Tonight’s show at the Middle East brought together a fairly diverse line-up – an instrumental/post-rock band from Chicago, hardcore band from Massachusetts and sludgy/noisy group from Japan named after Melvins song.
So how did the three of them sounded? Read on….
Russian Circles – What started out as a rather standard post-rock set eventually turned into a great showcase of the band’s metal-flavored sound (somewhat similar to bands like Pelican – although to these ears, RC sound a bit more complex than aforementioned act). In fact, if it wasn’t for the lack of lead singer and a lot of quieter moments, they could’ve been mistaken for a big ol’ heavy metal band (but then, again, their music is a lot more intricate than that of a lot of regular metal bands).
Cave In – Unlike RC, Cave In wasted no time in getting to the point. They hit the proverbial pedal, pushed it to the floor and kept it there until the end of their set. Utterly deafening and utterly divine in the way that it attacked all senses, their music proved to be the best soundtrack to the evening.
Boris – Started out by playing a couple of fairly quiet songs, but by the third track it all turned into a sludge/noise-fest. Not bad, but I expected more of them as headliners and so the verdict is…
That a crown for the best act of the evening should go to Cave In – for providing an aural orgasm. a (thankfully failed) attempt to destroy everyone’s eardrums and simply for keeping it real. Its hard to tell who should get the 2nd and 3rd prize, because both Boris and RC were equally good, so they could share a prize between themselves.
Video Credits: Odallard / Wildsea320 / Trebmal007
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I am a contributor of some of the videos. I was by the speaker for Cave in, it was loud! They always like it loud, but with ear plugs, I could hear the vocals fine. My videos pretty much depict how it sounded. They are always beautifully brutal and they won my top prize for the evening. I was there for Cave In, but liked what I heard from the other bands. I was also taking photos upstairs so I missed some of RC, and most of Boris, but all in all it seemed like a great bill.
I guess if you were further in the back, you could hear the vocals. I even remember the bassist from Cave In signaling to the back that he couldn't hear his own vocals. The Middle East needs to work on sound if no one in the front can hear vocals.
I nabbed one of Boris's setlists if anyone wants me to post it.
Also – not sure if people who were there realized this, but much of the soundtrack between the sets was provided by Swans and Nirvana.
I think that they played "Eden Prison" (as well a whole bunch of older Swans stuff) and much of "Insecticide" album in between/prior to band sets.
I'm not sure if it was the fact that I was literally in the front center when Cave In was playing, but it all sounded like fuzzed out noise to me. I couldn't hear a damn thing. I couldn't hear any vocals, and all the guitar and bass meshed together to make a wall of distorted noise.
I agree – they were damn loud (I was near the stage, by the way and my ears are still ringing).
And vocals too – they were an instrumental band because you couldn't figure out a damn thing that anyone was singing.
After their set, everyone around me started to sound like they were speaking through an effects processor or a tube of some kind.
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I miss Russian Circles every time they play town. Something always comes up. Shame!
Sorry to hear that – and hopefully you'll be able to get to their next show (whenever that might be).
Thank you for your comment!