I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: September 21, 2023] Boris 

I can’t believe it has been four years since I last saw Boris.  Their shows leave a powerful impression on a person.

I couldn’t make their last tour back in 2022, but that’s okay.  Their last show tided me over for four years clearly.

This tour announcement was interesting because they had just released an album called Heavy Rocks, but this tour was them playing Heavy Rocks, the album they released in 2002, in its entirety.  [They have released three albums called Heavy Rocks, all different–in 2022 they played the 2022 Heavy Rocks in total].

I’m pretty delighted that with the three shows I have seen such a variety of songs.

I don’t really have a favorite Boris album, but this one is pretty fantastic.  With several really heavy songs, several sing a long moments (whether or not you know Japanese) and even a few mellow, quieter moments.

As with each time I’ve seen them, Takeshi stands to our right with his double neck bass/guitar.  Atsuo is in the middle with his drum kit and gong and Wata stood on our left with her guitar and effects pedal.  The previous two shows she had more gear, but since this show was for a twenty year old record, she didn’t need anything else.

The show started, as it should, with Atsuo smashing the gong.  And then the sludgy riff of “Heavy Friends” introduced us to Heavy Rocks.  The lights were still way too red, but it didn’t impact the sound, which was immense and awesome.

What was really different to me was that Takeshi sang most of the lead vocals.  In my experience, Atsuo sings most of the songs, so it was cool seeing Takeshi at the mic.

The crowd was raring for a mosh pit (I feel like the last times that didn’t really happen), and I was quickly pushed away from the center.  I always seem to be on Takeshi’s end of the stage, which is fine, but I missed seeing Wata play some of her more complex solos.

Takeshi mostly plays the bass (including a bass solo later in one of the songs), but for “Soft Edge” he played slow guitar chords, while Wata filled in solos and other sounds.

Usually Atsuo is full of antics and screaming, but he was somewhat subdued at this show (actually, that may not be true, I couldn’t see him all that well after I was shoved over).  But he did get to smash the gong a few times.

By the end of the set, the horrible red lights went away and the band was actually visible.

The album is only 46 minutes long, but they definitely stretched some songs out for more effect and power.   After roughly an hour, the last notes of the awesome “1970” rang out and the band left the stage.

I happened to know what was in store as an encore, but it was still awesome to have the band come back and play the song they were named for–a song we had heard about 90 minutes ago from the band who wrote it.  I’ve definitely never seen two bands play the same song in a night before, so that was fun, too.

So they came back out to rapturous applause.  I’m not sure if this was sold out, but the crowd was intense!  And they started playing the slow chugging intro of “Boris.” Even though the bands are similar, the song sounded quite different.  Maybe because Takeshi was playing guitar instead of bass?  For the end whispered part, Atsuo took over and somehow that seemed even more fitting.

It was, of course, a memorable show.

I wonder if we’ll get a drone show from them next time?

September 21, 2023 Brooklyn Bowl	September 8, 2019 White Eagle Hall	October 28, 2017 Union Transfer
Heavy Friends ⊗	The Power Ð	D.O.W.N -Domination of Waiting Noise- Ð
Korosu ⊗	Dōshitemo Anata o Yurusenai ♦	DEADSONG Ð
Dyna-Soar ⊗	Love ♥	Absolutego Ð
Wareruraido ⊗	To the Beach (COALTAR OF THE DEEPERS cover) ♦	Beyond Ð
Soft Edge ⊗	Journey €	Kagero Ð
Dronevil ⊗	Heavy Friends ⊗	Biotope Ð
Death Valley ⊗	Heavenly Blue (D-Day cover)	The Power Ð
Koei ⊗	Absolutego Ð	Memento Mori Ð
Kane -The Bell Tower of a Sign- ⊗	Feedbacker ∼	Dystopia -Vanishing Point- Ð
1970 ⊗	Shadow of Skull ♥	Dear Ð
encore	encore	encore
Boris (Melvins cover)	Akuma no Uta [with Uniform] ¥	Farewell ¶
	Pink ¶

♥ Love Evol (2019)
♦ Tears EP (2019)
€ Split EP with The Novembers (2018)
Ð Dear (2017)
¶ Pink (2005)
∼ Feedbacker (2003)
¥ Akuma No Uta (2003)
⊗ Heavy Rocks [Orange] (2002)