I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: October 19, 2024] Boris 

I saw Boris last year.  It was great, of course.  And I ended my post about that show with

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

And did we ever!  This was a tour of their second album, Amplifier Worship.  65 minutes of loud heavy drone music.

When I arrived., the place was pretty crowded, but that’s because everyone was online to buy merch. The venue was almost empty because there were 150 people waiting to buy the kick ass poster.  I figured I’d wat until after the show to get the kick ass poster, but after waiting for ten minutes and the line not moving at all, I gave up and went home.

They came out.  Muchio was on drums.  This was the first time I’d seen him play with Boris (and I didn’t know he was on this tour).  This explained why there was a smaller drumset facing the larger drumset.  Then Takeshi came out with his double neck guitar and Wata walked out to her station.

Muchio smashed the gong, the music began to swell, Atsuo came on stage and commanded everyone’s attention.  He’s usually behind the kit so I’ve never actually seen him out from before.  He stood at the front of the stage, arms outstretched and half of the crowd raised their arms in (amplifier) worship.  I loved how long he stood there absorbing the adoration as the other three played a wall of noise.

“Huge” opened with heavy, loud chords from Wata and Takeshi.  Atsuo stood and absorbed everything.  Eventually he and Takeshi screamed the vocals.  “Huge” is 9 minutes on record.  I don’t know how long it was live.

“”Ganbou-Ki” (願望魕)” is up next.  Similarly, it is slow and heavy, lasting 15 minutes.  The main slow chugging comes from Takeshi with big heavy chords thrown in from Wata.   The song gets more propulsive as the drums kick in and then it shifts to a heavy rumbling bass.  And Wata gets to shine with a effects filled “noise solo.”

At some point, Atsuo joined on drums.  So he sat, facing Muchio as they both pummeled the hell out of their respective kits.  Things slowed down and the drums were primarily hand drums quietly playing while the rest of the band grew quiet.  Atsuo came to the edge of the state with too bowl cymbals.  He clanged them together and waved them to make the sounds vibrate in the air.  The room was 100% silent–absolutely incredible.  And then, the band exploded to the end of the song.

At some point in the show, Atsuo brought the microphone over to Wata and had her says a few words.  Other than that few words were spoken–Takeshi with an occasional Thank you and Atsuo doing his own thing.

“Hama” (蟾蜍) is the shortest song on the album (under 8 minutes) and it is the fastest–potentially leading to a mosh pit, but it did not materialize.  Wata plays a cool riff for an extended period while Takeshi keeps the bass heavy and consistent.  This heavy song segued into two songs that are not on the album.  They were two songs that the band played live around the time of the release of Amplifier Worship and both are really heavy.  The short “Scar Box” and the longer “Mass Mercury” kept the frenzy up as the song segued back into Amplifier Worship.

“Kuruimizu” (狂水) another of the really fast songs on the album with Takeshi screaming his head off.  The song stretches out with some cool guitar back and forth between Wata and Takeshi.

And they ended the set with the amazingly named “Vomitself.”  It is a wall of noise with Atsuo making noises from some kind of device (that’s the best I can do).  It’s a solid 15 minutes of sound.   And I could have listened for far longer.  It’s amazing how when the song ended abruptly, the silence in the room was louder than the music.  Until the crowd went crazy.

The band took a break. A few minutes later they returned with a completely different sound.  A song from NO, Loveless, ripped whatever was left of the venue to pieces.  It’s a fast and heavy song that exploded.

Damn, I love seeing Boris.

		October 19, 2024 Union Transfer
		Harang, pt. 1  [tape Sátántangó soundtrack]
		Huge ψ
		Ganbou-Ki ψ
		Hama ψ
		Scar Box Æ
		Mass Mercury Æ
		Kuruimizu ψ
		Vomitself ψ
		encore
		Loveless Ø

 

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 ¶

Ø No (2020)
♥ 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)
Æ early outtake (2000)
ψ Amplifier Worship (1998)