This show was originally scheduled for The College Street Music Hall, but moved to Spaceland probably due to low advance ticket sales, which made for a crowded, hot affair at the Ballroom. The crowd was hungry for this sludge metal double bill.
First up was Earth. The brainchild of guitarist Dylan Carlson, Earth was a trio of two guitars and a female drummer. Slow churning vocal-less fuzz metal sounded as if the Spaceland was poised to be run over by a train. Carlson had long hair and beard which he swung in an almost metronomic fashion. With a cross tattooed to his upper cheek, he looked like the house band for Game of Thrones. Earth started in the early 90s but was interrupted by Carlson's stint with heroin. It must be interesting to play this kind of music before and after sobriety.
Headliner Boris is a shape shifting metal trio from Japan. Female guitarist Wata had serious command of fuzz feedback and drone. Takeishi played a double neck guitar and sang. Gender fluid Atsuo on drums and gong, looked like a boy, dressed like a girl, thinking he was a boy. They recreated their mid 2000 record Pink. In metal style, they were able to envelope the crowd with fog machine and drone with a hazy multi-directional noise that was comforting to the throng of head-bobbers. The show closed with a maniacal gong solo and Atsuo waving a pedal in arena lighter style. He hit the button which cut the sound mid-screech, what power! With my requisite foam earplugs, this show made me feel as if I was in a coozy of swirling metallic noise.
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