You know your day is going to be good when you wake up and realize that you're going to end your day by going to see Neurosis. If you listen to heavy music, and don't live under a rock, you very well have crossed paths with this musical juggernaut at least once. At this point in their career Neurosis doesn't have to do much to please fans. So when they decided that it was a good idea to maybe play only 10 shows a year, at most, you best be at one of them. Usually seeing Yob or Neurosis by themselves would be a treat on its own, but back to back, on the same night? You're spoiling me.
U.S. Christmas is one of those bands that until this show I've heard of, on paper, but never actually heard. The band took the stage, all of it. I believe there were at least seven members. What shocked me the most is that you could tell how much effort they put into their live set. Two drummers, a hand percussionist and a violinist were the standout members. To be truthful, they didn't need all of them. The more members took up the stage, everything began to blur together. The rhythms weren't all too complicated and you couldn't hear the bongos at all. I'm guessing they added so much stuff in their recordings that they thought they could bring it to their live show. The outcome was something heavy enough for the heavy fans, but artsy enough to open for Sonic Youth. To top it off, their sing sounds like Wayne Campbell when he does an extreme closeup, "WOOOOOOOAAAAAAAH!"
Yob is another band that doesn't play a whole lot, but always worth the wait. I've said it many times: next to maybe Joe Preston, Mike Sheidt might be one of the heaviest dudes alive. His rig, his tone, HEAVY! Yob=HEAVY. What made their set even more amazing is that I had a giant plate of nachos sitting in front of me. Talk about awesome. Mr. Sheidt apologized to the crowd, saying that he was sick and that his vocals might not be up to snuff. They were perfect. They go through enough effect pedals that you couldn't even hear a sniffle. His voice is the doom version of Geddy Lee. Every time I seem them, he's 'sick'. Perhaps he's just insecure? Throughout most of their set, you could only heavy the thick dialogue between the bass and guitars, the drums seemed almost non-existent, but somehow it worked. Aside from on-and-off technical difficulties, their set was crushing.
In what seemed like no time at all, Neurosis bombarded the stage and brought their visions of the apocalypse to life. This is a band that is always in control of their vision. With the lights dimmed over the band, A visual overload was shown above. Josh Graham's visual translation of the band will never be matched. As they played 'Through Silver And Blood' it was the first time I actually panicked from listening to this band. I'm sure we've all heard 'evil' music before, but this music is truly the sound of the end of the world. They are the sounds of a world coming down. Live, with the music and visuals, it's so easy to get lost in the whole experience. It's fucking intense. It doesn't help that the two people screaming at you look like bears ready to maul your face. I find it amazing that a band, whose members' live in different states, can come together and create such a masterpiece. I was expecting a mosh pit, but everyone was too spellbound by the band. You couldn't do anything else. It's almost like Neurosis plays in front of people to prove that the sounds they've created are real and crafted from the hands of men, perhaps even gods.
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