Boris/Damon & Naomi @ Empty Bottle (Wire AIMM Fest)
I unfortunately missed the first few nights of this festival, there was just to much good music going on in Chicago. So while Gruff trumped Hair Police and the Lucksmiths won out over Pere Ubu nothing was going to keep me from missing this final night of the Wire Adventures in Modern Music (AIMM) festival. The line up was interesting, as is the magazine’s prerogative, with heavy Japanese rock trio Boris and soft and spacey Galaxie 500 spin off Damon & Naomi on the same bill. Besides being on tour together (the fest was the first date) the guitarist of “Ghost”:, Michio Kurihara, whom both bands have made records with, joined each set.
Damon & Naomi rounded out the line up with Helena Espvall (of Espers) on cello and Bhob Rainey on sax. For those keeping score at home, notice the lack of a drummer. This was really quiet but not at all loose. Damon’s strummed acoustic guitar and Naomi’s keyboard or bass parts created a solid foundation to which each of the other musicians added the most beautiful parts. The set pulled heavily from D & N newest release “Within These Walls” which is a sad and wonderfully lush record. I lost myself in the sound many times through the set, everything coming together just so. Kurihara’s very electric guitar meshed well with Helena’s cello, the two of them seamlessly bouncing sounds around the stage. Damon said at one point during the set that they promised Boris they would play as quiet as possible, luckily they were atleast loud enough to be heard over the usual empty bottle chatter.
I was in absolute suspense as D&N stuff cleared the stage and the little red/orange lights of the Boris’s 4 full guitar cabinets turned on. There was a full Marshall stack and a bass rig on each side of the drum kit, which included a huge gong. Each moment as early Pink Floyd drifted through the PA I dreamt about what was in store. I am such a bad judge of crowds, would Boris fans be moshers or not. It was super crowded and getting a bit warm but finally Boris took the stage and started with a slow droney track, the first track from the album Rainbow which they did with Kurihara. Most of the set pulled from this record with a few tracks off of last years heavy metal album Pink . You could tell the crowd really wanted more Pink tracks but were equally satiated with the variety. Surprisingly, they weren’t as loud as I feared, the big amps on stage really just making the PA mostly for vocals. This actually sounded really good, the guitars were bright and thick. Takeshi’s doubled necked bass/guitar created some heavy drones and thick chords which Wata and Kurihara soloed over nicely. Wata sang about 3 numbers, including the very low key and spacey encore, showing off the psych-rock side of Boris. I think some of the attendees in the audience who may have been dragged to this show left with a better appreciation for the band as more then just a heavy drone act.
View the photo set here