I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: September 6, 2023] Battles

Back in 2007 my friend Lar told me that he saw Battles in concert.  I was really impressed by the video he sent and really liked their unusual sounds.  The band was originally a four-piece.

Sixteen years later and I have finally seen Battles live.  I had kind of forgotten about them, even though I did really like their first few records.  But seeing them as the opening act made me even more excited to go to this Mr. Bungle show.

Battles is the working of two guys.  In my opinion, it is drummer John Stanier who is the star of the show.  Even though Ian Williams is the guy making most of the actual music, Stanier is right up at  the front of the stage with Williams and he is incredible to watch as he smashes his drums with everything he’s got.

Basically, Stanier (who used to play with Helmet and Tomahawk, so you know he has heavy bonafides) sits to our left with his small Tama kit.  He’s got an electronic pad that adds all kinds of good stuff.  And one cymbal which is insanely high up in the air.  It’s almost comically out of the way.  Why?  In 2011 he said

I didn’t want any cymbals but the hi-hats at first. Then I was like, “Okay, I’ll use one,” but I didn’t want it near me because I’d use it too much. So I set it high so I’d have to work to get to it.

Meanwhile, Williams is doing who knows what over by his electronic rig.  He has a couple of banks of keyboards and a guitar.  I’m pretty sure the guitar acts like a trigger for certain sounds because it didn’t always sound like a guitar and sometimes he was playing chords that you didn’t hear until he played the keyboard later.  But he was also playing keyboard notes with one hand and guitar riffs with the other at the same time.  So, wow.

Evidently he’s “having fun experimenting with his beloved Elektron Octatrack and guitar pedals, while Stanier has added a few new elements to his drum kit.”

So most Battles songs are instrumental or feature only sampled vocals. Plus I haven’t actually listened to their records in a while.  I didn’t listen at all to their newest record, so I had no idea what they’d play.

And I didn’t care.

It’s really hard to describe their music.  Repetitive for sure.  But that looping is a foundation for the more and more layers that are added upon that foundation.  It’s chaotic and wild and weird and was amazing to see live.  The crowd was pretty respectful for them, although I think they’d be even more fun to see as a headliners, with the crowd there just for them.

There’s no setlist (yet) for my show, but the night before they played

1. The Yabba £
2. Hiro 3 ¢
3. Summer Simmer £ /
4.  Ice Cream Ø
5. Improvisation
6. A Loop So Nice… ¢
7. Titanium 2 Step ¢
8. Sugar Foot ¢
9. Improvisation
10. Atlas ψ
11. Ambulance ¢

¢ Juice B. Crypts (2019)
£ La Di Da Di (2015)
Ø Gloss Drop (2011)
ψ Mirrored (2007)