HEALTH

One of the most awkward performances I've ever seen. Songs were performed with an intense disconnection, distorted guitars set against featherlight vocals that were hard to make out, with an absence of nearly any crowd interaction.

It didn't help that the singer insisted on standing in place almost the entire time while making weird hand movements, giving the energy a strange rigidity even at the most frenetic of moments. The manifestation had something of a pompous air to it, with the vacuousness of Health's lyrics folding under the weight of a dry and ultra-serious performance. The audience didn't know whether to move to the music, or take in what was being presented in front of them.

The lighting was AWFUL, with several very powerful lights being shone directly into the audience's eyes. And it was just as energetic and frantic as the music itself, making it great for videos, but terrible to look at for an extended period, much less the hour they performed for. I had eyestrain the next day, and I saw others squinting, their eyes bright as day from the lights.

The overall vibe was weird, with the aformentioned set being preceded by...the NGE theme? Merchandise offered included dark artistic designs in line with their covers, alongside their their "SAD MUSIC FOR HORNY PEOPLE" shirt next to another article advertising their "2022 Radhan Festival" (a fake set they "performed" in Elden Ring). Their instagram page, which pairs Sonic the Hedgehog memes with promo for their dark nihilistic music and merch. It wasn't cognitive dissonance so much as it was cognitive resonance at a multitude of perplexing, disconnected frequencies, much like the noisey nature of the music itself. Nailed it, I guess?

I came away confused. The music was fine, but the whole time I kept wondering if the live aspect added to the music, but I keep coming to a net negative. Oh well. Perturbator was good and I saw Black Dresses there.

Los Angeles noise rock band Health have kept experimentation at the very heart of everything they have ever worked on since the formation in 2005. It may not have always paid off but it has always remained interesting and has drawn the curious and chaotic in from miles around to view the spectacle in a live environment. With a barrage of sound, complex lyrical structure and refreshing narrative structures it is fair to say that a Health show does not follow the standard conventions of other gigs. Some tracks have been developed to feed into one and other so it can be over ten minutes before the audience find a space to applaud. Even then the musicians onstage seem pretty transfixed in their zones to notice the rapturous response.

The instruments kicks in once again and cut through the air as the guitar crunch and the bass notes wobble along. The eerie coloured light illuminates the quartet from behind making the whole show feel even more hectic and extreme. You can feel some sense of resolve for a finale of 'USA Boys' as all the musicians come together to really thrash out one final instrumental exhibition and the crowd repays the huge effort.

It was a good show! I'm not sure if they come through quite as good live as they do on recordings but I really enjoyed myself and enjoyed seeing them on stage.

My one complaint/warning is that (at least on their early 2024 tour) the light are way too bright. One of the components is this stage-wide LED floodlight array. When it flashes white it hurts, almost every time it came on I would look away and see plenty of others doing the same or closing their eyes. My eyes hurt a little the rest of the night. The rest of the time it was fine, just when it flashed white for a few songs.

I actually came to see “Youth Code”, strongly recommended by a good friend, but “HEALTH” blew me away! Such a good songs structure (clean and almost feminine vocals with industrial sound and occasionally almost like early Swans or Godflesh(!?)), and most important: live sound was amazing! Compliments to audio crew at Toronto’s “Velvet Underground” club. I also got to chat with John from the band - he seems like a super nice guy!

The San Francisco show was well produced and sounded great! An interesting amalgamation of electronic and noise core. I would recommend checking out this show if want to catch a glimpse of the potential future of an interesting genre.

I wasn't expecting the performance that i got. This was the best concert I have been to. The lights, the fog machine, and the way they used sounds to make you feel a whole different experience.