It was a chilly and dreary Saturday night in St Paul as the drizzling rain splattered across the urban environment. The hordes of people descended upon downtown before splintering off into various factions as they queued up for different concerts and events located throughout the city’s central core.
The brick walkway of 7th place outside of the Palace Theatre glistened with the lights of the marquee that read Godspeed You! Black Emperor. Fans were queuing up to take in a live performance of the long standing Montreal based ensemble. Once inside it didn’t take long for the chill to shake off as the crowd packed in tighter and tighter in anticipation for the show to begin.
Alan Sparhawk recently released his second solo album titled White Roses, My God in late September. This is Sparhawk’s first album since the passing of his wife and bandmate, Mimi Parker. The Duluth based musician has dabbled in a variety of musical styles during his decades long career and while performing his opening set we got two distinct styles that almost felt like two different openers took the stage.
The first half was full of beat driven songs with heavily altered vocals from the use of a vocoder or pitch shifter and standing beside him performing on bass was his son, Cyrus. There were times when the words were harder to decipher as his voice was obscured with the vocal effect but there was a spark in there. Perhaps as a way to temporarily distance his voice that normally sang along with Parker or simply chasing another muse. Sparhawk jumped up and down, tugging on his hoodie while pointing and reaching towards the audience. Eventually the intense movements caused the heat to get to him and he removed the hoodie and was then left shirtless in a pair of overalls. Sparhawk then picked up his electric guitar and with that his familiar voice returned for a few more songs that were slowed down and had a sense of longing and torment.
At the end of the set Sparhawk encouraged everyone to continue on with the community building that he knows this audience in particular has always done. Stating that it is more important now than ever to be there for one another.
For years Godspeed You! Black Emperor has started their set with a song that hasn’t made it’s way onto an official release. The piece Hope Drone started off with a low rumble vibrating the space until violinist Sophie Trudeau and double bassist Thierry Amar walked out and picked up their instruments. A song that has taken on a life of its own and changes up with each iteration it is performed. As all the members take their position on the stage and begin to join in as a warm up to the evening and settle into a groove as the word Hope flashes behind them periodically.
As an eight piece in a live setting Godspeed is able to produce a wide swath of tones and sonic textures that just can’t be replicated to its fullest on a recording. Certainly their music is captured well onto their albums for immediate replication but it’s absolutely amazing to be in an open space like a concert hall where it can live and breathe and be felt in person. A suitable place where the amps can scream and the tools of percussion pummel their way through the crowd. The sonic layers that three guitars produce in this environment is wonderful. Guitarist Mike Moya utilizes a screwdriver to produce a smooth connection between notes as it eerily slides across the fretboard. Hearing and faintly seeing how other guitarists, Efrim Menuck and David Bryant, create these sounds is fascinating.
Despite pointing out all these specific contributions these musicians make, this ensemble prefers to pull the focus away from the individuals and let the music speak for itself as they perform as a collective. There are no bright lights illuminating a band leader but rather a dimly lit stage that allows for focus to be centered on the music. There are no fancy state of the art stage gimmicks but rather a large white screen behind them whereupon a flickering light dances that is emitted from the back of the concert hall.
Situated upon a table are four projectors where Katherine Bauer cycles through old reels of film used by the group for years as well as some new pieces that get looped into the mix. Behind the projectors hang strands of loose films cascading from a wire that is tethered to two stands. The clattering sound of the projectors can be heard within their proximity and adds a mechanical drone during the quiet parts. Bauer manipulates the beam of light piercing through the darkness by blocking the light with a hand or using a prism to divert the beam to scatter off to the side of the theatre walls. Other moments there are two films projected at once or at other times adjusting the focus to widen out and soften the images on display. Often these scenes are bleak or during times of chaos. Protests and uprisings, expanding landfills, buildings on fire or a plane in a spiraling descent from the loss of its engine. While other times it’s flowers or birds appearing gracefully and yet sometimes in distress as two birds peck at each other in a fight. The repeating scenes loop together resulting in a dizzying and hypnotic feeling that sometimes steps out of sync with the music and then falls back into place.
Godspeed closed out their highly impressive set in their expected fashion. Setting their instruments down and departing one by one as their final notes ring out while other musical phrases carry on with a repeating loop as the stage slowly becomes vacant as the sounds of their instruments carry on without them.
The distraught feelings of loss may feel paralyzing but there is time to grieve and process before the inevitable march forward must continue. After the pieces have separated and crumbled away and are left piled up in a mound of grey rubble; drop the helpless worry as there is still hope to be found. Venture onward and spring forward to start anew with rebirth.
