Author: Rok Klemše
Venue: Ljubljana, VPK Mediapark
Concert date: 16.06.2007
Attendance: 800
Ticket price: €16 in advance, €18 on the day of the show
On Sunday, June 17, Buba threw a proper night in Cvetličarna Mediapark for all the “artfags”…ahem, let me be politically correct instead – for musically, alternatively minded people. Anyway, I was looking forward to finally seeing Isis for the first time, and curiosity was eating at me over Oxbow and Boris too, since, truth be told, I didn’t know them all that well. The Mediapark hall filled up nicely, and it was time for them to step out on stage…
Oxbow: 21:30 – 22:00
Oxbow were first onto the Cvetličarna stage, or rather, only part of the band was, since they hail from San Francisco. Half of the group, drummer Greg Davis and bassist Dan Adams, were on holiday this time, while for the frontman of the cult American outfit, Eugene Robinson, and guitarist Niko Wenner, it was a working Sunday. So, Oxbow fifty-fifty, just like in that famous quiz show. Eugene and Niko played an acoustic set under the name Love’s Holiday. Blues folklore has it that the legendary bluesman Robert Johnson sold his soul to the Devil in exchange for mastering the guitar, and I can say the very same about Niko and Eugene; the first track on the current Oxbow record, The Narcotic Story, is even called Mr. Johnson. The record came out on Hydra Head, the label of Aaron Turner, Isis frontman. In a good half hour, armed with nothing but Eugene’s raspy vocals and Niko’s bluesy slide guitar, they served up Oxbow’s trademark sonic perversion dressed in the blues melancholy of the Mississippi delta. A half-hour set was just the right length, since a longer one would have turned too monotonous and samey. Still, the female part of the crowd in particular got an eyeful of the towering Eugene, who started the show in a tuxedo and finished it in nothing but his underpants and a T-shirt, while Niko, in a smooth jacket with a tie and the obligatory pocket square, looked like some mafia consigliere. Those hoping to check the proverbial Black greatness “down there” with their own eyes weren’t so lucky, but the boys still showed us something fresh and interesting. Next time with the full band!
Boris: 22:05 – 22:50
The name of the trio Boris generated just as much excitement as Isis. These Japanese oddballs, experts in drone, stoner, doom, ambient and who knows what else, who named themselves after a track from the first Melvins record, Bullhead, are obviously very popular and highly regarded on our turf, despite being fairly obscure to the wider listening public. Boris are a band you can hardly say anyone knows only superficially, since practically every new record is completely different from the last. Stylistically they stretch from drone, doom, stoner, ambient music and psychedelia to, well, we could go on. The prolific Japanese have released, believe it or not, 19 studio albums in ten years of career! Boris lived up to the high expectations for their show. Drummer Atsuo started with a few hits on the gong, and the trio calmly kicked off with the slower track Farewell, which was also the only calmer moment of their set, because what followed was forty minutes of hard-hitting stoner that sent the temperature in Mediapark to boiling point. Takeshi showed off his kung-fu guitar skills on a double-neck guitar, one neck a bass and the other a guitar, while the lovely guitarist Wata had most of the male population in the hall drooling a little, and thinking with the other…ahem…head surely made them wish she’d take a cue from Eugene’s striptease. Drummer Atsuo, with his animal screams, showed that the Japanese are still reliving the football World Cup, and with his hairdo going wild he looked like someone any director of cheap kung-fu flicks would happily cast as the lead. The only minus goes to the deaf sound guy, who clearly forgot to do his job, because Wata’s vocals couldn’t be heard at all, though she at least made up for that sloppiness with her guitar playing. Atsuo stuck to the “Drunken Master” crane style at the end too, and stage-dived off the stage like a bird. An animal! With an otherwise excellent setlist, the Japanese sadly only had three quarters of an hour, which Atsuo wrapped up with a gong “solo”.
Isis: 23:00 – 00:30
After two years we finally got the giants of sludge back in the capital, and this time they came to present their latest record, In the Absence of Truth (2006). The quintet from Los Angeles calls Ipecac Recordings home, a label run under the wing of the great Mike Patton, and Isis built their big name with four quality studio albums and tours with big names like Tool, who personally picked them as their opening act on last year’s American tour. After a way-too-long intro, and amid the roaring welcome of a sludge-thirsty crowd, Isis finally kicked off with the first track from In the Abscence of Truth, Wrists of Kings. Personally I like the band’s earlier period a lot more, with the records Celestial (2000), Oceanic (2002) and Panopticon (2004), but the very first bars proved that the new record sounds great live. The slow build-up of the songs, with plenty of repeating parts, creates a very special atmosphere, which only the hard-hitting, distorted parts can incredibly cut through, with the guys, led by Aaron’s screaming, letting loose with the sawing riffs. The rising temperature just wouldn’t stop, and poor Aaron was literally sweating in streams, soaking his guitar completely. With the fantastic Backlit they went back to Panopticon, and with Dulcinea they jumped back to the latest record. Unfortunately, right in the middle of a phenomenal instrumental part, the tech acted up and Jeff Caxide’s bass vanished into thin air. While he and Mike Gallagher sorted out the problem, the remaining three professionally kept burning as if nothing had happened. The glitch was fixed quickly, and the lineup was complete again by the middle of Dulcinea. At this point let me once more mention the incompetence of the sound guy, because Aaron’s vocals were too quiet and pretty muddy, though at least the instruments were mixed superbly. Isis are really worth seeing live, since they show off their skills with tons of improvisation and stretch their already long songs even further. The cathartic atmosphere created by the distorted sawing that pumps up your adrenaline, and the divine ambient parts that carry you off to faraway worlds, has to be experienced live, full stop! After the main set ended, the fired-up crowd demanded more and Isis came back out and torched the place with the indescribable Celestial (The Tower), which shows what group orgasm means!
In the end there’s nothing left but a heartfelt thanks to Buba for organizing a great night, while the blame goes to the sound “master” and, once again, shame on you, Mediapark, for the rip-off beer prices (€2.5 for 4dl). The cure for post-concert depression – the Isis discography!
Photos: Jani Lah
Words: Rok Klemše
Setlist
BORIS:
1. Farewell
2. Rainbow
3. Pink
4. Korosu
5. Ibistu
6. Just Abandoned Myself
