February 28, 2009
6:52 p.m.: I can’t believe this is happening. I’ve thought about this moment for a decade. I’m standing about 10 rows of people back from the center of a stage. On that stage, the members of Neurosis are setting up equipment. The drum riser is removed and a new riser with Jason’s drum set is rolled out and put in place. Noah’s keyboard and electronics are pulled out and situated. Scott and Steve both work getting their mike stands perfect. The guitars are brought out and tuned.
It is one of the most meticulous set ups I’ve ever seen. Mainly on the part of Steve and Scott. Once the mic stands are set, neither wants them moved. The stands are adjusted by others a couple of times, and Scott and Steve both get frustrated and have words with the offending stage hand. I also witness Scott make a roadie re-stick his picks on tape after he decides he doesn’t like the way they’ve been stuck the first time.
(In talking with people about this after the fact, the consensus seems to be that the members of Neurosis sound like grade-A, flaming assholes. I admit it can be interpreted that way. But I see it differently. Oh yeah, and I’m complete biased.
You see, Neurosis is a musical anomaly. The band started off in the American hardcore/punk scene, and for years they played nasty clubs and house shows. Around 1999, after their sixth album, they decided they were done with the touring lifestyle. They had children, but they had no homes. I read one member of the band had to bring his son along when Neurosis was part of the first Ozzfest. I’m a parent, and I can’t imagine how weird that must have been.
As a band, they quit touring, they started their own label and they put a stranglehold on the money they made off record sales. As I see it, they did the opposite of what the record labels want and what the fans expect. They took ownership of their creation, they took complete control of their vision. If anyone was going to make money selling their art, it was going to be them. They were going to be a band and they were going to play when they felt like it. Not when release cycles demanded it.
So, imagine that you’re in a band. You schedule one or two shows in the U.S. per year. You’ve traveled thousands of miles to play music for 90 minutes, and you’re probably being paid a pretty penny. You look out at the crowd, and you realize that many of the people in the audience have probably never seen you perform. And you think that they may never see you perform again. Wouldn’t you want everything to be perfect? I would.)
6:59 p.m.: All the stage lights go down, and the band’s visual projections flicker on. The slow drum beat intro of ‘A Sun That Never Sets’ begins. I’m officially losing my mind. My mouth drops open, I stare at the stage, and I watch as Steve starts playing his guitar. This is my favorite song from the band’s past few albums. It’s probably one of the most earthy and singable songs the band has ever done, and I love it. Evidently, I’m not alone. As the chorus kicks in the crowd and I sing along, “The blood that flows through me is not my own!”
The opener surprised me because I knew the band generally sticks to the newest album during their infrequent live shows. In fact, it’s pretty common knowledge that the band doesn’t play songs off their first five albums live anymore. It works out great for me, because I had the opportunity to see them four times in the early/mid 1990s. But I felt bad for the people in the audience screaming ‘Locust Star’. I’ve heard ‘Locust Star’ live, and somehow I survived to tell the story. It was amazing.
Sure enough, the next four songs of the set were all off of the new album. Luckily, ‘Given to the Rising’ is one hell of a Neurosis album. The murmurings before the release were that the album was a return to the oppressive heaviness that defined the band’s earlier sound. And, this return to form was definitely evident in the live set.
As the band played, the most interesting part for me was getting to see the different instruments and sounds interact and work together. Even with Steve Albini producing, Neurosis albums tend to be sonically dense. But live, there was a ton of space in the sound. I got to see who played the different parts. And I was able to understand how the guitars, bass and keyboards mixed to create the band’s signature crushing riffs.
But this was no bland run through by the band. The mood was intense, the movements were wild, the sound was crushing. Jason is one of the finest doom/stoner drummers I’ve ever been lucky enough to see. He held the precise time while Scott and Steve just beat the living hell out of their guitars. The growls, the shrieks, the yowls…these guys don’t play their music, they live it.
And as they play, they mirror the marauding wild beast that is their music. There’s no smiles here. There’s no friendly camaraderie with the audience. This is serious. The best I can describe the sight is it was like watching a volcano explode. It was beautiful, but destructive. As the volcano spews and spouts, it is glorious to watch. But in the end, the volcano doesn’t care if you’re there or not. You could walk away from the experience smiling, or you could melt in lava. Either way, the volcano will carry on.
The second half of the set began with another older song, ‘Stones from the Sky’. This is a nine-minute classic off ‘A Sun That Never Sets’. I was as engrossed as ever watching the band pummel the repetitive final riff over and over. Next was one of the two biggest surprises of the set. They played ‘Belief’ from the ‘Times Of Grace’ album. (There’s been a bit of Internet scuttlebutt about this because they haven’t played this song in years.)
I don’t remember the exact song, but during one of the last few songs, Scott finished up a yelled vocal by slamming his forehead into the microphone. Blood trickled down his head immediately, and he gave the crowd an evil grin as his mic tipped over. When the mic fell, a roadie ran from the side of the stage to set it back up. But as Scott played guitar, he stomped on the mic two times before the roadie could get to it. I almost fainted.
(Looking at photos of the set on the Internet, one photographer said all the pictures from the photo pit were dark for a couple of reasons. First, the band uses no stage lights. None. The only light is the projector they use for their visuals. Also, before photographers were allowed to go to the front of the stage, they were told, “If you use a flash, Neurosis will eat your camera.” I wish somebody had used a flash.)
Up next were two more songs off the new album, including my personal favorite ‘To The Wind’. On the album, this song has one of the most distinctive and distinguished growls of Scott’s career. The sound that comes from his throat as the song’s main riff kicks in is almost unbelievable. He turns the simple phrase “To The Wind” into the most crushing 20-second vocal of all time. The band closed the set with ‘Times Of Grace’. I definitely didn’t remember it being as heavy on the record. It was cool to see Dave get his vocal moment to shine during the final song.
(Okay, I grabbed a full setlist from the Internet:
A Sun That Never Sets
Given To The Rising
Distill (Watching The Swarm)
Water Is Not Enough
At The End Of The Road
Stones From The Sky
Belief
Fear And Sickness
To The Wind
Times Of Grace
Yep, 10 songs in around 90 minutes. That tells you what kind of band Neurosis is. The long songs lend to the band’s unique texture by allowing for quiet times to offset the loudness. Many of their songs start off with lightly played guitar and sparse drumming before they crescendo into crippling, full on, hell on earth heaviness.
Taking the set list into account, I’m a little sad that I haven’t spent much time the ‘Times Of Grace’ album recently. Admittedly, it was a difficult album, especially since it came out after ‘Through Silver In Blood’, the band’s early masterpiece. But the two songs off of ‘Times Of Grace’ were a-freakin-mazing live.)
The set is over, the band walks off stage, and I’m blown away. I don’t know what to do with myself. I’ve just witnessed the best set by any metal band that I’ve ever seen. No more avoiding the question, “What’s your favorite band/concert?” Now I know the answer. Neurosis. The worry, the travel, the hunger, the money…it was all worth it. I may never get to see them again, and I can live with that.
I started comparing their modern set with what they did back in the day. It may be hard to believe, but it was actually more audience friendly. As weird as it sounds, the band seems a little more laid back and comfortable than they did in the 90s.
The stage visuals were also very different. During the touring days, the band had a film projector and three or four color image projectors. One memorable loop had a man shooting himself in the head over and over. It was played about 20 times during one song. Now the visuals are made up of a single projector, and most of the footage is black and white nature scenes. Instead of graphic suicide, we’re seeing birds flying and wolves running. Without getting too deep here, the visuals really fit with their modern albums. Instead of concentrating on the horrors of man, we’re seeing footage of the harsh beauty of the natural world instead.
9:02 p.m.: I finally take my eyes off the stage. I can’t stop grinning. Instead of catching another band before Mastodon, I head out to my car for my first food since noon. I sit down on my passenger seat, and I stuff down a barbecue sandwich, an apple and some chex mix. I also drink another half cup of water. I can’t believe how awesome the day turned out to be.
9:19 p.m.: I head back to the stage for Mastodon. I’ve seen them five times over the years, but I’m really excited about seeing them again. Mainly, I’m hoping to hear new songs, and I’m also hoping Scott from Neurosis will come out and sing on the songs he co-wrote with the band. I throw my apple core in the bushes and head back in.
(Part 4 coming soon! The end, I promise! Mastodon! End of show wrap up!!!)
