Boris is a hurricane without an eye. Be it a wall of noise or a wall of amps, the Japanese band is all wall: a punishing, relentless, fiercely creative storm that envelopes you in sustained fury. Leaving their Granada performance Sunday night, I certainly felt I had gone through a storm. I was dizzy from noxious amounts of artificial fog, my eardrums shrunk inward under the turbulent air generated by the band, and I was often stunned by near brown-note levels of noise.
This is exactly what fans want from a band like Boris, whose musical pedigree branches across many genres and sub-genres. Fans want to, quite literally, feel the noise. The band's teeth-rattling music is created by three sinewy Japanese lifers (plus touring guitarist Michio Kurihara) who look like nothing else but members of a metal band. Case in point: Atsuo, the band's Mickey Mouse-gloved drummer, wearing a glitter sequined vest and donning the best metal hair this side of Dragon Ball-Z.
I was gobsmacked the entire show by the sheer inventiveness of the band's damaging noise. On the opening song, "Farewell," from Pink, the band boiled ambient noise through slow-motion grunge. Thick and oddly pretty, the song was buoyed by the hush-hush vocals from drummer Astuo and guitarist Takeshi. The relative calm of "Rainbow," the title tack from an album of the same name, followed. Combined with "Farewell," these first two tracks could have fooled you into thinking you were seeing a heavy dream-pop band.
But "8," with it's chugging propulsion, swirling scuzz, and grandiose vocals kicked things off proper and from the moment on, it was all fury. I'm not sure exactly what song it was, but midway through the set, Boris ended a song with what seemed like a ten-minute feedback coda, ala MBV. During something as eviscerating as this, you pant, you pull your hair out, your gnash your teeth, but eventually you close your eyes and float upward. The night was riddled with moments of unyielding transcendence such as this. (My mistake was that I did not bring earplugs and opted to rawdog it instead.)
Oddly, there were a surprising amount of teenagers and pre-teens at the show. I don't know who the bigger hero of the night was: the ten year-old girl rocking the fuck out, or her mother who took her to the show and tried, however comically, to get her headbang on. (Both deserve a golden thumbs up.) The other bizarre moment of the night was when a frog jumped across the stage. I saw an older gentleman go pick up the creature and returned to the crowd, so maybe he wasn't a part of the Granada's detail. I'd like to think that he keeps a frog in his front pocket.
Though the members of Boris are just as indebted to free jazz as they are to Sleep or the Melvins, the band's performance felt surprisingly tight, lean, and rigid. There was no banter, no in-band joking -- just revved-up guitar music. Nothing felt especially improvised, though I'm sure they, like all great bands, don't play the same song the same way twice. Boris played a stellar set without any hiccups or flaws -- just sublime, sublime rocking.
Set List
1. Farewell
2. Rainbow
3. 8
4. Luna
5. Statement
6. Floorshaker
7. a bao a qu
8. 16:47:52
9. Akirame Flower
10. Pink
11. Korosu
12. 1970
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Hey, I am uh, the "older gentleman" that you referred to. Search the Pitch for Harpers article titled "Rappin' with the Old Farts Part-1 for a short bio of me.
I unfortunately never captured the little beast. I believe that someone got to it later in the show.I hope that it was returned safely outdoors.
Boris on this occasion was one of the best shows of the 312877391636 shows that I have ever attended. No question.
Awesome, awesome set...it was the third time I've seen them and the best performance yet. Last time they were at the Granada the sound was horrible but this time it was perfect. Pity the crowd wasn't bigger but still...great show.
And a thumbs up to the ten year old and her mom from me too.
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