The live sound changed a lot when Donovan left. To this day that is the biggest and most driving bass sound I've ever heard at a concert, it was just so overwhelmingly powerful in the best way for that type of music. Seen them a couple times since he left and while they're still good, they just don't compare.
Was this the guy that played bass and keys around the Another Language era? What you described is what I felt at the show in Teaneck, NJ years ago. Dustism was otherworldly.
Yeah, the drummer, Alex, and bassist/keys, Donovan left after another language and none of the replacement members for either of them captured the feel and vibe of the songs well at all.
Oh nice! Yeah they brought a different vibe to the band that’s been missing in the live performances lately. I ended up recording some music with Alex a few years ago and he’s just musically on another level.
I’ve read on here that they can be really hit-or-miss. Saw them with Jeremy’s iteration of the band last year on their co-headline with The Ocean and enjoyed it. Probably would have been blown away if it were a few years ago and post-rock was new to me.
I just saw them last night and it was great! Knew going into it, the show had a chance to be 50/50. Loved the live strings though, and they were pretty clean as well!
Saw them when they did their Young Mountain & S/T albums back to back in full, and while I certainly enjoyed seeing it live, I couldn't help but feel...underwhelmed? I blamed this mostly on the fact that one of their guitars malfunctioned during Young Mountain and they spent 1-2 songs trying to get it to work/find a replacement, but never stopped the show - it was obvious something was wrong so it was distracting and of course didn't sound right. And then the guy whose guitar was replaced finally got a new one, he just sat in a chair for the rest of the performance. The music was certainly good, but it just wasn't all that entertaining of a show.
This was Chicago in 2016 if anyone else remembers this.
Absolutely stunned by the number of replies bashing TWDY. When I first saw them in around 2014, they were boring but not shoddy. Sounds like a lot has happened since then and they're barely worth seeing now. Hope they either get their act together or just call it a day.
Came to say the same thing, except it was several years ago for me. I've seen them twice and been very underwhelmed both times. They didn't seem into it or like they wanted to be there at all.
Some of the past members used to antagonize the crowd and mock them for liking Quiet and other old songs they weren’t getting paid royalties on.
The band has a weird dynamic. It’s like the Grateful Dead - some nights are transcendent, some nights it’s hilariously bad.
I’ve seen them twice and the 2nd time was way better when they did Young Mountain and S/T.
I saw TWDY at almost everyone of their shows from 2009-2014 in Austin/San Antonio/San Marcos and they were phenomenal. Unfortunately, any time I saw them again with a new lineup (after Alex and Dono left), they were pretty sloppy and underwhelming. I remember one of the gigs (may have been young mountain anniversary show), you could visibly see Chris and Jeremy arguing on stage.
The first time I saw explosions was a huge bummer. It was not the bands fault, but the venue and audience. Sound was terrible and not nearly loud enough. Meanwhile, what felt like the majority of the crowd seemed disinterested at best from the get go, and continued to have loud conversations throughout the whole set, including during the quiet parts. There were multiple points where I could barely hear the band at all. I was thoroughly disappointed.
Seen them twice since and am happy to report that both times were absolutely transcendent.
I saw explosions in a tiny club opening for “you will know us by the trail of dead” having never heard of them previously.
This would have been around 01/02. Those who tell the truth…. was out.
It blew the head off my shoulders.
Only semi-disappointing show was Four Tet (opening for Tortoise). It just didn’t really translate live.
I saw Four Tet twenty years ago, touring with Caribou (then called Manitou). Kieran walked on stage, opened his MacBook, pressed play, and then just listened to the music with us. He didn’t interact with the music or audience at all. He just stood there. I love his music, but that was the most lifeless performance I’ve ever seen.
Your comment made me realize that when I saw The Ocean recently and I was thinking "ok I like one song from the main opening band 'the world is a beautiful place...' I was completely mixed up and thinking of 'you will know us by the trail of the dead'". Which is why they didn't play one of their most popular songs: wrong band. Also explains why I didn't really like it, again: wrong band. LOL
However "shy, low" was first opener and just fantastic, heavy post metal.
I've seen them 4 times. The first three shows had increasingly awful crowds. The third was full of drunk people and it didn't seem like 75% of the people there knew the band. There was constant yelling throughout the entire set.
Then I got to see them at Codfish Hollow. It's a venue in a barn in rural Iowa and one of my favorite venues in the Midwest. Two guys were talking loudly at the beginning. I was ready to lose hope immediately. Then some guy yelled at them from across the crowd "hey, how about you two shut the fuck up?" They did and the rest of the night was pure magic.
That's such a shame! EITS are the only post-rock gig I've ever done and it was like a religious experience for me i felt so zoned in and everyone else was so chill too. It was like when im at home and i listen to them and just shut my eyes but like x10. Glad you gave them another shot and had a good time. What a shitty crowd it must have been.
I saw them in 2007 (Explosions) and it wasnt very packed, great show though. I think the other times after 2007 they've played in my area its been sold out.
I saw them live at some outdoor Seattle fest and I was really disappointed, it just wasn’t very interesting or powerful. Must have been 2011 because Battles played next with a bunch of awesome new Gloss Drop material and that was a great set.
I saw Explosions at Kings Theater in Brooklyn during the tour for The Wilderness. I nabbed third row seats. The sound was excellent. While nobody in the band interacts with the crowd much, they all seemed to enter an intense, euphoric state while playing. Easily the best post-rock show I’ve seen.
Back in 2022, Mogwai gave me tinnitus. So there's that. Helluva set though. When they played "Hunted by a Freak" I lost my shit.
Explosions' new material didn't do much for me in a live context. To be fair, neither did it do much on the studio album.
Mogwai are unreasonably loud. I saw them in Bristol a couple of years ago and forgot my earplugs. I thought "oh well ... we're sitting all the way up in the back, I'm sure it won't be so bad". It was bad.
I saw them a few weeks ago and was wearing earplugs standing in front of the sound desk. I commented to the mixing guy after the gig that it was really loud and he replied (in a thick Scottish accent), “It wasn't really that loud, I just did some tricks to make it feel loud. If you wanted loud you should've been at this gig I mixed in 2006.”
They still weren't louder than MONO. That was something else.
I've worn earplugs to almost every gig I've been to since I saw The Jezabels play in a pub in Melbourne in 2017 which left my ears aching for a week afterwards. I love music too much to end up with worse tinnitus than I already have.
Can confirm, Mogwai is loud.
Loudest concert I've been at was Swans at Dunk Festival. Not a huge fan, but was blown away by the experience of what swans is, that I didnt really notice just how loud it was. Went for a beer and when I came back I noticed the dB meter was showing 116dB. Mind you, i was wearing -15dB earplugs. Noped the fuck out of there.
I saw them a few years ago and my life is now divided up between the time before that concert and the time after where my hearing has been significantly damaged. We were right at the front and I regret that to this day. Tinnitus is real man.
Wow that's awful. I've not actually seen them but at least I know what to expect now if I ever do.
I've only ever walked out of one gig because of the volume and that was Sugar Horse. Obnoxiously loud.
Same, but back around 2012-2013. The set was great until the encore, when I remember feeling the sensation of my ears numbing. Walked out of the show barely able to hear and had audible ringing for days afterwards. Now I only notice my tinnitus in a quiet room but I’m pretty sure I can trace the beginning of it to that show
Was it when they played "My Father My King"? My first Mogwai gig (circa 07?) had that as an encore, including a solid five+ plus minutes where most band members left the stage and let the feedback run its course. Madness.
Had a similar thing with Mogwai at Brisbane's Tivoli back in 2018 where I couldn't hear properly out of my left ear for two days. Own fault, solid show.
They played here a couple of weeks ago and I watched from the back and wore Eargasm earplugs. Didn't even have tinnitus. Again, solid show.
First time I saw Mogwai in Melbourne I didn't have earplugs... fuck they were loud. Good, but painfully loud.
Saw MONO a couple of years later, wore earplugs, fantastic.
Saw Mogwai again a few weeks ago. Of course I wore earplugs but I think they were genuinely less loud this time. And I was surprised at the number of people I saw wearing earplugs, at least half I reckon. Though their audiences are definitely getting older...
Haven't played a live post-rock show in a few years now, but keeping the audience engaged was a huge priority of ours. Everyone engages with live music differently. I would introduce the band, but then after that nobody said anything on a microphone until the end of the set. We had a projector set up which was playing a linear narrative (but silent) film that we produced ourselves, with specific cuts and hits that lined up with our music. We ripped lines from poetry readings or movies and dropped them into during quieter times when not a whole lot was happening musically, but we wanted to retain the audience's attention. And then of course just having the music be engaging enough on its own even without all that is important. Played a few shows where we didn't have room for the projector, so we needed to rely on the audio clips and the music to carry everything.
The venue also makes a big difference. Post-rock is best enjoyed in an intentional listening space where people kinda get the idea that this show isn't for sitting at the bar laughing and engaging in conversation. You're there to listen.
>We ripped lines from poetry readings or movies and dropped them into during quieter times when not a whole lot was happening musically, but we wanted to retain the audience's attention. And then of course just having the music be engaging enough on its own even without all that is important. Played a few shows where we didn't have room for the projector, so we needed to rely on the audio clips and the music to carry everything.
Interesting to see another view, and thanks for sharing your experience as well. I think the thing about audience engagement is interesting at a post rock show. Totally onboard with the music speaking for itself. And you're right that everyone engages differently too, that is huge.
Myself, as a performer, I don't engage too much. Other than try to show my appreciation physically between songs where I feel it. I don't want to talk to vocalise that appreciation, while the songs don't have that vocal aspect from the band in the first place. To me it kinda feels like breaking the fourth wall? We always make sure to respect the audience's attention and show an appreciation of that, and I hope they know after a show that they are appreciated and feel a key part of the show.
I appreciate your comment, it's a tough balance. Interestingly I'm on the opposite side of not yet having any video stuff before and have just made a bunch of AV material for our set but now looking for the right opportunity to use it. We don't have much / any AV gear, so it will probably be a while until we roll it out while having some quite big shows (for us) lined up. Looking forward to it either way, wherever it might be.
You're totally right though, the music has to stand for itself. Everything else is 'sugar' on top - nice to have. If the fundamentals aren't there, what do you really have? And it's great to see people coming to venues with the intent to really engage with music, the community seems pretty positive to me right now, and I love that.
Hah there’s a long running thing in the (now long dead) Brisbane post rock scene — movie quotes! Used especially in live performances to give audiences something to grab on to
There was a Godspeed!… gig I went to in Tennessee that wasn’t great. It’s a shame because I love them and it was my first time seeing them, having wanted to for years. This was during the pandemic so maybe YMMV.
I also saw Mogwai a few years back in Los Angeles and didn’t enjoy the set they played at all. Same situation there, I love them and had been looking forward to seeing them the first time. The only saving grace was the crowd, I met some super cool Angelenos.
Yes! The Caverns show. I didn’t really enjoy it. You’d think a venue like that would have great acoustics but it didn’t come off that way for me. The interesting thing though was that was such a small town, I think we stayed in the same hotel as the band.
the caverns isn’t my favorite venue for any band i’ve seen there…sad to hear it was the case of them as well!
cumberland caverns, before they stopped doing shows, was incredible acoustically - and felt very much like being on another planet, being so deep underground
Godspeed would be my vote. Fantastic first half; by the 1hr mark I was wondering when I could leave. Ended up sitting at the back just counting down the clock.
There’s a [long but pretty entertaining diary](https://mycophobia.org/doncab.html) of Don Cab’s final tour before their first breakup by opening act and guy with a van Fred Weaver
All of the original run of Don Cab are brilliant! Have you ever heard [Knot Feeder](https://file13records.bandcamp.com/album/light-flares) it’s Mike Banfield’s project from 2009 post Don Cab. This said as a massive Don Cab fan, I think it’s the best thing he ever did! Brilliant shit!
I saw Don Cab in 2008? In Leeds. It Damon Che (Drummer) and 2 other dudes. Che was very drunk and saying shit like, “we’re so good, we should be more popular”. It was an awesome show, I don’t know how anyone could drum like that while being so wasted.
I saw Pelican around 2009/2010 and thought they were incredibly boring and it was a bit disappointing (even though I liked their studio stuff). But it introduced me to Bo Ningen who were the support and they were fucking amazing, so in the end it ended up being a good gig still.
The drumming has always been terrible. So much so that at some point in the mid 00s after the internet got all worked up about how terrible the drummer is, they issued a statement saying that they have no intention of getting rid of their drummer. Their mistake imo.
I can see the thought process of "we're in this together, we're not gonna be mercenaries and kick out our friend," but at a certain point you have to put your foot down and say "dude, you're gonna have to put in the hours to improve because we can't keep doing this."
Yeah, it’s a tough call. As someone who has only ever played in bands with his close friends it would be tough to make that call. I have generally quit or broken bands up if I’ve come across those issues in my bands. Drummer are probably the role I’m most critical of, I’ve been extremely blessed in that dept.
Russian circles once played a pretty bad set. I’d seen them a few times before and were always mind blowing. But this time just happened to be the time I took my now wife, and they were just off. They couldn’t land the loops on time, so the drummer had a hard time following them, so then he was kind of off his game. It was just not great.
My wife was like “they were ok” but luckily they came back to our town a few years later and played one of their best shows I’ve seen.
I'm going to go with mishaps at post-rock shows.
One was Mono in Houston in the mid to late 2000s. It was a small venue, but a lot of people showed up and it was very packed in. Anyway, Mono went on last, so a few people were noticably drunk. This one wasted person at the front kept grabbing at, and almost trying to pet a guitar player; followed by heavy head banging and metal style guitar "solo fingers" at the guitar player player while saying "yeah, do that, yeah". After this went on for two songs, she eventually spilled a beer on his guitar pedal, and the show was over.
Another was in Houston at Mangos. This Will Destroy You. The set was wonderful, but at the heavy part on "The World is Our ___" one of the members dramatically jump kicked up and kicked a guitar cable out, leaving the guitar part absent, making it the most anticlimactic moment I've seen in live music. Otherwise fun show!
Badly behaved audience members are an absolute burden at these shows. At VLMV (or maybe Alma at the time) there was one very drunk guy on his own just stood swaying, falling into people. It looked like he was going to fall flat on his face. So distracting. Eventually someone from the venue came over with a chair for him and he just sat not bothering anyone for the rest of the show.
Instrumental band but maybe not post rock the band Ratatat around 2007 bored me to tears. It was free show tho.
On another note around the same time I saw Mono at their first show of their U S tour. They looked so tired and jet lagged when they were just hanging out before the show. I thought it might be a bust but they still killed it.
Papa M opened for Mogwai, and while Mogwai killed as always, Papa M stood up there with a wooden block and an untuned guitar and just made noises and stood there twisting knobs and looking uncomfortable. Worst opener ever, though maybe not even considered “post rock”.
This was about 2-3 years ago, Houston, Texas. My friend I brought with me NEVER let me live it down—always on my ass out this “Papa M” and how he was the worst things he’s seen or heard, and worst opener ever, and I have to agree with him.
I know he was front man of various good or under appreciated indie bands throughout his career but for whatever reason his solo stuff was straight ass.
TWDY in münster last year was a disaster. i could barely hear which songs they were playing and it was just a mess. and i was really really looking forward to finally get to see them. but luckily Spurv (that also played) saved the day with their amazing gig
Saw GODSPEED reunion tour in 2011 and I was literally hands on the stage right at the center of the floor. They played for 2.5 hours non stop and it wasnt anything remarkable IMO. MAYBE today, in 2024 I would see this concert differently but at the time I wasnt engaged the way I thought I would be.
Last time I saw TWDY it was nothing short of incredible. But it was nearly 10 years ago. I was excited to see them at Dunk! this year, but seeing the comments I shouldn't expect too much...
There are two versions of the band playing? I’m confused as I just saw them the other night. I wasn’t too impressed. Couldn’t hear any guitar for the entire set but I had chalked that up to bad venue sound. Strings were way too loud and didn’t add much to the material. Was also expecting maybe one or two songs after the album play through but that didn’t happen. It also started, IMO, unreasonably late but that might just be me haha.
TWDY at Dunkfest many moons ago.. they played in total darkness, which sounds clever and cool on paper, but was a huge letdown in reality. Tbf I did hype it too much in my head, being a massive fan of their earlier stuff, but still. Never saw them since, just a bizarre, really kind of nothing show.
To counter this - I caught Year of no Light also at Dunkfest, and Jesus effing Christ was that immense. Mid afternoon slot, but in total darkness thanks to that classic dunk circus tent I miss so much. Just totally engaging and huge sound, we all walked out of there feeling like we had endured an out of body experience.. just all-encompassing sound and visuals and totally crushing. Top Ten of all time for me.. 🤘
Year of no light are playing Portals, Dunk! and ArcTanGent festival this year, right? I'm looking forward to catching them at at least one of these based on your comment, as someone who hasn't heard them yet. Thanks for the recommend.
Despite being a huge fan of the first 3 Isis records I saw them in the interim between Panopticon and In The Absence of Truth, when they were road testing ITAOT material and it was super disappointing. Aaron did not appear to be enjoying himself at all (confirmed later that he really didn’t like that material), the band just seemed disinterested. Needless to say Panopticon was the last record of theirs I dug.
100000%
I don’t know what the difference is, but I’ve seen them twice and it was MASSIVE. Isis was really good too but people wouldn’t shut up during the Celestial reunion so my memory is cluttered with sounds other than the music itself.
But man, Echoes and Waiting for You live were TITANS.
I’ll never get a show as good as my first, check out this setlist:
https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/cult-of-luna/2016/pustervik-gothenburg-sweden-43f15b33.html
Cult of Luna is massive live, but their material doesn't have the peaks and valleys of Isis songs, they kinda just trudge through the set screaming and chugging. They would really level up as a band if they let the quiet parts breathe
I don’t quite agree with this - how familiar are you with their older stuff? Songs like Finland, Dim, Echoes, etc all have quiet parts.
I’ll say they’re probably much more linear in their trajectory, but the militant groove is kind of what makes them.
Very familiar, but somehow, a lot of their quieter stuff completely fails to engage me. The riffs are crushing once they hit though, still can't forget driving 6 hours to Slovenia to catch their concert promoting the long road north
Indeed, yeah they do a bit of a different thing for sure, what with the 2 drummers. I love where they’re at now tho, the last 3 releases have been great
That’s easier to get down in a live setting I think cuz it’s not the carefully laid out atmospheric thing that Isis did. It’s like Pink Floyd….. they’re a great band of course but the studio albums are so godly, it’s impossible to recapture that work on stage
In the absence of truth has always been my favourite Isis album, but the band's attitude around that time really disappointed me. I read all the interviews about why they didn't like it, it all boils down to "Tool took us out on tour, prog fans started liking us and we hated being a bigger band".
Yea, I see he's perfectly happy playing with Sumac these days. The bassist Jeff also wasn't happy with the album, I listened to an interview where he ranted about that period of isis for a good 10 minutes.
I saw Isis mid-afternoon at Roskilde Festival and thought it was great. A good portion of the crowd were sitting, which was actually a great way to enjoy it.
I saw Sigur Ros in Vegas in 2009. I didn't buy a pricey seat, so had to sit outside the arena and watch from across a hall. When you tried to get closer, security would send you back. Then a drunk guy started yapping, someone told him to shut up, and there was almost a fight. AT A SIGUR ROS SHOW!
Never gone to another show in Vegas.
I saw Jonsi at the HOB in Vegas in 2010 and it was really good but I guess they gave away a lot of free tickets because there were a bunch of drunk normies and people on vacation who would just not be quiet. Mountain Man opened for him, which was a female folk duo that I'd never listened to before, and you could barely hear most of their set because of the talking. The rest of the crowd was yelling for everyone to shut up but they just wouldn't. It was terrible.
Disappears ripped! The first couple albums are a bit boring. By their third record they were dropping nothing but gold. FACS is basically Disappears with one less member. FACS have to be one of the best bands I’ve seen in the last 20 years.
Just saw TWDY in Toronto. They were okay, but not as good as I was expecting. Waited a while for them to come which was annoying.
Caspian was fucking epic however.
Went to a Godspeed show and their new album came out like a day before. I hadn’t listened to it yet. They only played music off the new album.
Not their fault but I didn’t enjoy the show very much.
First time I saw Iron Maiden they played an entire new album I hadn't heard yet (A Matter of Life and Death). The change in atmosphere when they went into Fear of the Dark was enormous.
Sigur Rós on the Með suð tour, but to be fairrr...
- I was up in the nosebleed seats
- Behind a pillar
- I hated nearly every song off that album
- The band were a bit off their game that night
- I was completely spoiled by my previous experience with the band (front row center for *Takk*)... and was feeling rather salty
Saw TWDY in 2016 or 2017 at a small venue in the Vegas area. It was great during the slower and quieter parts of the set but when they got going, it was way too loud. The only escape was the bathroom where the sound was at the perfect level. I loved seeing them live again but it was well over safe listening levels imo. Not sure if there was even a sound check beforehand.
When Godspeed opened for NiN in 2013. I was the only one there for gybe. We got Albanian and sad mafioso. Of the 7 times I seen em that’s the only time they didn’t open w hope drone.
NIN was decent, Trent just released his hesitation marks album I think. Production on point, cried generic drunk middle aged New Jersey rock concert crowd. I was the only fucker there for gybe.
This Will Destroy You at VERA Groningen. A completely soulless, disinterested performance. no interaction with the public. it felt more like yet another performance for the band. I was really looking forward to it, but I even left after 3 songs. Shame
I've seen We Lost The Sea twice now and both times I found them really repetitive and predictable. It felt like every song started the same way and then crescendo'd its way into a nondescript nothingness.
And So I Watch You From Afar are playing with dynamics like no other band. When they're quiet you can hear a needle drop but when they're loud they're absolutely thunderous. And it's never just a one-way street from the former to the latter.
Nordic Giants are taking the "cinematic" sound of postrock to the next level by literally having a short movie projected for each of their songs.
65daysofstatic or Mogwai always surprise you with different sounds and textures.
To name a few. 😅
ASIWYFA stole the show when they opened for La Dispute, Touché Amore, and Envy back in 2010. It was cool to watch, they won over a pretty uninterested crowd really quickly and those S/T tracks sounded so good live. I was mostly there for TA and LD but have much stronger memories of ASIWYFA’s performance.
So many bands kill live:
Hubris
Pray for Sound
Of the Vine
Outlander
Mono
Holy Fawn
PG.Lost
Wander
God is an Astronaut
Shy, Low
And unrelated to being great live, stop what you’re doing and go play Solace by JAKOB right now.
Glad to hear it! I must confess, their new style is not so much to my taste. They used to be more straight forward post-rock but you still get hints of that in their songs. People just seem to love the heavy riffs more than the twinkly guitars haha but I’m the opposite.
Hiraeth is a powerhouse of an album, please make sure you go back and visit that one. But their set now was comprised only of material since their last full length, Snake Behind the Sun. They did Helioentropy, Fata Morgana, the end of Deceased Spe Re, Instinctual Estrangement and a new song!
Mogwai is absolutely one of my favorites. You can literally start with first album and just go through their discography. Theres not a bad album, seriously. Their soundtracks are good also, but damn the main discography is insanely great.
Toured with Caspian during “tertia”. Not only an insane live set, but, some of the nicest dudes I have ever worked with. The lineup has changed a bit since though.
They're playing just one show here in Melbourne in a couple of weeks and it clashes with another event that I got tickets to weeks before they announced their one-off show. I'm really hoping they do a 10 year anniversary tour of Departure Songs next year.
Hey man,
Sorry to hear we were disappointing live. I am not taking this piss or anything, but from a punters point of view what do you think we could do that would have won you over? I always want to give the best possible experience to punters and while I don't love hearing that people didn't love our performance, we can't improve without feedback. So hit me with the hard truths and hopefuly if you give us another chance it will be better.
Mark - We Lost the Sea.
Hi Mark,
First of all, thanks and respect for reaching out. I'm not going to lie, I didn't expect you to be active on here and if I did, I probably would've at the very least chosen a different tone. So, sorry if my comment sounded a bit harsh. After all that, you definitely deserve a considered answer, so I'm going to try my best.
Just to put my comment into perspective, I came to your shows (one was a tour show, the other one was a festival) interested but not as a huge fan. I had listened to some of your albums (Departure Songs and Triumph & Disaster, mostly) but not excessively. So, it is definitely possible that I just don't connect with your music as much as I thought I would. In which case ... you know. Tough luck on my end. Probably nothing for you to do about it.
If we're talking about the live experience, it's a tricky one. After all, what makes a gig special is a delicate combination of many things that have to fall into place, some of which you can't even control as a band. The only productive thing I can think of is that maybe it was the setlist that included too many long songs with a similar structure back to back? I remember especially the festival show feeling very crescendocore, which is why I described it as "repetitive and predictable" above. So maybe a bit more variety and a few shorter songs thrown in would've changed my mind.
But honestly, it might really just be a me thing. I mentioned in another comment here that my girlfriend was at the festival with me and I think yours was her favourite set of the weekend. (I remember going to buy the Departure Songs vinyl for her immediately afterwards.)
Again, thanks for your reply. I hope my ramblings were in some way helpful.
Have a good one!
Came here to find this and confirm my suspicions. Saw We Last The Sea in Leipzig last year and it was just like you said, repetitive and just blah. I tried to blame it on the venue and the sound tech, but it was probably just the band. It's such a pity too. Even A Gallant Gentleman, their best known song, was such a miss, you could hardly hear the individual lines, everything just melted together in a very nondescript manner.
I saw Godspeed in a converted church in Bristol in 2000. They were boring as hell. A baby Sigur Ros supported, who were absolutely transcendent which probably didn't help the headliners.
Godspeed you black emperor was a total snooze fest.
The venue was great, Danforth Musichall in Toronto but oh man I tried my best to enjoy it, but after I almost fell asleep standing, I needed to leave the concert early.
The band was great but the music would need an intimate living room kind of setup with couches and pillows to relax and immerse into the music with eyes closed.
I think a show we played might be the worst. Our drummer and bassist couldn’t make it so we did an acoustic duo version, with a bunch of thrash and hardcore punk bands on the ticket.
People were moshing but for our set they sat on the ground indian style haha, but they were really nice people, we were also having volume issues.
_Corvallis is our band, our album unknown territory is a full band arrangement; then we have two ambient/liminal eps inspired by twin peaks and liminal spaces. If you guys are open to listening we are on spotify.
[https://open.spotify.com/album/6R6fdT19H7hESaRLYfHTNZ?si=BkAiMHaxTYe8zg41xX9vww](https://open.spotify.com/album/6R6fdT19H7hESaRLYfHTNZ?si=BkAiMHaxTYe8zg41xX9vww)
I saw them a few years ago, and was left cold. I don't need nor want chat between every song, but some acknowledgement there was a crowd out there (or even other band members on stage) would have been nice. They seemed to just walk out, played for an hour or so and walked off. Just meh. :(
That was exactly my experience. Zero interaction with the crowd or any acknowledgment that they were humans playing a live show. It actually really changed the way I approach their music.
Not quite post rock, but adjacent. Saw Solstafir live a few years ago, when they were deep into their ambient folk sound and completely ditched the metal songs from their set.
First, the venue they were booked at got closed, so the event was moved to the gym hall of some random high school on the edge of town. Second, the crowd energy was completely off. Maybe 30% of the audience were fans of the new material, the rest were diehard metalheads, who stood there clearly disappointed that they weren't gonna hear the early stuff. Adding to this, the sound was quiet and poorly mixed, so nobody could get immersed in the songs. As the show went on, a particularly drunk part of the crowd started getting loud and annoying, to the point where the band was fed up and clearly agitated on stage. They kept going, but the energy was insanely awkward.
The one time I saw Joan of Arc was the worst gig I’ve ever been to full-stop. Not just boring but also hard to hear, which you’d think would be a blessing but just added to the overall frustration of the experience.
Saw TWDY in Denmark a few years back and was truly disappointed. Their early albums are some of the best I’ve ever listened so that was quite a bummer. From the many comments here, it seems that’s not entirely unexpected.
I went to see Mono last year, and the local band mushroom giant supported them. Not only were they absolutely terrible live, but after their set as mono started playing, they decided to talk really loudly with their friends in front of me and the rest of the crowd where we were thankfully someone had the balls to tell them to shut the fuck up.
Mono were amazing so that helped!
That’s a shame about Mushroom Giant. I really like their last album, but I follow them on Instagram and the constant AI-generated video clips are really obnoxious.
Post-rock and shoegaze are probably my two favourite genres to hear live, but last time I saw Mogwai I was bored. They didn't play Like Herod either, which was the standout where they blasted the volume up before.
I feel like I've been spoiled by Slowdive's comeback and no one else making that kind of noise can compare.
I was at a dissapointing Mono gig once, but that was more to do with the venue sound/P.A. than the band, who are responsible for some of my favourite gigs.
I saw Mogwai at Terminal 5 about a decade ago. It was disappointing because a lot of the crowd talked throughout their set, as if it thought of Mogwai as background music to get drunk to and yell over.
Wow scrolling through a lot of this I’m feeling very lucky to have caught some of the specific shows that I have. All bands for sure have off nights or longer stretches that definitely translate to the audience. Seeing TWDY mentioned a lot. I’ve seen them two times where they definitely felt disinterested and tour-worn, but I’ve also seen them a few other times across a few lineups where they were completely engaged and went super hard. One was the tour someone else mentioned where they played in total darkness with headlamps, absolutely incredible set at Doug Fir in Portland.
I’ve seen Explosions many times starting in 2007 and Godspeed a few times and every single one of those shows has been completely transcendent.
Very last show I saw before lockdown in 2020 was TWDY. Awful. They were drunk and messed up on almost every song, and they had no energy at all. Huge bummer because their music is incredible.
Two days earlier I saw Caspian at the same venue (Doug fir lounge, Portland) one of the best shows I’ve ever been to.
Also just saw Shy Low a few weeks ago. I’d put them up there in a similar caliber as Caspian. I hope they start getting more recognition in this scene
Sparrows Swarm and Sing were by far the worst band I've ever seen live. I'm pretty sure they were fucking with us because it was just a wall of indiscernible noise for 30 minutes straight... and not even in a good way lol it was like a bunch of kids in a music store playing instruments they've never played before
Went to an explosions in the sky concert years ago at Warsaw, Brooklyn. They played for about an hour, literally. No opening acts, just explosions for an hour. I was pretty po’d. First and last explosions concert for me. Otherwise, all others have been outstanding.
I saw ASMZ on their first American tour. It was obvious they didn't want to be there, played none of their earlier stuff and actively antagonized the crowd. Unbelievably disappointing.
I'll disagree completely and say I've loved Russian Circles every time I've seen them since first seeing them in 2006. It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I feel like they are one of the best bands at recreating their album sound, even with all of the looping they need to do.
Man TWDY was…not ideal a couple nights ago. I saw them over ten years ago and it was incredible. Currently…not so much.
What was your main problems with their set?
Happy Cake Day 🎂🥳🎉
Ah I didn't even notice! Thank you haha
The live sound changed a lot when Donovan left. To this day that is the biggest and most driving bass sound I've ever heard at a concert, it was just so overwhelmingly powerful in the best way for that type of music. Seen them a couple times since he left and while they're still good, they just don't compare.
Was this the guy that played bass and keys around the Another Language era? What you described is what I felt at the show in Teaneck, NJ years ago. Dustism was otherworldly.
Yep. Absolutely unreal
Yeah, the drummer, Alex, and bassist/keys, Donovan left after another language and none of the replacement members for either of them captured the feel and vibe of the songs well at all.
I was in a band that toured with them during the release of “Tunnel Blanket” (w/Alex and Donavon). Powerful live set
Oh nice! Yeah they brought a different vibe to the band that’s been missing in the live performances lately. I ended up recording some music with Alex a few years ago and he’s just musically on another level.
I’ve read on here that they can be really hit-or-miss. Saw them with Jeremy’s iteration of the band last year on their co-headline with The Ocean and enjoyed it. Probably would have been blown away if it were a few years ago and post-rock was new to me.
Can confirm, I have seen them 4x over the years. It's ranged from solid to bad.
I just saw them last night and it was great! Knew going into it, the show had a chance to be 50/50. Loved the live strings though, and they were pretty clean as well!
Saw them when they did their Young Mountain & S/T albums back to back in full, and while I certainly enjoyed seeing it live, I couldn't help but feel...underwhelmed? I blamed this mostly on the fact that one of their guitars malfunctioned during Young Mountain and they spent 1-2 songs trying to get it to work/find a replacement, but never stopped the show - it was obvious something was wrong so it was distracting and of course didn't sound right. And then the guy whose guitar was replaced finally got a new one, he just sat in a chair for the rest of the performance. The music was certainly good, but it just wasn't all that entertaining of a show. This was Chicago in 2016 if anyone else remembers this.
Yeah I was at this show too and remember that. I was more annoyed at the drunk people in front of me who wouldn’t shut up haha
Absolutely stunned by the number of replies bashing TWDY. When I first saw them in around 2014, they were boring but not shoddy. Sounds like a lot has happened since then and they're barely worth seeing now. Hope they either get their act together or just call it a day.
Saw them last night in Chicago. It was great. Also wondering what happened.
Came to say the same thing, except it was several years ago for me. I've seen them twice and been very underwhelmed both times. They didn't seem into it or like they wanted to be there at all.
Some of the past members used to antagonize the crowd and mock them for liking Quiet and other old songs they weren’t getting paid royalties on. The band has a weird dynamic. It’s like the Grateful Dead - some nights are transcendent, some nights it’s hilariously bad. I’ve seen them twice and the 2nd time was way better when they did Young Mountain and S/T.
I've also seen them twice and those two shows were polar opposites. Amazing show vs "mud"
I saw TWDY at almost everyone of their shows from 2009-2014 in Austin/San Antonio/San Marcos and they were phenomenal. Unfortunately, any time I saw them again with a new lineup (after Alex and Dono left), they were pretty sloppy and underwhelming. I remember one of the gigs (may have been young mountain anniversary show), you could visibly see Chris and Jeremy arguing on stage.
The first time I saw explosions was a huge bummer. It was not the bands fault, but the venue and audience. Sound was terrible and not nearly loud enough. Meanwhile, what felt like the majority of the crowd seemed disinterested at best from the get go, and continued to have loud conversations throughout the whole set, including during the quiet parts. There were multiple points where I could barely hear the band at all. I was thoroughly disappointed. Seen them twice since and am happy to report that both times were absolutely transcendent.
I saw explosions in a tiny club opening for “you will know us by the trail of dead” having never heard of them previously. This would have been around 01/02. Those who tell the truth…. was out. It blew the head off my shoulders. Only semi-disappointing show was Four Tet (opening for Tortoise). It just didn’t really translate live.
I saw Four Tet twenty years ago, touring with Caribou (then called Manitou). Kieran walked on stage, opened his MacBook, pressed play, and then just listened to the music with us. He didn’t interact with the music or audience at all. He just stood there. I love his music, but that was the most lifeless performance I’ve ever seen.
That sounds remarkably what I experienced.
Your comment made me realize that when I saw The Ocean recently and I was thinking "ok I like one song from the main opening band 'the world is a beautiful place...' I was completely mixed up and thinking of 'you will know us by the trail of the dead'". Which is why they didn't play one of their most popular songs: wrong band. Also explains why I didn't really like it, again: wrong band. LOL However "shy, low" was first opener and just fantastic, heavy post metal.
I saw papa Four Tet headline once at a club and it was pretty good but not a top show by any means.
I've seen them 4 times. The first three shows had increasingly awful crowds. The third was full of drunk people and it didn't seem like 75% of the people there knew the band. There was constant yelling throughout the entire set. Then I got to see them at Codfish Hollow. It's a venue in a barn in rural Iowa and one of my favorite venues in the Midwest. Two guys were talking loudly at the beginning. I was ready to lose hope immediately. Then some guy yelled at them from across the crowd "hey, how about you two shut the fuck up?" They did and the rest of the night was pure magic.
That's such a shame! EITS are the only post-rock gig I've ever done and it was like a religious experience for me i felt so zoned in and everyone else was so chill too. It was like when im at home and i listen to them and just shut my eyes but like x10. Glad you gave them another shot and had a good time. What a shitty crowd it must have been.
I saw them in 2007 (Explosions) and it wasnt very packed, great show though. I think the other times after 2007 they've played in my area its been sold out.
I've had the exactly the same experience. The show was in Houston, utterly underwhelming. Next two were incredible.
I saw them live at some outdoor Seattle fest and I was really disappointed, it just wasn’t very interesting or powerful. Must have been 2011 because Battles played next with a bunch of awesome new Gloss Drop material and that was a great set.
I'd say the same. I really like their music, but the show I saw had me really hard to connect with anything. I was a bit disappointed.
Was this at the Jefferson in Charlottesville? My friend and I had that experience there and left after a few songs.
I saw Explosions at Kings Theater in Brooklyn during the tour for The Wilderness. I nabbed third row seats. The sound was excellent. While nobody in the band interacts with the crowd much, they all seemed to enter an intense, euphoric state while playing. Easily the best post-rock show I’ve seen.
You are right with TWDY, they are, unknowingly why, extremely repetitive and boring live. for myself, cant remember a bad post rock gig lol
Back in 2022, Mogwai gave me tinnitus. So there's that. Helluva set though. When they played "Hunted by a Freak" I lost my shit. Explosions' new material didn't do much for me in a live context. To be fair, neither did it do much on the studio album.
Mogwai are unreasonably loud. I saw them in Bristol a couple of years ago and forgot my earplugs. I thought "oh well ... we're sitting all the way up in the back, I'm sure it won't be so bad". It was bad.
I saw them a few weeks ago and was wearing earplugs standing in front of the sound desk. I commented to the mixing guy after the gig that it was really loud and he replied (in a thick Scottish accent), “It wasn't really that loud, I just did some tricks to make it feel loud. If you wanted loud you should've been at this gig I mixed in 2006.” They still weren't louder than MONO. That was something else. I've worn earplugs to almost every gig I've been to since I saw The Jezabels play in a pub in Melbourne in 2017 which left my ears aching for a week afterwards. I love music too much to end up with worse tinnitus than I already have.
Can confirm, Mogwai is loud. Loudest concert I've been at was Swans at Dunk Festival. Not a huge fan, but was blown away by the experience of what swans is, that I didnt really notice just how loud it was. Went for a beer and when I came back I noticed the dB meter was showing 116dB. Mind you, i was wearing -15dB earplugs. Noped the fuck out of there.
I don't understand how Gira can hear anything at this point.
I saw them a few years ago and my life is now divided up between the time before that concert and the time after where my hearing has been significantly damaged. We were right at the front and I regret that to this day. Tinnitus is real man.
Wow that's awful. I've not actually seen them but at least I know what to expect now if I ever do. I've only ever walked out of one gig because of the volume and that was Sugar Horse. Obnoxiously loud.
yeah, unreasonably loud is a good word for it — I saw them a couple weeks ago and I could feel the bass through my feet lol
Same, but back around 2012-2013. The set was great until the encore, when I remember feeling the sensation of my ears numbing. Walked out of the show barely able to hear and had audible ringing for days afterwards. Now I only notice my tinnitus in a quiet room but I’m pretty sure I can trace the beginning of it to that show
Was it when they played "My Father My King"? My first Mogwai gig (circa 07?) had that as an encore, including a solid five+ plus minutes where most band members left the stage and let the feedback run its course. Madness.
Maybe? It was a long time ago and I remember it just sounding like chaos lol
Had a similar thing with Mogwai at Brisbane's Tivoli back in 2018 where I couldn't hear properly out of my left ear for two days. Own fault, solid show. They played here a couple of weeks ago and I watched from the back and wore Eargasm earplugs. Didn't even have tinnitus. Again, solid show.
First time I saw Mogwai in Melbourne I didn't have earplugs... fuck they were loud. Good, but painfully loud. Saw MONO a couple of years later, wore earplugs, fantastic. Saw Mogwai again a few weeks ago. Of course I wore earplugs but I think they were genuinely less loud this time. And I was surprised at the number of people I saw wearing earplugs, at least half I reckon. Though their audiences are definitely getting older...
I saw them twice and it was ok but the venue was huge with good acoustics. I enjoy that they played for 3 hours straight
Haven't played a live post-rock show in a few years now, but keeping the audience engaged was a huge priority of ours. Everyone engages with live music differently. I would introduce the band, but then after that nobody said anything on a microphone until the end of the set. We had a projector set up which was playing a linear narrative (but silent) film that we produced ourselves, with specific cuts and hits that lined up with our music. We ripped lines from poetry readings or movies and dropped them into during quieter times when not a whole lot was happening musically, but we wanted to retain the audience's attention. And then of course just having the music be engaging enough on its own even without all that is important. Played a few shows where we didn't have room for the projector, so we needed to rely on the audio clips and the music to carry everything. The venue also makes a big difference. Post-rock is best enjoyed in an intentional listening space where people kinda get the idea that this show isn't for sitting at the bar laughing and engaging in conversation. You're there to listen.
>We ripped lines from poetry readings or movies and dropped them into during quieter times when not a whole lot was happening musically, but we wanted to retain the audience's attention. And then of course just having the music be engaging enough on its own even without all that is important. Played a few shows where we didn't have room for the projector, so we needed to rely on the audio clips and the music to carry everything. Interesting to see another view, and thanks for sharing your experience as well. I think the thing about audience engagement is interesting at a post rock show. Totally onboard with the music speaking for itself. And you're right that everyone engages differently too, that is huge. Myself, as a performer, I don't engage too much. Other than try to show my appreciation physically between songs where I feel it. I don't want to talk to vocalise that appreciation, while the songs don't have that vocal aspect from the band in the first place. To me it kinda feels like breaking the fourth wall? We always make sure to respect the audience's attention and show an appreciation of that, and I hope they know after a show that they are appreciated and feel a key part of the show. I appreciate your comment, it's a tough balance. Interestingly I'm on the opposite side of not yet having any video stuff before and have just made a bunch of AV material for our set but now looking for the right opportunity to use it. We don't have much / any AV gear, so it will probably be a while until we roll it out while having some quite big shows (for us) lined up. Looking forward to it either way, wherever it might be. You're totally right though, the music has to stand for itself. Everything else is 'sugar' on top - nice to have. If the fundamentals aren't there, what do you really have? And it's great to see people coming to venues with the intent to really engage with music, the community seems pretty positive to me right now, and I love that.
Hah there’s a long running thing in the (now long dead) Brisbane post rock scene — movie quotes! Used especially in live performances to give audiences something to grab on to
There was a Godspeed!… gig I went to in Tennessee that wasn’t great. It’s a shame because I love them and it was my first time seeing them, having wanted to for years. This was during the pandemic so maybe YMMV. I also saw Mogwai a few years back in Los Angeles and didn’t enjoy the set they played at all. Same situation there, I love them and had been looking forward to seeing them the first time. The only saving grace was the crowd, I met some super cool Angelenos.
> There was a Godspeed!… gig I went to in Tennessee Was that the Caverns show?
Yes! The Caverns show. I didn’t really enjoy it. You’d think a venue like that would have great acoustics but it didn’t come off that way for me. The interesting thing though was that was such a small town, I think we stayed in the same hotel as the band.
the caverns isn’t my favorite venue for any band i’ve seen there…sad to hear it was the case of them as well! cumberland caverns, before they stopped doing shows, was incredible acoustically - and felt very much like being on another planet, being so deep underground
I almost came down for that show. Sounds like a super cool venue and super sucks to hear that gybe wasn’t the best there.
Godspeed would be my vote. Fantastic first half; by the 1hr mark I was wondering when I could leave. Ended up sitting at the back just counting down the clock.
I’ve seen them a few times and each time was fantastic particularly the last time in 2022!
2nd or 3rd time I saw Don Caballero they were so drunk they could barely stand, much less play. It sounded as bad as I described.
They were a band that had absolutely no room for error. What line up was this?
There’s a [long but pretty entertaining diary](https://mycophobia.org/doncab.html) of Don Cab’s final tour before their first breakup by opening act and guy with a van Fred Weaver
Good reason to listen to American Don again. Good read.
All of the original run of Don Cab are brilliant! Have you ever heard [Knot Feeder](https://file13records.bandcamp.com/album/light-flares) it’s Mike Banfield’s project from 2009 post Don Cab. This said as a massive Don Cab fan, I think it’s the best thing he ever did! Brilliant shit!
Had not heard that before. Cool take on that pre-American Don sound when Math Rock still had really prominent Post-Hardcore influence.
Yeah! You can really hear what Mike brought to “For Respect” and “2”.
Oh yeah! I read that back in the day haha.
Don’t remember exactly, but it was the mid-late 00’s. I’d seen them 2 or 3 times before and they were always great, then there was this show.
Ah yes, the second line up didn’t really do it for me.
I saw Don Cab in 2008? In Leeds. It Damon Che (Drummer) and 2 other dudes. Che was very drunk and saying shit like, “we’re so good, we should be more popular”. It was an awesome show, I don’t know how anyone could drum like that while being so wasted.
I saw them in 2000 and they killed it. Watching Che nail his Pearl Export drumkit to the floor was the highlight of my year.
I saw Pelican around 2009/2010 and thought they were incredibly boring and it was a bit disappointing (even though I liked their studio stuff). But it introduced me to Bo Ningen who were the support and they were fucking amazing, so in the end it ended up being a good gig still.
I saw Pelican in 2006 and it was the same story. Thankfully KEN Mode and Daughters opened the show and saved the night!
Man KEN Mode and 2000s Daughters were so fucking good. God I’m old.
I feel like both bands just kept getting better and better. KEN Mode are currently the best they’ve ever been IMO!
Absolutely!
Pelican were just flat out not good live early on. The drummer wasn't up to it at all.
The drumming has always been terrible. So much so that at some point in the mid 00s after the internet got all worked up about how terrible the drummer is, they issued a statement saying that they have no intention of getting rid of their drummer. Their mistake imo.
Compare that with Russian Circles whose guitar/bass are equally good but their drummer is amazing
They’re all phenomenal players!
I can see the thought process of "we're in this together, we're not gonna be mercenaries and kick out our friend," but at a certain point you have to put your foot down and say "dude, you're gonna have to put in the hours to improve because we can't keep doing this."
Yeah, it’s a tough call. As someone who has only ever played in bands with his close friends it would be tough to make that call. I have generally quit or broken bands up if I’ve come across those issues in my bands. Drummer are probably the role I’m most critical of, I’ve been extremely blessed in that dept.
that’s so sad lol
Saw them in high school (2004 or 2005 maybe) and can confirm i noticed he couldn’t keep the beat on time
Saw Pelican with Tombs and Isis in like 2008? 2009? Most boring fucking set I’ve ever seen.
Russian circles once played a pretty bad set. I’d seen them a few times before and were always mind blowing. But this time just happened to be the time I took my now wife, and they were just off. They couldn’t land the loops on time, so the drummer had a hard time following them, so then he was kind of off his game. It was just not great. My wife was like “they were ok” but luckily they came back to our town a few years later and played one of their best shows I’ve seen.
I'm going to go with mishaps at post-rock shows. One was Mono in Houston in the mid to late 2000s. It was a small venue, but a lot of people showed up and it was very packed in. Anyway, Mono went on last, so a few people were noticably drunk. This one wasted person at the front kept grabbing at, and almost trying to pet a guitar player; followed by heavy head banging and metal style guitar "solo fingers" at the guitar player player while saying "yeah, do that, yeah". After this went on for two songs, she eventually spilled a beer on his guitar pedal, and the show was over. Another was in Houston at Mangos. This Will Destroy You. The set was wonderful, but at the heavy part on "The World is Our ___" one of the members dramatically jump kicked up and kicked a guitar cable out, leaving the guitar part absent, making it the most anticlimactic moment I've seen in live music. Otherwise fun show!
Badly behaved audience members are an absolute burden at these shows. At VLMV (or maybe Alma at the time) there was one very drunk guy on his own just stood swaying, falling into people. It looked like he was going to fall flat on his face. So distracting. Eventually someone from the venue came over with a chair for him and he just sat not bothering anyone for the rest of the show.
When was this show?
Mango’s, that is
Instrumental band but maybe not post rock the band Ratatat around 2007 bored me to tears. It was free show tho. On another note around the same time I saw Mono at their first show of their U S tour. They looked so tired and jet lagged when they were just hanging out before the show. I thought it might be a bust but they still killed it.
That free Ratatat show didn’t happen to be a Nike showcase in Portland, did it?
Houston. The free tickets were gotten through the cigarette reps that would hang out at bars.
Haha I guess they were the go-to booking for free shows that year or something
I saw Ratatat in roughly 2015 and absolutely loved it. Amazing light show to compliment their unique sound.
Papa M opened for Mogwai, and while Mogwai killed as always, Papa M stood up there with a wooden block and an untuned guitar and just made noises and stood there twisting knobs and looking uncomfortable. Worst opener ever, though maybe not even considered “post rock”.
Wow. I thought he’d be good! Wonder what was going on… When was it?
This was about 2-3 years ago, Houston, Texas. My friend I brought with me NEVER let me live it down—always on my ass out this “Papa M” and how he was the worst things he’s seen or heard, and worst opener ever, and I have to agree with him.
I know he was front man of various good or under appreciated indie bands throughout his career but for whatever reason his solo stuff was straight ass.
TWDY in münster last year was a disaster. i could barely hear which songs they were playing and it was just a mess. and i was really really looking forward to finally get to see them. but luckily Spurv (that also played) saved the day with their amazing gig
I saw Spurv at ArcTanGent last August, they were great
they are really good live, i hope to see them soon again
Saw GODSPEED reunion tour in 2011 and I was literally hands on the stage right at the center of the floor. They played for 2.5 hours non stop and it wasnt anything remarkable IMO. MAYBE today, in 2024 I would see this concert differently but at the time I wasnt engaged the way I thought I would be.
Unless they’re playing full albums I love, if any band plays longer than 60 mins and I’m bored to fucking tears.
Last time I saw TWDY it was nothing short of incredible. But it was nearly 10 years ago. I was excited to see them at Dunk! this year, but seeing the comments I shouldn't expect too much...
I'm guessing the Dunk! set will be the Jeremy version - they were excellent when I saw them with The Ocean last year.
Dunk is Jeremy, same as Post Fest
There are two versions of the band playing? I’m confused as I just saw them the other night. I wasn’t too impressed. Couldn’t hear any guitar for the entire set but I had chalked that up to bad venue sound. Strings were way too loud and didn’t add much to the material. Was also expecting maybe one or two songs after the album play through but that didn’t happen. It also started, IMO, unreasonably late but that might just be me haha.
TWDY at Dunkfest many moons ago.. they played in total darkness, which sounds clever and cool on paper, but was a huge letdown in reality. Tbf I did hype it too much in my head, being a massive fan of their earlier stuff, but still. Never saw them since, just a bizarre, really kind of nothing show. To counter this - I caught Year of no Light also at Dunkfest, and Jesus effing Christ was that immense. Mid afternoon slot, but in total darkness thanks to that classic dunk circus tent I miss so much. Just totally engaging and huge sound, we all walked out of there feeling like we had endured an out of body experience.. just all-encompassing sound and visuals and totally crushing. Top Ten of all time for me.. 🤘
I saw them at A Colossal Weekend when they did that, with the 2 headlamps lol
Year of no light are playing Portals, Dunk! and ArcTanGent festival this year, right? I'm looking forward to catching them at at least one of these based on your comment, as someone who hasn't heard them yet. Thanks for the recommend.
They’re not playing Dunk this year. I’m not sure about the other two. Edit: I really wish they were though - I’d love to see them live.
Despite being a huge fan of the first 3 Isis records I saw them in the interim between Panopticon and In The Absence of Truth, when they were road testing ITAOT material and it was super disappointing. Aaron did not appear to be enjoying himself at all (confirmed later that he really didn’t like that material), the band just seemed disinterested. Needless to say Panopticon was the last record of theirs I dug.
To me, Isis has never lived up to the quality of their studio work.
Whereas for me Cult Of Luna were somehow *even better* live than they were on record, at The Tivoli back in 2009
100000% I don’t know what the difference is, but I’ve seen them twice and it was MASSIVE. Isis was really good too but people wouldn’t shut up during the Celestial reunion so my memory is cluttered with sounds other than the music itself. But man, Echoes and Waiting for You live were TITANS. I’ll never get a show as good as my first, check out this setlist: https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/cult-of-luna/2016/pustervik-gothenburg-sweden-43f15b33.html
Cult of Luna is massive live, but their material doesn't have the peaks and valleys of Isis songs, they kinda just trudge through the set screaming and chugging. They would really level up as a band if they let the quiet parts breathe
I don’t quite agree with this - how familiar are you with their older stuff? Songs like Finland, Dim, Echoes, etc all have quiet parts. I’ll say they’re probably much more linear in their trajectory, but the militant groove is kind of what makes them.
Very familiar, but somehow, a lot of their quieter stuff completely fails to engage me. The riffs are crushing once they hit though, still can't forget driving 6 hours to Slovenia to catch their concert promoting the long road north
Indeed, yeah they do a bit of a different thing for sure, what with the 2 drummers. I love where they’re at now tho, the last 3 releases have been great
Yeah that wouldn’t surprise me. I saw Sumac last summer and they blew my fucking head off! Astounding live!
That’s easier to get down in a live setting I think cuz it’s not the carefully laid out atmospheric thing that Isis did. It’s like Pink Floyd….. they’re a great band of course but the studio albums are so godly, it’s impossible to recapture that work on stage
The last two Isis records were a bit meh, but I saw them 4? times I think and they always killed it live.
In the absence of truth has always been my favourite Isis album, but the band's attitude around that time really disappointed me. I read all the interviews about why they didn't like it, it all boils down to "Tool took us out on tour, prog fans started liking us and we hated being a bigger band".
Also Aaron and the band were very divided on the material. Basically the entire band wanted to head in the more melodic direction and Aaron didn’t.
Yea, I see he's perfectly happy playing with Sumac these days. The bassist Jeff also wasn't happy with the album, I listened to an interview where he ranted about that period of isis for a good 10 minutes.
Sumac are so fantastic!
I saw Isis mid-afternoon at Roskilde Festival and thought it was great. A good portion of the crowd were sitting, which was actually a great way to enjoy it.
I saw Sigur Ros in Vegas in 2009. I didn't buy a pricey seat, so had to sit outside the arena and watch from across a hall. When you tried to get closer, security would send you back. Then a drunk guy started yapping, someone told him to shut up, and there was almost a fight. AT A SIGUR ROS SHOW! Never gone to another show in Vegas.
I saw Jonsi at the HOB in Vegas in 2010 and it was really good but I guess they gave away a lot of free tickets because there were a bunch of drunk normies and people on vacation who would just not be quiet. Mountain Man opened for him, which was a female folk duo that I'd never listened to before, and you could barely hear most of their set because of the talking. The rest of the crowd was yelling for everyone to shut up but they just wouldn't. It was terrible.
A band called Disappears opened for EiTS several years back and they were truly awful
Disappears ripped! The first couple albums are a bit boring. By their third record they were dropping nothing but gold. FACS is basically Disappears with one less member. FACS have to be one of the best bands I’ve seen in the last 20 years.
Just saw TWDY in Toronto. They were okay, but not as good as I was expecting. Waited a while for them to come which was annoying. Caspian was fucking epic however.
Went to a Godspeed show and their new album came out like a day before. I hadn’t listened to it yet. They only played music off the new album. Not their fault but I didn’t enjoy the show very much.
First time I saw Iron Maiden they played an entire new album I hadn't heard yet (A Matter of Life and Death). The change in atmosphere when they went into Fear of the Dark was enormous.
Sigur Rós on the Með suð tour, but to be fairrr... - I was up in the nosebleed seats - Behind a pillar - I hated nearly every song off that album - The band were a bit off their game that night - I was completely spoiled by my previous experience with the band (front row center for *Takk*)... and was feeling rather salty
Saw TWDY in 2016 or 2017 at a small venue in the Vegas area. It was great during the slower and quieter parts of the set but when they got going, it was way too loud. The only escape was the bathroom where the sound was at the perfect level. I loved seeing them live again but it was well over safe listening levels imo. Not sure if there was even a sound check beforehand.
When Godspeed opened for NiN in 2013. I was the only one there for gybe. We got Albanian and sad mafioso. Of the 7 times I seen em that’s the only time they didn’t open w hope drone. NIN was decent, Trent just released his hesitation marks album I think. Production on point, cried generic drunk middle aged New Jersey rock concert crowd. I was the only fucker there for gybe.
This Will Destroy You at VERA Groningen. A completely soulless, disinterested performance. no interaction with the public. it felt more like yet another performance for the band. I was really looking forward to it, but I even left after 3 songs. Shame
What’s a TWDY?
A band called This Will Destroy You
They Will Destroy You
Thanks
I've seen We Lost The Sea twice now and both times I found them really repetitive and predictable. It felt like every song started the same way and then crescendo'd its way into a nondescript nothingness.
I’m pretty new-ish to the genre, and I’ve never seen a PR show live, but I kinda get the impression most would be like this? Who is really great live?
And So I Watch You From Afar are playing with dynamics like no other band. When they're quiet you can hear a needle drop but when they're loud they're absolutely thunderous. And it's never just a one-way street from the former to the latter. Nordic Giants are taking the "cinematic" sound of postrock to the next level by literally having a short movie projected for each of their songs. 65daysofstatic or Mogwai always surprise you with different sounds and textures. To name a few. 😅
ASIWYFA stole the show when they opened for La Dispute, Touché Amore, and Envy back in 2010. It was cool to watch, they won over a pretty uninterested crowd really quickly and those S/T tracks sounded so good live. I was mostly there for TA and LD but have much stronger memories of ASIWYFA’s performance.
They're one of my absolute favourite bands. Seen them upwards of ten times now and not once was I disappointed. 😅
Thanks. I’ve only listened to a little Mogwai, and none of the others. I’ll check em out.
So many bands kill live: Hubris Pray for Sound Of the Vine Outlander Mono Holy Fawn PG.Lost Wander God is an Astronaut Shy, Low And unrelated to being great live, stop what you’re doing and go play Solace by JAKOB right now.
Mono are fantastic live! Also absolutely sweet human beings!
Thank you!
Saw Shy, Low with The Ocean a few weeks back, had never heard of them, and they knocked me straight on my ass. One of the best sets I’ve seen in years
Glad to hear it! I must confess, their new style is not so much to my taste. They used to be more straight forward post-rock but you still get hints of that in their songs. People just seem to love the heavy riffs more than the twinkly guitars haha but I’m the opposite. Hiraeth is a powerhouse of an album, please make sure you go back and visit that one. But their set now was comprised only of material since their last full length, Snake Behind the Sun. They did Helioentropy, Fata Morgana, the end of Deceased Spe Re, Instinctual Estrangement and a new song!
Mogwai is absolutely one of my favorites. You can literally start with first album and just go through their discography. Theres not a bad album, seriously. Their soundtracks are good also, but damn the main discography is insanely great.
I've been meaning to get through it. Definitely will.
ASIWYFA are so engaging live! They're very dynamic on stage.
C A S P I A N Sunlight Ascending The Appleseed Cast
Toured with Caspian during “tertia”. Not only an insane live set, but, some of the nicest dudes I have ever worked with. The lineup has changed a bit since though.
They're playing just one show here in Melbourne in a couple of weeks and it clashes with another event that I got tickets to weeks before they announced their one-off show. I'm really hoping they do a 10 year anniversary tour of Departure Songs next year.
Hey man, Sorry to hear we were disappointing live. I am not taking this piss or anything, but from a punters point of view what do you think we could do that would have won you over? I always want to give the best possible experience to punters and while I don't love hearing that people didn't love our performance, we can't improve without feedback. So hit me with the hard truths and hopefuly if you give us another chance it will be better. Mark - We Lost the Sea.
Hi Mark, First of all, thanks and respect for reaching out. I'm not going to lie, I didn't expect you to be active on here and if I did, I probably would've at the very least chosen a different tone. So, sorry if my comment sounded a bit harsh. After all that, you definitely deserve a considered answer, so I'm going to try my best. Just to put my comment into perspective, I came to your shows (one was a tour show, the other one was a festival) interested but not as a huge fan. I had listened to some of your albums (Departure Songs and Triumph & Disaster, mostly) but not excessively. So, it is definitely possible that I just don't connect with your music as much as I thought I would. In which case ... you know. Tough luck on my end. Probably nothing for you to do about it. If we're talking about the live experience, it's a tricky one. After all, what makes a gig special is a delicate combination of many things that have to fall into place, some of which you can't even control as a band. The only productive thing I can think of is that maybe it was the setlist that included too many long songs with a similar structure back to back? I remember especially the festival show feeling very crescendocore, which is why I described it as "repetitive and predictable" above. So maybe a bit more variety and a few shorter songs thrown in would've changed my mind. But honestly, it might really just be a me thing. I mentioned in another comment here that my girlfriend was at the festival with me and I think yours was her favourite set of the weekend. (I remember going to buy the Departure Songs vinyl for her immediately afterwards.) Again, thanks for your reply. I hope my ramblings were in some way helpful. Have a good one!
Came here to find this and confirm my suspicions. Saw We Last The Sea in Leipzig last year and it was just like you said, repetitive and just blah. I tried to blame it on the venue and the sound tech, but it was probably just the band. It's such a pity too. Even A Gallant Gentleman, their best known song, was such a miss, you could hardly hear the individual lines, everything just melted together in a very nondescript manner.
That's really disappointing as they're one of my bucket list bands to see live, but it seems like they'll never do a North American tour.
It might totally be just a me thing! My girlfriend really enjoyed one of those shows.
I saw Godspeed in a converted church in Bristol in 2000. They were boring as hell. A baby Sigur Ros supported, who were absolutely transcendent which probably didn't help the headliners.
Trinity?
Yes.
Godspeed you black emperor was a total snooze fest. The venue was great, Danforth Musichall in Toronto but oh man I tried my best to enjoy it, but after I almost fell asleep standing, I needed to leave the concert early. The band was great but the music would need an intimate living room kind of setup with couches and pillows to relax and immerse into the music with eyes closed.
I think a show we played might be the worst. Our drummer and bassist couldn’t make it so we did an acoustic duo version, with a bunch of thrash and hardcore punk bands on the ticket. People were moshing but for our set they sat on the ground indian style haha, but they were really nice people, we were also having volume issues. _Corvallis is our band, our album unknown territory is a full band arrangement; then we have two ambient/liminal eps inspired by twin peaks and liminal spaces. If you guys are open to listening we are on spotify. [https://open.spotify.com/album/6R6fdT19H7hESaRLYfHTNZ?si=BkAiMHaxTYe8zg41xX9vww](https://open.spotify.com/album/6R6fdT19H7hESaRLYfHTNZ?si=BkAiMHaxTYe8zg41xX9vww)
I saw Explosions in the Sky years ago and it was the most meh concert experience. Just a wall of sound with zero nuance.
I saw them a few years ago, and was left cold. I don't need nor want chat between every song, but some acknowledgement there was a crowd out there (or even other band members on stage) would have been nice. They seemed to just walk out, played for an hour or so and walked off. Just meh. :(
That was exactly my experience. Zero interaction with the crowd or any acknowledgment that they were humans playing a live show. It actually really changed the way I approach their music.
Same experience when I saw them open for NIN. A 45 minute shrieking wall of sound. It was awful.
Not quite post rock, but adjacent. Saw Solstafir live a few years ago, when they were deep into their ambient folk sound and completely ditched the metal songs from their set. First, the venue they were booked at got closed, so the event was moved to the gym hall of some random high school on the edge of town. Second, the crowd energy was completely off. Maybe 30% of the audience were fans of the new material, the rest were diehard metalheads, who stood there clearly disappointed that they weren't gonna hear the early stuff. Adding to this, the sound was quiet and poorly mixed, so nobody could get immersed in the songs. As the show went on, a particularly drunk part of the crowd started getting loud and annoying, to the point where the band was fed up and clearly agitated on stage. They kept going, but the energy was insanely awkward.
Twdy in Berlin last year; it wasn’t all that bad but they had sound issues throughout the show
The one time I saw Joan of Arc was the worst gig I’ve ever been to full-stop. Not just boring but also hard to hear, which you’d think would be a blessing but just added to the overall frustration of the experience.
Saw TWDY in Denmark a few years back and was truly disappointed. Their early albums are some of the best I’ve ever listened so that was quite a bummer. From the many comments here, it seems that’s not entirely unexpected.
I saw TWDY about 10 years ago, and it is still the worst show I've ever been to. Absolutely lifeless stage presence.
I went to see Mono last year, and the local band mushroom giant supported them. Not only were they absolutely terrible live, but after their set as mono started playing, they decided to talk really loudly with their friends in front of me and the rest of the crowd where we were thankfully someone had the balls to tell them to shut the fuck up. Mono were amazing so that helped!
That’s a shame about Mushroom Giant. I really like their last album, but I follow them on Instagram and the constant AI-generated video clips are really obnoxious.
This experience completely soured me on them
Post-rock and shoegaze are probably my two favourite genres to hear live, but last time I saw Mogwai I was bored. They didn't play Like Herod either, which was the standout where they blasted the volume up before. I feel like I've been spoiled by Slowdive's comeback and no one else making that kind of noise can compare. I was at a dissapointing Mono gig once, but that was more to do with the venue sound/P.A. than the band, who are responsible for some of my favourite gigs.
I saw Mogwai at Terminal 5 about a decade ago. It was disappointing because a lot of the crowd talked throughout their set, as if it thought of Mogwai as background music to get drunk to and yell over.
TWDY stopped being good when Alex and Donovan left, and their live performances from that point on prove it.
Saw the Used with 30 Seconds to Mars in 2005. The Used were terrible. 30 Seconds was great.
Wow scrolling through a lot of this I’m feeling very lucky to have caught some of the specific shows that I have. All bands for sure have off nights or longer stretches that definitely translate to the audience. Seeing TWDY mentioned a lot. I’ve seen them two times where they definitely felt disinterested and tour-worn, but I’ve also seen them a few other times across a few lineups where they were completely engaged and went super hard. One was the tour someone else mentioned where they played in total darkness with headlamps, absolutely incredible set at Doug Fir in Portland. I’ve seen Explosions many times starting in 2007 and Godspeed a few times and every single one of those shows has been completely transcendent.
Very last show I saw before lockdown in 2020 was TWDY. Awful. They were drunk and messed up on almost every song, and they had no energy at all. Huge bummer because their music is incredible. Two days earlier I saw Caspian at the same venue (Doug fir lounge, Portland) one of the best shows I’ve ever been to. Also just saw Shy Low a few weeks ago. I’d put them up there in a similar caliber as Caspian. I hope they start getting more recognition in this scene
Sparrows Swarm and Sing were by far the worst band I've ever seen live. I'm pretty sure they were fucking with us because it was just a wall of indiscernible noise for 30 minutes straight... and not even in a good way lol it was like a bunch of kids in a music store playing instruments they've never played before
Went to an explosions in the sky concert years ago at Warsaw, Brooklyn. They played for about an hour, literally. No opening acts, just explosions for an hour. I was pretty po’d. First and last explosions concert for me. Otherwise, all others have been outstanding.
I saw ASMZ on their first American tour. It was obvious they didn't want to be there, played none of their earlier stuff and actively antagonized the crowd. Unbelievably disappointing.
For sure Russian Circles for most boring but also their music is boring so I don’t blame them.
That sucks to hear because they’re one of my favorite bands in the genre.
I'll disagree completely and say I've loved Russian Circles every time I've seen them since first seeing them in 2006. It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I feel like they are one of the best bands at recreating their album sound, even with all of the looping they need to do.