Playing in front of a capacity crowd at The Pyramid Scheme, New York’s legendary post-punkers led by Michael Gira delivered intense, lengthy and improvisational musical pieces.
Dark Ragas: Swans frontman Michael Gira at The Pyramid Scheme. (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
A sold-out crowd packed The Pyramid Scheme on Monday for a dense and intense performance by post-punk legends Swans. Over the course of a two-and-a-half hour show, the sextet built a brutalist edifice of layered sound that was terrifying and thrilling.
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The group’s musical pieces rarely resemble traditional songs — they’re more sculptural than declaratory. But the sonic terrain they traveled Monday ranged from delicate gong washes and dark ragas to plodding drone rock and the angular disco of the damned.
Capacity Crowd: But not a toe-tapping affair. (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
In a rare treat for Grand Rapids, there was even a little Herman’s Hermits thrown in for good measure.
Swans’ founder and frontman Michael Gira broke into a verse of “I’m Hen-ery the Eighth, I am” to kill time shortly after the group blew the stage power. The band is accustomed to larger venues, and apparently they used more juice than the system could handle.
[UPDATE: Upon further research, it appears that this kind of stuff happens to Swans somewhat regularly. Which, ya gotta admit, approaches a Spinal Tap-level of excellence.]The outage was only a small hiccup, though, providing a bit of levity in a show that was otherwise devoted to an almost ritual-like presentation. The band members maintained intense focus on each other rather than hamming it up for the audience. It wasn’t toe-tapping (though it was occasionally head-bobbing). The music was composed, with Gira acting as conductor, but there was plenty of space for improvisation.
The duo Xylouris White opened the show with a mysterious and cinematic sonic journey of their own. Cretan lutist George Xylouris and Dirty Three drummer Jim White played a series of songs that resembled a musical waterfall — relentless, sometimes serene, sometimes crashing on the rocks.
Read more about Swans in this Local Spins interview with Gira.
SWANS: THE LOCAL SPINS PHOTO GALLERY BY ANTHONY NORKUS
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What an incredible show! Just to be clear, SWANS tour manager said they blow fuses often, thus it wasn’t a rare occasion. I was proud of our little engine last night!
You should be proud, Nicole — y’all handled all aspects of this show like the consummate pros you are. What a great time…
Also, added a clarification above. While the fuse-blowing is not rare, but I still suspect Henery VII was. 🙂