This was one of those gigs that had you bristling you with anticipation. You know the type, the ones where you are not quite sure what is going to happen, but you sure as hell not only know somethings going to happen, you know it’s going to happen right in your face – literally.
A Place To Bury Strangers – I’ve always thought it was a great name, but more than that, it’s a name that instantly conjures an image. Mysterious, slightly sinister, verging on the macabre. What’s even better is that the band behind the name, do more than live up to their moniker.
As the stage was pumped with dry ice and the lights turned dark an air of anticipation filled the hall. Barely visible, the trio take the stage, no niceties, just straight into a full on onslaught; a barrage of strobes, combine with a relentless wall of noise to transport you straight to the underbelly.
For the most, the band appear as spectres, shadows flitting between light and dark. On the odd occasion we do get a glimpse, we see Ackerman utilising the effects pedals to drive his guitar to whiteout and beyond, Lunadon wrestling his bass into submission, over and over again, and , least visible of all, Gonzales thumping out the drum beats. The trio combine to create a sensory overload that teeters on the brink of utter chaos. But it is a chaos that they have under total control, which is carefully manipulated to hold the audience transfixed.
It’s all good and hard to pick a particular highlight, but ‘Deeper’ from the band’s latest album ‘Transfixiation’, with its menacing, almost threatening lyrics, resonates in your mind long into the night, and sums up the tone of the evening well. But it’s more than just the tracks that will live long after the night has ended…
First we see Dion start to slide his Marshall amp towards the front, then off the stage. His colleagues follow suit, and in minutes the whole band are decamped from the stage and have set up a mobile rig in the middle of the crowd. It’s the piste de resistance of what has already been an outstanding gig.
A Place To Bury Strangers, it’s a name that’s hard to forget, and after tonight, it’s a performance that’s equally unforgettable. Quite easily, one of the best live bands around.
GALLERY: just click on any pic to see full size.
A Place To Bury Strangers are currently touring the UK and Europe before heading back to play dates in the US and Canada.
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