So, last night, rainy and horrible, I turned down the chance to go look at balloons in Masterton with pals, cos I had something much better planned. Yep, Jakob have been around for 10 years (and it went sooooo fast too), and to celebrate, they've been touring our fair nation and last night, they played the San Francisco Bath House, confusingly located in Wellington(ha, I'm funny).
First band of the night was Ulcerate. I say band, it could've been one person, I dunno, I was late getting to the gig, my tardiness due to faffing around the flat watching Mean Girls (I know, but I can't help it if I think Lindsey Lohan (pre-rehab) is a wee cutie) and missed Ulcerate. I hear they were really good, so I owe them(?) a rain check.
Next band of the night, Akaname. Now these guys I enjoyed. A LOT!!!!!! I guess these guys have a background in playing metal or maybe the harder end of hardcore punk, cos they were brutal, tighter than a nuns wotsit. Reminded me a whole lot of Envy, one moment crushingly brutal, the next, crushingly beautiful. Having a 3 guitarist set-up meant that there could be plenty of high-end solo-y action, without losing any of the bottom end brutality. Plus a couple of times, they did that 3 guitarist all playing the same chord, but each slightly differently, creating that really cool droney sound that Sonic Youth do so so well. And the rhythm section were amazing as well, the drummer shifting from plain old thrahsy-thrashing to a loose jazy touch at the drop of a hat and bassist matching him, and the rest of the band, step for step. I'll be making sure to catch these guys again.
Then, Kahu. Kahu is basically the solo project for Tristan Dingemans from HDU, one of my absolutely favourite bands. The set-up was him, a guitar, a microphone, and a small betalion of pedals. Each song consisted of Tristan building loops of sound and just letting it grow and grow and grow until the sound was almost overwhelming. It was absolutely beautiful. While not a million miles away from what he does with HDU, being outside the constraints of a normal band set-up meant that Tristan could stretch out the songs a little, plus his guitar playing lends itself to a slightly more ambient approach. I almost didn't want him to stop, but alas, it had to end so we could get to the main event. Please come back soon, and bring the rest of HDU with you as well, its been too long!!!!
Jakob!!!!!!!!!! Ten years already? They basically slayed the audience, from the moment the stepped on stage to the moment they pulled stumps and retreated back stage. They played tunes from all 3 albums and were pretty much the perfect encapsulation of the 2 acts that performed prior to them, their songs having a brutal quality to them, like Akaname, and a swelling beautifulness, like Kahu. And the older material was tweeked a little to suit the newer material from Solace, an album which while treading similar ground to their previous material, showed that there was new teritory to explore, something that a lot of "post-rock"-type bands can begin to suffer from. Jakob have side-stepped this, while staying true to what made them great. After an hour or so of Jakob-y goodness, they were joined on stage by Tristan Dingemans, to play a tune from 2nd album Cale/Drew which he'd added his guitar to. This Jakob/HDU cross-over was as amazing in a live setting as it is on the album, eventually the rhythm section left the stage to a rousing applause, while the 2 guitarists continued to stretch out the ending of the song with some nice ambient, feedback-y sweetness. Then it was over.
There were video cameras on stage throughout the night and plenty of microphone throughout the venue, so I guess the gig was being recorded for something. A live album/DVD of some sort maybe. One can only hope. It was a gig worth dragging myself out into the weather to witness.
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