Austin, Texas can boast of one of the most enviable music scenes in the world with the yearly line up of the South By South West festival acting as the yearly testing ground for practically every band that will be hyped over the next twelve months. With over seven hundred groups hitting the city for a nine days each March the city becomes the global epicentre for music fans to test their stamina in an aural overload that can only result in the most painful of schedule conflicts, bleary eyes and ringing ears.
But even without the insanity of that musical circus Austin can claim a chart topping position in the list of the world’s great musical cities. Austin sells itself as The Live Music Capital of the World and their ‘Keep Austin Weird’ campaign sure beats the marketing of most of our cities – even if Melbourne has used the mewings of Johanna Newsome to entice punters to our laneways and bars. With so much support for live music it’s hardly surprising that the city has also offered up its share of great bands including the Trail of Dead, Spoon, Stars of the Lid and tonight’s headliner Explosions in the Sky.
After four albums and an abandoned effort to tour Australia several years ago, their first Melbourne show sold out with a minimum of advertising. Their wordless epics don’t attract much radio play, but Explosions have earnt their place in the hallowed pantheon of instrumental bands with Sigur Ros, Godspeed, Mogwai and others that attract cult like devotion. As a sign of their respect they’ve earned Explosions have been given the enviable role of curator at an upcoming instalment of the All Tomorrow’s Parties festival. With a line-up including Broken Social Scene, Iron and Wine, Dinosaur Jr, Adem, Trail of Dead, Animal Collective, Four Tet, Ghostface Killah, Jens Lekman, The National, Liars, Sunset Rubdown, Stars of the Lid, Battles, De La Soul and Saul Williams as well as Explosions and their current touring partner Eluvium – it may actually rival SXSW in the ever competitive ‘best-festival-line-up-in-the-universe’ stakes. While a line up like that is unthinkable in Australia we at least get to witness two of those bands in one thrilling and highly anticipated gig.
Clearly a firm favourite among the Explosions crew, Eluvium, is a lone muso from Portland, Oregon, who produces a minimalist, almost shoe-gaze sounds by layering loops of keyboards and guitar. Obscured behind rows of fans who press forward to glimpse the workings of his music, Eluvium sits at a keyboard or with a guitar, layering his instrumentation with a series of loops that gradually build the texture of his lush soundscapes. Though most of his set uses looping and layering effects, he also plays some more direct piano pieces giving the gig the feeling of a conservatory recital, albeit in a crowded pub. By introducing subtle variations with each layer of sound he draws his listeners into the sound and most of punters are soon listening in rapt attention – an amazing occurrence in a packed gig on a sweltering Saturday night.
As an instrumental band playing slow build epics that rely on the tension between the lilting melodies and sudden ferocious attacks of distorted guitar Explosions sound has been regularly compared to Mogwai. Tellingly, directors and producers have turned to Mogwai and Explosions to score films about football – Mogwai with the portrait of soccer star Zidane and Explosions with the superior gridiron film Friday Night Lights. The slow lilt of their music and abrupt changes created the perfect accompaniment and atmosphere for these unusually introspective movies. Both bands also produce towering instrumental anthems that seem to be made to soundtrack epic cinematic moments.
Mogwai have refined their sound, limiting the length and volume of their tracks and occasionally introducing vocal elements or electronic elements into their work. Similarly Australia’s own instrumental heroes included vocals – from Cat Power and Sally Timms of The Mekons – for the first time on their most recent record. But Explosions are less open to experimentation with their sound, which perhaps oddly works to their advantage in a live setting. While a Mogwai gig can be a dour experience lifted by the presence of duelling drum kits and ear splintering volume, Explosions have largely remained in the same sonic territory, repeatedly using similar sounds, in particular twinkling high register guitar tones and marching drum rolls. But rather than simply creating a familiar retread of their earlier work their condensed palate allows them to unite their material into an epic, near seamless set of reoccurring themes and sounds.
Opening with the glorious ‘First Breath After Coma’, the epic beginning to The Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place album, Explosions never pause during their inspiring and exhausting hour long set. Like their touring partner Elivium they offer little in the way of staging theatrics. Other than their flowing light projections there’s little movement on stage as the three guitarists manipulate the sound of their instruments and gradually introduce variations and new melodies into the mix. With the sudden bursts of volume that mark their climaxes they rise to assault their guitars in ferocious unison. For their hour long set there are no words from the stage and only the occasional whisper of appreciation from the gathered punters.
There’s no encore. As they explain on their return to the stage, they simply exhaust themselves with their set and they have nothing left. But as their set is such a tightly woven work that anything else would simply be a pointless addition. No one’s disappointed as riding the set’s heights has been an epic and exhausting journey for band and punter alike. Explosions may play events like SXSW and ATP, but in those festivals the sheer number of acts could stifle their presence. Given the freedom of a headline set, the Explosions show is truly a breathtaking and all encompassing experience.
Check out the photos from this show here courtesy of HooverDST.
