Explosions In The Sky on 3/24

Monday night I went to see Explosions In The Sky play with Lichens at In The Venue, and as usual, the venue's organization left so much to be desired. At the past few shows I've seen there, In The Venue's line management has resembled some kind of absurdist concept art more than a tool to get people into the venue as efficiently as possible. My friend and I waited outside for probably an hour and a half after doors were set to open. But the club still remains one of my favorite spots in SLC, probably because I've been there so many times that it feels like a second home at this point.

The opener was Lichens, aka Robert Lowe. He began by recording a loop of vocals reminiscent of bird and wind sounds, and he took his time before layering anything else over it. The audience wasn't quite sure what to make of something so quiet and foreign, so the murmuring and chatting never stopped. But the human buzz seemed to add rather than detract to what Lichens was doing, as if it was just another musical layer he was working with.

The guitar layers and distortion that came next reminded me of Ravi Shankar and other sitar recordings--very meandering, very atmospheric, and very not-western. The vocals were both weird and lovely, and Lichens was clearly a talented and innovative musician. But his whole set was one song, and I think I probably would have appreciated what he was doing more if it hadn't been live. It was serene and beautiful, but that can't hold my attention forever at a show, and unfortunately after a while I was paying more attention to how much my feet hurt than I was to Lichens onstage.

It was kind of odd to see Explosions In the Sky take the stage and discover that, oh, they're just four dudes with guitars and a drum set, like any other band. Their music is so expansive that part of me was expecting a full orchestra. But then it was "Hi, we're Explosions In the Sky from Texas" (the only stage decoration was a small Texas flag, and I will always be a sucker for art that retains a strong sense of place) and their signature cherubic guitar lines began, and any illusion that they could be any other band evaporated.

Explosions play for corporeality, both theirs and the audience's. The guitarists and bassist moved with a kind of synchronized swaying that intensified as the songs built from their mellow beginnings, and crescendoed in manic, full-body pounding at various climaxes in the set. I have to say, I really never expected to see this band rocking out so hard, their arms swinging and jerking, more reminiscent of hammering than strumming a guitar. There was plenty of playing while on their knees as well, and one of the guitarists danced across the stage to drum with a second pair of sticks, adding even more urgency. One of my biggest motivations for seeing live music is that there's little to compare to seeing and feeling it when a musician is utterly wrapped up in their performance, and Explosions took that to a degree that swamped the audience.

And while it may be cliché to say of a band that "the music just gets inside you, man," for the duration of the set, this band's output became another system in my flesh, like the nervous or respiratory. They never betrayed this body trust; the softer guitar lines acted as a promise not to drop and break me during their biggest tidal waves.

It's difficult for me to identify what highlights happened during which songs because they never stopped between songs, choosing instead to play straight through and blend the set together. The audience couldn't clap or cheer much without the sound drowning out the next song the band would already be starting. The overall effect meant the experience was more like seeing a symphony than seeing a rock band, meant that I was awed and gratified by the band's work in its entirety rather than listening specifically for familiar melodies and band banter. Obviously I like listening to band banter and recognizing my favorite songs live, or I wouldn't go to shows, but this way of playing was the perfect and only choice for this band.

I did pinpoint Your Hand In Mine, which happens to be the theme song of the TV show Friday Night Lights. Explosions clearly savored the song, stretching out those first few measures before finally giving us the addition of the drums. There's always something special when a band gives the audience the song people clearly want most, a sense of satisfaction and triumph that flows back and forth between performer and listener. It was insanely expressive in a way that only this band could manage to be, something that would have been ruined had they a singer to emote.

This was definitely one of the most special live experiences I've had recently, and I'm both grateful and greedy, already wanting to see them again.

Catastrophe And The Cure -Explosions In The Sky
Your Hand In Mine -Explosions In The Sky