the enigmatic Godspeed You! Black Emperor played at the heart of Kuala Lumpur last night and the experience was mind blowing. the band opened the show with a wall of ambient noise which i presume was used to set the mood and perhaps disorient the audience a little bit. in the midst of the wall of noise and darkness shrouding the stage, the word "hope" was projected onto the background in intervals - suggesting that among all the chaos, darkness, and disorientation, that there is still hope. a pretty bold statement, seeing how the current global (and possibly local) political situation is at its tipping point. but Godspeed have always been skewed towards the more political/social side of the world agenda, so it was no surprise to see such a statement. to think one word could bring such a huge impression, despite the band having zero interaction with the crowd.
their music, to say the least, is abrasive yet beautiful. the jarring feedback and noise drone coupled with beautiful string and guitar compositions add layers of emotion to their music. and they translate effectively when played live. the live renditions of their tracks don't vary much from their studio recordings, but they pack equal punch. immediately after the Hope drone segment, the band effectively segues the drone with Mladic - a tune off their latest release. it was an epic opener and the adrenaline rush from listening to it live was overwhelming. throughout the gig, the music was accompanied by film projections in the background which many describe as pretentious, but for me, it gives their music some context. the band's closing song, World Police/Friendly Fire was coupled with a projection of a burning factory and it pretty much speaks for itself. i was enthusiastic at how the band chose to play segments of Static from their Lift Your Skinny Fists LP, but unfortunately at the cost of not playing Gathering Storm, which is my favourite Godspeed song of all time. nonetheless, it was a great show and i walked away wanting more of this experience. i hope to see them again in the future. provided they don't break up again.
