GY!BE live notes and photos: Vancouver, May 10th

(Mildly updated to reflect having seen the second show)

There is not much I can say (articulately) about tonight's Godspeed You! Black Emperor concert at the Vogue, especially since I've got to take my meds and go to bed (because the cat is going to wake us up for food in about four hours) but I am very glad to be going again tomorrow (which is actually "later today" as I write this). The music was intense, beautiful, potent and inspiring, and the films were fascinating and at times confrontational (but never in a negative or exploitive way). On the floor, seated in front, I was poorly positioned to see them unless I stood, which I didn't really want to do -- it's like seeing a movie standing up -- so for much of the show, I simply sat with my eyes closed, letting the music wash over me, letting it transport me (until someone walked down the aisle and collided with my knees, which happened a few times; I guess I was hard to see). There are very few bands that produce music that I would describe as transcendent; Swans are another one. Even as you struggle (I struggle) to find words, to name the emotions, to understand what is happening, there is a feeling that by immersing yourself in it, you will be healed in some way, that the music is changing you, regardless of whether you assent. 

Tomorrow (later today), I'm going to stake out a balcony seat and sit right at the front. I may even stay sober (I was a bit altered tonight).

I did take a few photos of the night, but before I show those, one tangential thing I loved was that PM Press had a presence on the merch table; a representative drove up from the US with many, many books, on the invite of Godspeed You! Black Emperor. Since my wife works in marketing, I bought her a copy of Advertising Shits in Your Head, which reminded me, on a flip through, of The Medium is the Massage, that McLuhan/ Fiore book. There were books about anarchism, veganism, punk. I could see many of these books being of interest to the GY!BE audience.

I was very happy to see Jason Lamb's Nomeansno book on the merch table and got the PM Girl (whose name I offered to print, but she was fine just being the PM Girl) to pose with one. Later in the night, with the post-show merch lineup stretching around the stairs, the PM Girl gave Bev a copy of a Black Flag book that had Bev's photos in it (there was only one on hand, "but I can bring more," she offered. I don't know if she will -- I don't actually need the book, but was thinking more about my readers...).

 Hey, I know those photos!

After the show, I was hanging out for a bit, and decided to shoot a few more titles on display, thinking that the books that were on the tables could be an index of the values of Godspeed You! Black Emperor, if you wanted one. (Question for future Efrim interview, if one happens: is the band straight edge?).

There were also, of course, shirts and vinyl. I realized (see previous post) that I had never asked if the dog on the posters and shirts for this tour was perhaps a representation of Wanda, Efrim's dog, now gone. See the post below for more about that. I am shy about bugging Efrim about it again, though; he'll think I'm dog-obsessed. I bought the purple one: 

Gotta love those place names. Check out Edmonton.

At some point I became fascinated with the bank of film projectors that were being used to generate images, often with manipulations and distortions, some of which were achieved with the fingers of the projectionist moving about since a sort of bubble in front of the -- is it called a "lens" when the image is coming out of it? A projector lens? I'm going to go with that. I loved that it all appeared to be done via film strips, canisters, and vintage equipment (though I saw none of the "burning" of film strips that Brock Pytel mentioned to me, from his own experiences hanging out in a GY!BE projection booth, so maybe the burning/ melting film effects were somehow "filmed?" I'm not sure, but nothing looked digital). There was no booth, last night -- just multiple projectors and twinned and layered images. 

There had been film used at the one previous GY!BE show I saw at the Liquid Room in Tokyo, in 2000 or 2001, but it was much simpler stuff, as I recall -- alienated urban landscapes, similar to what you see at the end of Antonioni's L'Eclisse. There was some of that, but in faster edits, with more images, more effects, more complexity (I think).

It was harder to get images of the band -- even for Bev, who may not have gotten much that is usable. Conditions were simply not ideal. She had been told she only could shoot the first ten minutes, but then the security told her later that they'd been told twenty (maybe to buy lingering photographers a bit of forgiveness); alas, she had followed directions. I feel very little inclination to try to get up close tomorrow, however. I think the best way to see this band is by letting the images speak for them. I think that's what they want, too... 

I did (like Bev, I presume) get an image of the opener, a Montreal artist named Mat Ball, who played loud, distorted electric guitar with feedback -- Dave Bowes remarked -- coming from two amps (I'm not sure how he could tell!). Dave likened Ball's music to Paris, Texas on acid; I was more thinking of Neil Young's Dead Man via Keiji Haino. It was quite beautiful, filled with soul and expression; Ball's album was the only one on the merch table I didn't think I'd see again... so I bought it. It was striking how his sound filled the whole room. He played with no visual accompaniment. 

One may note that the records were actually more expensive on the merch table than they are in Vancouver stores... but I didn't let that stop me from buying a couple. And I grabbed an F-sharp CD for Bev...

When the lights came back up, after the break, they remained on for a good two minutes while a drone played, not performed by anyone onstage, that I could see. The audience was intensely lit during this time. I began to get the fears that they would carry out the drone, with no one onstage and nothing on screen, full the full ten minutes of allotted photography time. It was not so. 

Two musicians from the band finally took the stage, though, as flickering, shimmering images began to appear on the screen. I think it may have been Thierry and Sophie? Some of this must have been "Hope Drone," which involved the word "Hope" either scratched in film or written in chalk on a surface, flickering in a few different variants on the screen, but that first LP aside, I really don't pin titles to individual compositions. Someone does: a setlist is already online.  It's mostly recent material. Looks like I've got to buy that album where someone is being bled out, hanging upside down with your throat slit. Unless I already have it (or maybe it's only done live?). More on that here.

There weren't that many audio samples last night, but that one stood out.

But that song came later. I was talking about the slow intro. As lights began to flicker onscreen, other members trickled out, and the composition built.

Audiences were quieter in Japan, but better than the Richards on Richards show where everyone talked over Carla Bozulich, opening for Thee Silver Mt. Zion.

I could imagine less distractable people than I having a spiritual experience listening to the music being made last night. That's what I'm going to try for tomorrow.  The best ones I got were views from the balcony, when I popped upstairs on a bathroom run:

Update: the remainder of this piece was written on the second day, or tweaked to reflect a second-day perspective. I was able to see more of the films, though again, I closed my eyes for parts as well. I had missed the wildfire footage the day before. It was harrowing to watch. It was followed by images of ruins. Not sure which song it was, but it was very apocalyptic in tone.

I also got close enough to the stage on the second day to read Efrim's amp ("transphobes eat shit and die alone"). He's a strikingly beautiful man. I hope he doesn't find me too irritating. I am a trivial creature by comparison.

The main surprise was that they closed the set, on May 11th, with "East Hastings." I never expected they would play it. Maybe they hadn't planned to, either, until the article happened?

As for images, those are the only two I felt I needed to add. I still haven't seen what Bev got the first night, but I'll hold it in reserve, in case I get to talk to the band again. I was very glad she enjoyed herself immensely, the first night; when I proposed we get a bite, suggested Popeye's, so that's where we went.

I have nothing else to say about these shows -- I've written two giant pieces (see also here). Bev didn't come the second night, sadly -- but it's nice that she's spending time with her son. He's the kid on the Let's Wreck the Party cover, didja know? I could overhear her telling the merch guy, a friendly, helpful German, about it.

Happy Mother's Day, Bev! Glad you liked the band.

With all due respect to Nick Cave, if you don't have plans for a concert for Sunday, I'd advocate for Godspeed night two. Believe there are a few tickets left. Highly recommended, some of the most beautiful, powerful, ultimately healing music out there, where the main conflict for me is, "Do I watch this with my eyes open or listen with my eyes shut."

I'll probably do a bit of both tomorrow (later tonight), but this time I'll be doing it from a seat.