I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: October 12, 2019] Explosions in the Sky

I saw Explosions in the Sky three years ago. It stands as one of the most memorable shows I’ve seen and I knew that I wanted to see them again whenever I had the chance.

I don’t know if the band doesn’t tour all that much or if they just didn’t come my way, but after three years, when I saw they were playing at the Starland Ballroom on their 20th Anniversary Tour (part 1), I got tickets right away.

It took about 20 minutes for EITS to come out on stage.  It was nice to not have those horrible red lights that flooded FACS.

Before they actually started, the lights were natural, so I made sure to snap a few pictures before the colored lights came onto the stage.

All five guys came out and guitarist Munaf Rayani (the only guy to talk) said they were Explosions in the Sky from Texas–looks like some of you know us.  That’s good.”  And until he said good night that was the only voice for 90 some minutes.

Since there are no words to any of their songs, I really have no idea what anything is called.  I was happy someone else wrote down the setlist because I don’t know how I’d ever find the songs.

I said this last time, and found the same thing to be true this time:

The crowd was really into the music.  But, and I don’t know if this happens a lot, they would cheer throughout a song.  Most of the songs are seven or eight minutes long, but it seemed like the crowd would go wild every time the band reached a crescendo and then faded back again.

Last show I was more on the left side of the stage (in front of Mark Smith–left).  This time I was right in the center in front of Michael James.  Unfortunately for me, the crowd was pretty tall, so I couldn’t see great all the time.  There was always something to look at but I hate hearing an interesting sound and not being able to see who is making it.  I debated about hanging back by the bar, but I wasn’t sure if that would be too disruptive of a location.  I really don’t have a good sense of where to watch a show at Starland.

They opened with “A Song for Our Fathers.”   I loved watching the band start somewhat independently and then seeing as they all got into it.

James is a lot of fun to watch because he really gets into the strumming on his guitar and bass.  He lifts his arm up and just seems to pummel the strings, like on “The Birth and Death of the Day.”  Having played guitar I can’t imagine how he can be consistently accurate like that–and not lose his picks all the time.   Here’s a little more of James.

James switched off between bass and guitar and his bass playing wasn’t significantly different from his guitar playing–chords and intricate patterns.  He played bass on songs like “Yasmin the Light” and “Greet Death” as well as some of the later songs.  It wasn’t always clear who was making what sounds, but I know that the feedback at the end of this video of “Greet Death” (I wish I hadn’t cut it off then) was from Smith.

Unlike the wash of magenta for the opening band, EITS had their own lighting rig.  They had banks of lights on either side and a whole bunch behind drummer Chris Hrasky.  The lights were really well done–colors and bright whites, pulsing along like in “Magic Hours” with the rhythm and growing brighter or darker as the music dictated.

On the right side was Munaf Rayani.  Last time I noted that he was so much fun to watch because he would slouch really low, swinging his guitar around or lifting his guitar high.  He did that tonight as well, but it was really hard for me to see and enjoy him.

“Your Hand in Mine” made the crowd go berserk. If the band can be said to have a hit, it would be this (it’s been featured in about a half dozen movies or TV shows).

Behind Rayani was the guy who tours with them, Carlos Torres (I think?).  He stands in the back and plays bass or guitar and sometime keys.  I enjoyed watching him because he would really get into the songs (and he was the guy I could see the clearest), like at the end of “Have You Passed Through This Night?”

Looking at the setlist I see that they played nearly the same set that they did three years ago.  The biggest difference is that three years ago they were touring for their then-new album The Wilderness so they played four songs from it.  This time they only played two from it and instead added two from their debut album How Strange, Innocence.

I guess I’m a little surprised that the setlists were so similar since this was a 20th Anniversary tour.  Although maybe these are just the most popular (or most fun) songs to play.  Either way, it had been three years and the songs are fantastic so I didn’t care (or even notice at the time) what songs they played.

Nevertheless, the crowd knew and recognized songs from the first few notes or even opening drum beats.  Speaking of drums, like last time, Chris Hrasky was just fantastic.  I loved watching him play this part of “Have You Passed Through This Night?”  I also enjoyed seeing that he was switching from drum sticks to mallets throughout the night–especially for the cymbals.  I got a kick out of how those mallets were disintegrating by the end of the night’s “The Only Moment We Were Alone.”

 One of my favorite songs is “Catastrophe and the Cure.”  I love the riff and that Rayani got out a floor tom and he and Hrasky played the intense drum part together.

For “Colors in Space,” there was some great colored lighting.  Both Smith and Torres were playing keyboards, which was quite a change but the sounds they generated were very cool and added a new dimension to the night.

The band ended their show with the epic “The Only Moment We Were Alone.”   It opens with Hrasky playing booming electronic drum sounds before that recognizable riff begins.

What I remembered most about the previous EITS show was this

as the song was nearing the end (for the last minute or so they were teasing out the ending building louder and louder) I watched as Rayani took off his guitar (or maybe it fell off?) and then swung it around by some amps to generate feedback. He then put the guitar on the ground, jumped in the air and as he landed total silence and darkness–as if he himself was controlling all the power to the stage.

This time, the end was just as dramatic.  The song built up and got louder and louder.  I didn’t know how close we were to the end or I would have kept filming.  Because as they reached the end, this time it was James who walked to the front of the stage and as they hit that last note, he jumped on the switch that shut off everything–sound and lights–and plunged us into darkness and silence.

My memory from last time is that it stayed dark for a while,  But this time it was only a few seconds, before the house lights went on and everyone went crazy.  The band waved and said their thanks and that was it.

EITS don’t need an encore after that.

I don’t know what Part 2 of their 20th Anniversary Tour could be or what it means, but if they swing by here again, I will certainly be there.  This time with a view of the whole stage.

Starland, October 12, 2019	Fillmore, May 20, 2016
A Song for Our Fathers §	Wilderness ϖ
The Birth and Death of the Day ♥	The Birth and Death of the Day ♥
Yasmin the Light ⊗	The Ecstatics ϖ
Greet Death ⊗	Catastrophe and the Cure ♥
Disintegration Anxiety ϖ	Logic of a Dream ϖ
Magic Hours §	Greet Death ⊗
Your Hand in Mine €	With Tired Eyes, Tired Minds, Tired Souls, We Slept ⊗
Have You Passed Through This Night? ⊗	Have You Passed Through This Night? ⊗
Catastrophe and the Cure ♥	Yasmin the Light ⊗
Colors in Space ϖ	Your Hand in Mine €
The Only Moment We Were Alone €	Disintegration Anxiety ϖ
	The Only Moment We Were Alone €

ϖ The Wilderness (2016)
♥ All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone (2007)
€ The Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place (2003)
⊗ Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Die, Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Live Forever (2001)
§ How Strange, Innocence (2000)