I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: March 18, 2017] Sunn O)))

My friend Lar has been a fan of Sunn O))) for a long time.  Their music is like an ambient death metal–drones and drones of noises with heavy chords played very very slowly.  There’s no drums at all, just beats from the guitars.

And I had heard that their live shows were amazing–louder than anything you’ve ever heard, tons of fog, guys in hoods, and just sonic intensity.  And as soon as I saw that they were playing locally I grabbed a ticket.

I was prepared for the loudest thing I’d ever heard (and brought super great earplugs accordingly).  But I have to say it wasn’t as loud as I was expecting.  I mean, sure it was loud, but I had heard that you could feel it in the pit of your stomach–I was prepared to have to head to the back of the building for the sound waves.  But it wasn’t that loud at all.  On the other hand, it was loud enough that I could feel my nose hairs vibrating, or the cuffs of my pants vibrating.  So that’s pretty loud.  In fact, normally after hearing loud noises, you get a tinnitus ring.  After this show, I had a low throb in my ears for a day after–I’ve never experienced anything like that before.  I’m actually thinking it may have been because the earplugs were in too far.

But aside from that, what was the show like?

The fog started about ten minutes before the band came on.  Fog and fog and more fog.  You couldn’t even see the balcony, there was so much fog (left).  And then out walked a hooded figure (above).  It was Attila Csihar, the vocalist.  He spoke in a strange language (he is Hungarian but it didn’t sound like Hungarian, but who knows) and then he chanted for a while, making some pretty interesting sounds. He was dramatic and somewhat over the top.  At times it felt a little silly.

After six or so minutes of that, the rest of the band came out.  Four guys in hooded robes–two guitars and two keyboards. Contrary to my expectations, the loud, low frequencies were coming from the keyboards–particularly the one in the back played, I think by Tos Nieuwenhuizen (see right, behind the guy with the massive earring holes)–he was sort of the anchor for the whole sound.  But then the guitars started playing and we were enveloped in sound. The band members moved slowly, played chords slowly and let their guitars and feedback drone on.

All the while the fog continued and Attila performed.  And it was mesmerizing.  And sometimes silly and sometimes boring and then mesmerizing again.  As is the nature of this droney music, you kind of get in a trance.  There is constant sound at a consistent volume and if you get absorbed into it, it consumes you entirely.  But if you resist or pull out, the whole thing scan seems, well–guys in robes, a guy singing “words” or maybe not–you get it.

From time to time I would snap out of it and think huh, is that it?  But then realize that 20 minutes had gone by and I was totally absorbed.  (Although not as absorbed as some of the guys up front who were constantly putting their fists up (see right).

Lately I have been getting pretty close to the stage for shows–I’ve been really enjoying seeing the bands so close. I had guitarist Greg Anderson in front of me (check out that chord on the left).  And not having tall people in front of me is also great.  I enjoyed watching Anderson do things.  Although I could never really see the other guitarist, Stephen O’Malley with all that fog, I was glad to get a picture of his see through guitar (right).

But I fear that being so close I was missing out on vocals–that the vocal speakers are actually behind me.  I could hear Attila fine when he started, but as soon as the band started playing louder I lost his voice.  I wasn’t sure if I couldn’t hear him or if he was just blending with the music.

The music went on for the entire show–about 80 minutes–with no breaks or pauses.  I gather that they were playing different songs in that time, although I would never have been able to tell.

But there were a few moments that were different.

Somewhere in the first part of the show, one of the keyboardists (Steve Moore, possibly) pulled out a trombone and played some notes–I couldn’t really hear them, but it was surprising nonetheless.

About 30 minutes in, Attila pulled out a palm-sized shiny object.  I saw someone describe it as a cigar-cutter-looking device.  But it also looked alike Sunn O)))‘s logo a little bit.  He played with that in various ways–holding it up, singing into it.  It was mesmerizing.  And speaking of their logo–there were a few Sunn O))) amp heads, but the stage was so foggy I never got a good photo.

After a certain amount of time, each guitarist put down his guitar and slowly walked off stage, leaving just Attila and the keyboards.  This was actually the least interesting part for me, for some reason.  Then the guitars came back and all was right again.

About 2/3 of the way through the show, Attila walked back to the keyboard behind him and crouched down for a pretty long time.  When he finally stood back up, he was wearing a really creepy mask (left).  Like, really creepy.  I’ve seen people describe it as a dead skin mask, and that ‘s pretty accurate.  He sang with that on for a time and then he left the stage.

I actually found the part without him on stage to be pretty enjoyable–perhaps I was working too hard to hear what he was singing, so when he was gone, I wasn’t concerned at all.  But that’s no to say that I didn’t want him up there because he was undoubtedly the focus of the visual show.

Because when he came back, his new outfit was a new hooded cape.  It was covered with mirrors and had a crown like the Statue of Liberty’s (also covered in mirrors).

He lurched on stage like a walking nightmare.  It was awesome.  He had laser beam gloves (or something).  So he was able to shoot red lasers from his hands. He shot them at the crowd.  He shot them at the band, and most often he shot them at himself, and the mirrors reflected the light everywhere.  I was utterly mesmerized and this was where 20 minutes passed before I even realized it.  It was spectacular.

It was also during this part that I could hear him the least.  He constantly had his microphone up  to his mouth (shooting lasers off his mirrors) but I could not tell if he was making sounds or not.  Watching this other live show, his voice is quite prominent, so perhaps I was just in a bad spot.  But I don’t feel like I missed out all that much because the theatrics were more interesting than the “singing.”

The show was about 80 minutes long and when they were done, they all raised their hands.  And the crowd went nuts.

The lights came on, the hoods came down and they were smiling and friendly.  Attila took off the mirror cape and waved at us and was smiling and happy as can be.  They were so unexpectedly friendly-looking and cheerful.

And then they were gone and we were all left wondering what in the hell we just saw.  I heard just about everybody walking out saying some version of Wow, or Holy shit.  I went to the rest room and there was fog in the rest room.  I went into the lobby and there was fog in the lobby.  A full ten minutes after the show, the stage was still covered in fog.

I have no idea what song (or songs) they played.  I don’t know if there were songs or if it was all improvised.  And I don’t care.

It was an absolutely unforgettable show.  And yeah, I would consider seeing them again–maybe from further back though.