Niedziela 29 Lip 2007, 20:26
Sat 28 Jul – Fear Before the March of Flames, 65daysofstatic, Hot Cross, This Will Destroy You
Yes, Fear Before the March of Flames and You in Series also played, but You in Series was a shitty scene band, and I left before Fear Before the March of Flames because they're the same thing; not what I came to see. That said, 65 Days of Static and This Will Destroy You put on a fucking amazing show.
After a particularly boring set from You in Series, This Will Destroy You finally emerged onstage. I was pretty happy to know that this time, buying their LP (Young Mountain on orange vinyl) beforehand was a smart move, as the orange version was gone after the set when I went to buy a copy on white for my lady friend as well as a t-shirt for myself.
After we secured a nice spot directly next to the stage, they soon began their set. Being a Post-Rock band, they adhered to the oft-cited formula of soft/loud dynamics, but they definitely brought their own flavors to this patented mix. Most songs saw extensive usage of an e-bow (I fucking love e-bows) and volume pedals, which coaxed a glorious swell of sound from the right-side guitarist's beautiful mapleglo Rickenbacker 360/6. Furthermore, their bassist was no slouch; usually not going near a pick, but still achieving a loud punchy line that would normally almost certainly be swallowed by either guitar's feedback and swells.
By the end of their set, they had begun to introduce the electronic part of their sound via a well-placed laptop. The contrast of the stutter-stop laptop beats and the live drummer's analog sound was both refreshing and surprisingly effective, especially while being complimented, NOT overwhelmed, by somewhat low-key and minimal guitar melodies. The phrase "same old, same old" couldn't be more wrong in this case.
After This Will Destroy You's explosive performance, Sheffield's own, 65 Days of Static had their work cut out for them. Luckily for them and everyone else in the venue, they did not disappoint.
Though they are usually pigeon-holed as Post-Rock, 65 Days of Static also lean towards Industrial in sound. Live samples and synth beats were present throughout most of the songs, with at least one instance of a prominent keyboard melody. The guitars were heavily distortion-driven, but never sleazy–a property that definitely shined in this setting. I could tell all the scene kids were bewildered when this band got going (going so far as to include the bassist helping out on drum duties), seemingly startled that any of the prior artists could perform better than their beloved Fear Before the March of Flames.
Before 65 Days of Static came on, I had asked a guy I knew from my hometown to snatch their setlist for me when he got a chance. So after the set, he remained true to his word despite a particularly grabby girl trying to get ahold of the setlist first. I handed it to my lady friend (payback for the Grails setlist she snatched for me), who was a previous fan of the band. The songs were written by their nicknames, so I can't really share it at this point.
No setlist for either of the bands yet, I'll update this later when I can confirm them.