Holy Fuck, A Place To Bury Strangers, In Waves @ Spaceland, 3/1/08

I've already reviewed In Waves twice.  They are a great band if you love that lush and ethereal atmospheric type sound (which I do!). They played a set as good as ever tonight, and paved the road nicely for the heavy and abrasive sounds of A Place to Bury Strangers.  A good and mellow start to the earth shattering noise that would soon be murdering us.

Although I'm a huge fan of all three bands, Brooklyn's A Place To Bury Strangers was the main reason I went to this show, and they came on and just raped the shit out of everyone's eardrums with glassy shards of frozen icepicks. It was as if singer/guitarist Oliver Ackerman was told by the sound guy during soundcheck that the music was too loud so then he turned it up even more. I don't know what the decibel count was but I'll tell you this much: I had makeshift cocktail napkin earplugs and I still felt like I was going deaf. This band has such a huge following lately that none of the hardcore fans even care that they have blood trickling out of their ears and down the sides of their faces. I had previously seen them at the Viper Room in Hollywood with In Waves and Eulogies last year, and I don't remember them being this loud!

They came on to a stage in a room that was completely pitch black. I don't know how the bartenders walked around and served drinks without flashlights because it was really that dark. I saw the strobe lights set up on stage and they weren't using them until a few songs deep into the set. I waited patiently as I new what to expect after seeing them before. Not only does the sound get louder, but I've never in my life seen a band use strobes for such a long period of time. Fog also fills the room, and it gets so thick that it reminded me of the time that the Flaming Lips took a motorcycle on stage and revved it up, filling the room with thick exhaust.  

They played most of the songs off their incredible self-titled debut album, including To Fix the Gash in Your Head, I Know I'll See You, and The Ocean.  I especially enjoyed In Waves' bassist Tim Gregorio's surprise guest appearance, providing extra vocals for the amazing APTBS song "My Weakness".  I did a little research online and found that he also added some vocals on the  album as well.  If you're a fan of this band, check out my interview with all three members here.

True to form, Oliver went completely violent on his guitar, wrapping the cables around the neck and body, dropping it repeatedly, and dangling it from his fingers like a drunk and possessed puppeteer putting on a show in hell. I have included a video below...epileptics beware!

I'm not sure who this chick is, but she came out and sang with them on one of the songs.

APTBS Setlist:

Next up,  Toronto electronic rockers Holy Fuck. Honestly, I don't really have a great memory of them playing because I failed you, as the reader, by drinking at this show. I figured I wasn't driving and I love seeing APTBS so much live that I'd have a few. I do remember them sounding much better and clearer than when I saw them at the Echoplex with Super Furry Animals and Abe Vigoda (not that they were less than perfect then). I was, however, able to snap a picture of one of their gear boards, which is literally a road case flipped upside down and set on top of a cheapo keyboard stand. It actually adds to the show because they have two of these and they are very floppy. I noticed people focusing on the gear setups more than the actual performance, anxiously awaiting an avalanche of keyboards and guitar pedals.