Happy Earth Day

On Tuesday night, WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM delivered a live performance at the Echoplex that I did not expect.  Previous shows had left me questioning how much they wanted to be on stage.  I wasn't just being a dick.  They were not satisfied either.  After a hiatus that ended at the beginning of this year, the band left their fans this message of renewal before embarking on an Australian tour:

When we returned home after our last long series of journeys we concluded that the options before us were to never tour again or to seize complete control over the way that we tour.

These four concerts will be the debut of our new approach to performance. We will travel with our own powerful sound system and crew of comrades so that we will be able to completely control the energy of any space in which we perform. Our live sound was forged in underground warehouses and in the amphitheater of the outdoors. We’ll be focusing on these anarchic venues in order to bring about the transformations that we require.

We want to thank all of the people who have supported us over the years, especially the audiences who have connected with our music. We look forward to deepening and strengthening the energy we bring to the stage. These future performances will be the most authentic and fully realized expressions of our Spirit!

I remember reading the words but not taking them to heart.  That was a mistake.  They played with a wholly different attitude and renewed focus.  I heard layers in the music I'm not sure were even there.   It was beautiful and I was grateful for the large audience that was there to experience that performance.  A couple made out in front of me.  You don't see that much at a black metal show.  And that happened after a guy yelled "No fake metal."  He was thankfully ignored.

EARTH followed and they brought their own energy, one that comes from a place foreign but so familiar.  It's post-apocalyptic.  The kind of music I'll want to listen to at the end, when life becomes a reflection, and sitting is right.  Dylan Carlson is at peace.  I watched the clip of him in that Cobain movie before I left for the show.  The place he was in then seems far away now, and he somehow survived the trip.  The new songs were not a departure, but a progression.  Adam L. Murray was there for the set, and here are a couple of his pictures.  Sorry, Adam, I had to post two this time.  They are both so good.  You can see these and the rest of his shots here.