I don’t know if there is a ticket any hotter than this one. A reunited…excuse me…re-activated Swans touring in support of an incredible new album that encapsulates the numerous styles the band tapped into during their long original career is one very exciting prospect. I can imagine the new songs being doled out in segments played alongside their older style-cousins to make for a career spanning set-list; expect industrial blitzkriegs, noise-rock assaults, gothic dirges, and general sonic weirdness. Swans are notorious for their insanely loud, audience assaulting live shows. Band leader and creative force behind the group, Michael Gira seems intent on getting back to the live presence that made his band infamous in the first place.

I have read several interviews with Gira in which he doesn’t seem quite sure what to expect from a Swans concert in 2010. His interim project Angels of Light never really got very noisy, so it has been quite awhile since the master of disaster has instructed a band of musicians to totally unleash on a crowd. Their stop at Black Cat is only the second show in their global campaign of noise and darkness. I will be very curious to see what Gira offers up this early in the tour. Will he play it safe or let Swans fly so hard and fast that they break the sound barrier? I personally know a ton of Swans fans who are dying to find out. If Swans 2010 are only half as good in concert as their new album is when I crank the volume to 10, then this show is going to be hotter than Hades.

Swans
w/ Baby Dee
9/29/10
@ The Black Cat
$20 Adv/ $25 DOS

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!