There's nothing quite like coming back from the beauty and elegance of a wedding only to head directly to a metal show. Just before the June 22nd show at the High Noon Saloon, I flew back from a Georgetown wedding. Mere hours and two flights separated scenes of bright dresses and elegance from black t-shirts and noise. As a metalhead, it was a great homecoming.
Excited to see all three bands, I made sure to arrive early. I was actually taken aback by the crowd, as they were mostly typical metal fans, clad in black and denim. I was expecting more of a hipster crowd, all ironic tees and skinny jeans, as I knew of Deafheaven's reputation as “hipster metal” and the fact that many other shows on the tour had sold out, which is not expected for a lineup of experimental, doom, and black metal bands.
Regardless, the third-full venue was buzzing with anticipation as Wreck & Reference took the stage. Having read that the duo consisted of a drummer and a sampler, I was curious to see how they would perform on stage. The drummer was tured away from the audience, facing his band mate, who had slung a sampler pad across his chest like a square, flashing keytar. Songs varied greatly in style, from Swans-like noise to Sunn O))) like doom, all awash in pounding drums and glorious noise. The two members traded vocal duties, with the drummer handling the doomy death growls and the sampler handling unhinged spoken word passages and black metal screeches during the noisy songs. Overall, the set was a little disjointed, as the songs bounced between styles, but it was all held together by the unifying noise and manic stage presence of the two performers. The growing audience seemed appreciative of the duo, and offered hearty applause as they left the stage.
The crowd was much larger as Pallbearer stepped to their instruments and I could tell that we had some doom fans in the crowd. As the first song began, I could tell that Pallbearer would be the odd man out in terms of presence. The bassist strutted about the stage and struck a number of power stances throughout the set, looking like he was having a grand time. I think I even saw all the members of the band smiling at one point, something that Wreck & Reference didn't do and that Deafheaven would never do. The band played songs from their first album, Sorrow and Extinction in addition to some cuts from their upcoming album, Foundations of Burden. Regardless of album, the songs were all killer traditional doom/sludge metal cuts. Specializing in pounding drums and the heaviest of riffs, Pallbearer had the entire crowd headbanging in unison and offering shouts of approval after each song. After their last 10 minute plus track was finished, they joyously left the stage as the crowd started to build in excitement for Deafheaven.
While not a sell out or as large as I have seen for other High Noon shows, the crowd was sizable by the time the members of Deafheaven arrived on stage. The crowd lit up as the band launched into “Dream House”, the first track from their critically adored 2013 album, Sunbather. The band continued to play the entire album, with the enthusiasm of the crowd only dipping as the band used sampled versions of their interlude tracks: “Irresistible”, “Please Remember”, and “Windows”. The use of prerecorded tracks for the interludes was understandable (if somewhat disappointing), as the instrumentation and mixing on the interludes differs dramatically from the main songs. Despite this, all the live songs sounded great; the drums pummeled the audience, as the guitars washed over the crowd. As if making up for the use of samples, Deafheaven's singer, George Clarke, commanded the audience's attention. Clad in a minimalist black outfit and high-and-tight haircut, he appeared as a satanic priest. Furthering the illusion, he altered his bent-over screaming with ministerial hand motions, punctuating drum rolls and mirroring the rises and falls in the music. While these actions bordered on the absurd, I feel the walked the line well and kept the audience engaged, transforming the concert into an experience. As the set drew to a close, the crowd reacted in kind, offering cheers and applause. A brief pause followed the band's exit from the stage before they returned to a cheering crowd for their encore. After a brief offering of thanks and an introduction, they launched into their only encore, the best song from their 2009 work Roads to Judah, “Unrequited”. After 9 ½ more minutes of shoegazing black metal, they departed for good.
For me, the show was a perfect nightcap to the weekend. Wreck & Reference's unmitigated noise provided a perfect counterpoint to the refined elegance of Georgetown and the ritual of a wedding, Pallbearer's enthusiasm connected me to the fun of the reception, and then Deafheaven's ministerial, sinister beauty provided a dark mirror to the whole wedding affair.
Overall, the show was a great experience; a great tour of modern metal. All three bands performed well, and gave those in attendance a look at metal's future (Wreck & Reference), it's past (Pallbearer), and it's present (Deafheaven). In addition, the show also solidified the High Noon Saloon's reputation as Madison's best venue for metal.
– Matt Cortner
Matthew's preview can be read here: https://wsum.org/2014/06/19/2677/
