I was pretty excited during the lead up to this concert. I've wanted to see Lightning Bolt ever since I learned about the wonders of noise bands, and these guys seemed to find a golden mean of listenability and pure energy. I got to Rhino's right at 9 (a rarity), but it was another half an hour before I got in due to some misunderstandings about credentials. I arrived near the end of an opener's set. The Lafayette Bird consisted of a guy and girl armed with guitars, some assorted drums and an amplified harmonica. The last song they played featured the girl on ghostly vocals while her bandmate played some dissonante guitar lines. It reminded me a bit of various Jandek albums, mainly the sparseness and vaguely creepy vocals.

After the duo departed, Prizzy Prizzy Please took the stage. I had seen them very briefly in the past and wasn't particularly impressed, but this performance changed my mind. They never really let up on the energy, only playing one mellow-ish song. The biggest problem was the sound; the vocals were a little indistinct and the alto sax wasn't amplified enough, but it wasn't too big of a distraction.

Next was the main attraction. Wikipedia had alerted me to the fact that Lightning Bolt likes to play amongst the crowd, rather than onstage, and it was correct. As soon as Prizzy Prizzy Please was finished, the group started stacking amps in front of the stage. They set up the drum kit and bass right in front of the amps, and trusted the audience not to swamp them. The drummer, who also does vocal duties, wore some kind of homemade cloth mask with a little microphone stuck inside. It was so muffled that most things weren't intelligible, but I don't think they were meant to be understood.

After finagling with the volume and feedback, Lightning Bolt kicked things off with a bang and people started moshing immediately (not a fan). Considering how close the band was to the audience, I had a pretty good spot, but after getting knocked around a bit I moved back for my own safety. Even though the visuals were a bit disappointing, the music wasn't at all. I can't think of many bands that can maintain such a high energy level. The drummer would randomly scream and shout along with whatever the bass was doing. The bass player used a five string that was outfitted with banjo strings for the two highest slots; every now and then there would be twangy high notes interrupting the gruff bass notes. Although they have a rather limited instrumentation, the band focused on keeping the mood up so that it wasn't really a concern. The crowd seemed to be in a trance state, absorbing its sounds and vibrations more than watching the band.

Lightning Bolt's label as a noise band certainly makes sense considering how noisy and dissonant they were, but they had a lot of songs with discernible melodies, even things you could dance to in case of emergency. It was an incredibly fun concert, and a nice departure from the mainstream.

-Brian

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