black Grease» and «You on the Run» we could perceive that strange mixture that characterizes the quintet: Rocky Erickson‘s psychedelia, sinister pop melodies a la Charles Manson and that intuitive indie rock sensibility. Alex Maas being in charge of guiding the sound ceremony with his characteristic well-toned and linear voice without losing a note -and even from time to time altering between keyboards and bass-. Jake Garcia seduced us with his stellar guitar solos that transported us to another galaxy -plus he also took care of backing vocals and bass duties in some songs-. Kyle Hunt hypnotized us on keyboards thanks to his Machiavellian dexterity -occasional use of bass and guitar-. Stephanie Bailey kept the rhythm at all times. And Christian Bland was the perfect complement thanks to his riffs full of light and dynamism -he played keywords and bass as well-.
To summarize, not the most upbeat concert from the band side, but very successful what comes to the order of the songs which made everything to flow perfectly and naturally. This time being the first one for them to play on Finnish soil the group was very receptive to the audience and vice versa, and also the lights and images played a very important part since those visually shaped the lyrics in each of the songs. The Finnish audience were held for an hour and a half in perpetual mental and bodily trance. The live act of THE BLACK ANGELS is undoubtedly a whole spiritual experience in terms of psychedelia and visuals. A whole LSD trip through the most acid, spacy and rocky hills outside of Texas!
Setlist
1- Currency
2- Bad Vibrations
3- The Prodigal Sun
4- I Dreamt
5- Medicine
6- I Hear Colors (Chromaesthesia)
7- Black Grease
8- Grab As Much (As You Can)
9- Half Believing
10- The Sniper at the Gates of Heaven
11- Entrance Song
12- I’d Kill for Her
13- You on the Run
14- Comanche Moon
15- Life Song
Encore
16- Estimate
17- Death March
18- Young Men Dead