photo by author.

Last Tuesday night DC was treated to a brilliant exhibition of guitar excellence when Boris and Russian Circles performed at the 9:30 Club. I think just about every metal fan that I know was surprised that this show was at the 9:30 Club. Post-metal and radical guitar-genre chameleons like these two bands sometimes have a hard time filling smaller clubs like Rock & Roll Hotel and Black Cat. I was impressed that 9:30 Club was willing to gamble on this power-house, underground, double-bill.* Tuesday’s show was my third time seeing Russian Circles and my much-anticipated first time catching Boris in concert (finally!). Going in, I was convinced that either one of these bands could have been the headliner. Their recorded music is equally brilliant and I knew first hand how awesome Russian Circles are live. Tuesday’s show featured a killer opening set by Russian Circles, followed by a next level performance by Boris that showed off exactly why this band of Japanese experimental rockers had top-billing.

Russian Circles performed their set just four days after having a devastating van crash in which they lost all of their gear. I assume they borrowed instruments to continue this tour with Boris. I am glad the band made it out of the crash unhurt and were able to find replacement gear to make their DC tour date. Listening to them play on Tuesday, you wouldn’t have guessed that they were playing with unfamiliar instruments. Their set was a fantastic-sounding display of infectious, instrumental post-metal. The way Russian Circles build to their massive guitar crescendos blows me away every time I see them and on Tuesday this was even more impressive as their repetitive rhythms and guitar signatures filled the 9:30 Club’s high-ceiling space. I often feel Metal rhythm sections tap into some primal center of the brain and judging by the amount of head-banging, fist-pumping, and thigh-slapping going on in the crowd, I’d say Russian Circles did a damn fine job of taking us all to that ‘pounding a Wooly Mammoth bone against a skull’ place. When Russian Circles finally let the building tension of their tunes loose, the 9:30 Club filled with a riotous guitar explosion. I felt their set had everything that Isis’ final performance at the club lacked. Russian Circles brought a passion and energy to their performance that matched their huge sound and precise instrumentation.

photo by author.

Boris are a band that I have liked a lot for a long time; for some reason I just have never been able to see them perform live. Boris tour the U.S. plenty and they have played in DC/Baltimore a good number of times in the last several years. But whenever they do play here, there is always something that comes up to prevent me from going. After Tuesday night’s concert, I am convinced that the universe had been putting obstacles in my path for a reason. Tuesday night’s show was meant to be my first Boris concert; it was fate. I believe that because the concert on Tuesday was the perfect blend of Boris’ radical style range, performed with such powerful elegance that I was in music nirvana from just about their opening note.

photo by author.

For the uninitiated, Boris are a Japanese experimental heavy-metal band. They have a huge and complex discography composed of albums that have explored just about every avenue of guitar exploration imaginable. From classic Sabbath-inspired rock-outs to psychedelic audio-trips, shoegazer bliss to Merzbow-inspired feedback holocausts; Boris has covered it all. For years I have been hearing how psychotic Boris can be when they perform live, but I always suspected that watching them completely wig out for an hour might not be an entirely representative set from them. Tuesday night’s concert featured such a pitch-perfect mix of their song styles that I feel it may have been the quintessential Boris experience.

photo by author.

The 9:30 Club didn’t sell out for this show; I would have been surprised if it had, but it did get respectably full by the time Boris took the stage. The balconies were lined with fans and the floor was thick with bodies. I am mentioning this because I am glad that there was a good number of DC fans with whom I shared this spectacular concert. Boris’ set list felt like they had taken the concert highlights of every kind of heavy guitar-effects laden band there is and smashed them all together into a greatest hits order. It was one genre money-shot after another as the crowd swayed to classic shoegazer sound-walls then head-banged to massive metal riffage before going foot-stomp, tribal insane when they unleashed pure chaotic noise-fury. The combined effect was so uplifting and cathartic that it was nearly spiritual.**

photo by author.

* This is one of the reasons the 9:30 Club is and always will be the best.

** just a fancy way of calling it “music nirvana”

Michael Darpino

Michael splits his free time between defending the little guy and championing the underdog. He has been haunting the concert halls, dive bars, and greasy spoons of DC for the last 16 years. His interests include live rock music, researching obscure military/political conflicts, and good hamburgers. He is a friendly grump, has wisdom beyond his years, and is on a life-long quest to attain music nirvana. Follow him on Twitter if you dare!