Swans

If I'm honest I went to this gig a little afraid of how brutal it might be. I'd heard stories of people passing out or vomiting due to the volume & intensity of Swans live. It certainly was VERY loud but the ear plugs I'd bought specially for the occasion were worth the money, allowing me to enjoy the show without fear of permanently losing my hearing. I'd not explored the Swans' catalogue until fairly recently. When My Father Will Guide Me up a Rope to the Sky came out in 2010 (their first studio recording for 14 years) it got great reviews and I gave it a couple of listens through Spotify. I found it a bit dense and difficult and didn't persevere, something I've subsequently rectified - turns out its bloody ace! Then I read a live review of Swans which basically suggested Swans were the best live band in the world and my interest was piqued. With a number of tour dates announced (including the Concorde 2, which is one of my favourite venues) I downloaded new album The Seer to have another go at getting to grips with the Swans sound. It took me a while (The Seer is almost 2 hours of music) but after several weeks heavy listening it finally clicked into place. I can't recommend The Seer highly enough, it's a legitimate masterpiece. I found myself a spot not too near the front but close enough. Somewhere that gave me a good view but allowed me an escape route should the volume reach the mythical vomit inducing levels. I've never worn ear plugs at a gig before and felt a little self conscious putting them in but have reached an age where I've started to fret a little about damaging my hearing and just about everyone I'd spoken to who'd seen Swans before had recommended wearing them. After a brief technical pause Swans kicked off with To Be Kind a fairly mild start but a chance to ensure that I was hearing nice and clearly. Around three minutes in Michael Gira's vocal power did something incredible. An immense deep throbbing noise that made me wonder if the ear plugs were cutting anything out at all. I could see the bloke in front tentatively rubbing his ears. Crikey, if this is what he can do with his voice, what's it gonna be like when they really get going? Then the band did up the volume and, whilst it was loud, everything seemed to settle down. Gira prowled the stage, at times like some prehistoric predator, stomping about and cranking out guitar chords like whip cracks of sound. In the instrumental sections he'd use his hands like a conductor, urging the band on to greater exertions, often focusing on drummer Phil Puleo and pushing him to drive the beat on. Drums and percussion are an integral part of the Swans sound and I was excited to see they had two sticks-men. The wonderfully named Thor Harris was tucked in a corner but seemed quite a character with his flowing locks and collection of things to hit that included tubular bells and a medium sized gong as well as a brief parp on a trombone. The rest of the band were smartly dressed and well drilled. Long serving guitar slicer Norman Westerberg looked imperious throughout and alongside bass player Christopher Pravdica formed the basis of a wall of sound that underpinned most of the show. Christoph Hahn added interesting guitar noise over the top using his double lap set up which included some funky tremolo device for when he needed to hit the really high frequencies. Gira was the star throughout though. He seemed unexpectedly affable, keen for us to stay afterwards so he could "say hello and sign a few things" and at one point asking for the blue light set to be dimmed as they were shining into the eyes of a lady down the front. The set included a large proportion of unrecorded songs. I like the idea of touring new music before recording it, I think it gives a band the chance to really explore a tune and get it perfected before committing it to acetate (or whatever the hep cats are using these days). That said, the epic half hour version of The Seer was the undoubted highlight of the show for me. That merged into Toussaint Louverture taking the final track of the night to close on an hour of uninterrupted music. They played for 2½ hours but it never lagged and come the end I was half hoping for an unlikely encore. A simply stunning show from start to finish and one that will live long in my memory.

Michael Gira and the rest of Swans really put on a fantastic show. The venue was a club called Estragon in Bologna. I was the only non-Italian that I met there, but that didn't hinder my enjoyment of the show in any way.
The show began with an opening performance by Pharamakon, someone whose music I was familiar with, but hadn't spent much time listening to. I enjoyed her noisy, abrasive set, but it may have been lost on some of the other folks in the audience. I don't envy her job, as it seems to consist of screaming harsh, emotive lyrics at very bovine crowds.
Swans came on next, and they completely transformed the atmosphere of the room. Their perfectly honed instrumentation filled the room and completely captivated the audience. They played 6 songs, each was 10-25 minutes long. There was one song from The Seer and three from To Be Kind, and two new ones. It was incredibly satisfying to see the sounds of some of my favorite songs (the Apostate, Just a Little Boy) created right in front of my eyes. It was also exciting to hear new work that I hadn't heard before.
After the show, they had some merch for sale, and Michael was nice enough to stay behind to sign records and take pictures with fans. I had the chance to get a picture with him and we even exchanged a few words. He is a very humble individual but definitely goes out of his way to reciprocate appreciation for his fans who paid to go to his show. If you look up Swans' '14 European tour you will see how many consecutive shows they have lined up with few breaks in between. Considering this, I cannot believe how great of a show they put on. If you're a Swans fan and have the chance to go see them live, I would not miss the opportunity!

I went to see The Swans at Berghain Panorama bar on my own as I was in Berlin on my own after Brexiting myself from the UK perhaps a little early with a few negative issues in tow. I found myself completely transfixed from the very start and for the entire duration of the two hour set as I was submerged under a collapsing wall of sound that the band relentlessly grinded out and pushed forward over the audience. The experience fell over you like it was scraping something from you, something you didn’t need. I felt shaken loose by it all and things sort of just fell away. It was so strong that I’m guessing this was the intention and that a lot of the audience were experiencing the same thing, and yet for all the sonic rubble that catapulted outward from each speaker that had an inverted microphone dangling in front of it like a black tulip on a long limp stem, Gira at the same time managed to build everything up. It all had a flow and function to it. Near the end his arms stretched outwards and shook like a shaman accessing some natural power while his hands fluttered behind him like he was conducting the very molecules in the air. It was an outstanding and remarkably stunning performance from all the band members. I just thought ‘thank you’ when I was on my way out.

Loved it and hated it at the same time. Girl I went with left halfway through, she couldn't bear the volume. Screen Shot was incredible, and I really enjoyed bits of the Knot and The Glowing Man, but for large portions of the concert they were playing songs I just couldn't really get in to. In particular the two 'Cloud' songs just didn't really do much for me. I wish they'd played a bit more stuff from To Be Kind. I would have loved to hear stuff like A Little God In My Hands, Just A Little Boy or Oxygen (and also Lunacy obviously). Many of the songs I like from their other albums (including The Glowing Man) have female vocals so naturally they couldn't have played those, but yeah, frustrating, lots of potential, but a poor set selection, reminded me of when I saw Animal Collective on the Painting With tour. Nevertheless Michael Gira's stage presence alone made it worthwhile.

Six songs and two and a half hours of earsplitting, brooding, maniacal, occasionally scintillating, usually meandering noise. There was no dimension. No lows. Only two discernable songs. The other four appeared to be pre-outlined jam sessions. The Swans creative work is as compelling as anything over the past thirty years, but people were walking out an hour before the end.

The drummer, the percussionist and the bassist were all exceptional and engaging, but that was not worth the drive from Augusta to Atlanta. I appreciate the severity behind the idea of such a performance, it could have been symphonic, but I cannot comprehend how such talented men could find these performances artistically fulfilling.

Watching Michael Gira conduct is something alone. The concert at Parish was great. Michael is known for telling venues to shut off the air conditioner and to do that in Texas is like asking to enter an oven. Swans was my show to watch this year. The sound was so intense majority of people had ear plugs. Watching swans is must, it's completely different from hearing their albums, which are awesome but if you really wanna hear the sounds and noise amplified it's a must to watch Swans. For me it's enjoyable to see the band improvise is like watching an artist paint a masterpiece before your very eyes.

It was my first experience of the famous SWANS act, so I was really anxious to see them. Despite a major delay for an hour and a half, the band did their best to please the audience and get than unique Michael Gira sound. Standing in the front row it was incredibly noisy, but that was worth. It seems like magic while you are watching the band playing. If you are not a big Swans fan, I still recommend to visit at least one concert. Michael Gira guides his fellow musicians through epileptic gestures and that looks so cool. That was a great concert!

This was one of the loudest concerts I have ever attended. (The record remains 07/19/1988, Soundgarden @ CBGB NYC, followed a closed second by 06/04/1993, Flaming Lips @ Raji's Los Angeles, BOTH bands having brought stadium sound equipment into each tiny club). But it was a stunning accomplishment. Nothing like them elsewhere on the planet. Cathartic chaotic beautiful noise. I've seen every tour, except the previous tour, since 1985. If you must see only a few bands in your entire lifetime, SWANS is one of those bands.

By far the loudest concert I've been to. My ears were ringing afterwards. It was physically painful to an extent -
you actually felt the sound hit you. There was an element of masochism to it: 'Yes, hurt me with the sound; I don't care.'

Gira was conducting some mass ritual. He was like a conductor on stage waving his arms about to the other band members, wielding the sound like a weapon. Really quite hypnotic too. It was masterful how they manipulated tension, repetition and catharsis.

One third to the concert I was on the brink of an anxiety attack. Half way through, I had to leave prematurely. Too much bad ambient&drone long streched sequences, not enough hypnoticism to get into it, but also lack of inventive disparateness of music ala Captain Beefheart to enjoy it. The result: post traumatic stress, had to drink two beers to calm myself down. I should have gone shitfaced like the last year, when I really had a blast.