stoked by fears of not getting in to see the show due to it selling out, whether conspiratorially worked up by the bar owners or not, i convinced myself of the need to transit to the show relatively early so that i could stop by a record shop on the way there. this, it seems, is somewhat of a useful trick to be put aside for reuse. but, it left me with the need to walk a good distance through an unknown part of detroit (in somewhat girly attire) and arrive at the venue at least an hour before doors.
the walk in was actually a lot less creepy than anticipated. it was ultimately just a fear of the unknown, but i need to assert myself - some apprehension is intelligent when walking through detroit alone. the thing is that huge amounts of the city are virtually empty, so there is literally nobody that is going to hear you yell. yes - nobody will hear your cries. let's not sing this song. see, i've mused before that this implies that wild animals are a more pressing concern than desperate people, but it remains true that the city is a kind of a predator's twisted wet dream, and this simply can't be forgotten. i will not apologize for being careful about where i'm walking and when and fuck you for criticizing me for it.
but, the truth is that the walk up bagley was of minimal concern. it seems that the area directly surrounding the railroad tracks has been left for dead. the abandoned twenty story office buildings would no doubt be useful to the homeless folk huddled around them, even as mere shelter from the rain, but there are barbed wire fences to prevent use. again: i found myself more frightened of the possibility that i was walking through coyote territory, and i truly probably was. but, this took up no more than a few blocks of a half hour walk, which was mostly through a pleasant commercial district populated by ethnic mexican businesses.
i got there eventually and tried to chill in the dog park across the way, hoping i'd bump into somebody with my favourite thing, but instead i found myself looking over my shoulder at pit bulls and dobermans left off their leash to sneak up upon me with intent. first i escaped the coyotes, and now this. is detroit run by shape-shifting canids? well, if the lizard people are truly so ubiquitous, they'd have to have evolved thermoregulation at some point, right? it might explain some things you could never get your head around. nor did i see a bar up the strip that i'd feel safe in, although there were plenty of ice cream stores. and, so, i ended up parked in the front of the venue for upwards of an hour and felt myself start to get slightly cold.
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i found myself in the smoking section for most of the next two hours, floating from a to b and not really saying much of any value to anyone. but, i did eventually find what i wanted before the show started, and i have to acknowledge that it was more essential than i expected.
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i had heard some chelsea wolfe years earlier; apokalypsis was in rotation for a little while over 2011 or 2012. i'm going to throw out a comparison i haven't seen before: it reminded me a little of jar of flies period alice in chains, but with a kind of impressionist swirl to it. then, i seem to have forgotten about her. it was less about rejection and more just about overlooking it. this is a thing that does happen when you're a music nerd, and there is really simply no way to avoid it without solving for the very hard problem of mortality.
so, when i saw she was playing here, my mind floated back to memories of that record. the next step was to explore some new material; i both found it surprising and interesting. i had picked up somewhere that she had swung a little more goth, but i wasn't expecting as strong of an embrace of electronics. it was compelling, though - i am a fan of the style from multiple different angles. i mean, i grew up listening to stuff like curve and garbage, not to mention skinny puppy and nine inch nails. while i didn't get a chance to really absorb the disc, i heard more than enough to convince me to attend in the handful of times that i streamed it leading up to the show.
i was surprised a second time by the set, which seemed to meet me halfway by pulling in quite a bit of a heavy grunge aesthetic. it was a return to alice in chains, but the heavy side. a bit of soundgarden, even; there's some swans in there, too. pj harvey. it’s all 90s. the press is going to want to name drop witch whatever, black this and doom that. but, i'm an old grunge kid. i knew what i was listening to. and i rather enjoyed it...
i found myself remembering some of the older tracks, too, which was nice.
the show was strong enough that i'm going to no doubt find myself exploring her last two records more carefully and in the process i may find that i was mentally overcompensating for the electronics at the expense of the guitars - that they were there all along, and i just didn't hear them. but, my immediate impression was that the show was brutal in a way that the record isn't and that may be a little surprising to some. it's ultimately just a mixing decision to make sure the guitars are loud enough and dirty enough to make the output fundamentally guitar-oriented, rather than fundamentally electronic. it's just not what i picked out when i was listening beforehand, rightly or wrongly.
so, i'm torn between suggesting that the live show is an improvement in sound over the record and wondering how i would have reacted to a more electronic set.
but, i will say that if you like the head cave then this is a good one.
here is a full set:
the walk back was a little bit scary, but i need to put it in the perspective of being unfamiliar with the walk. it was again the coyote patch that bothered me most, although it seemed at a few points that slow moving cars with their lights off were trailing me through the abandoned streets, with unknown motives and for unknown lengths. people wanted me to stop to talk to them; i didn't really want to do that. and, etc. but, i ultimately made it home without incident.
my apprehension about repeating that exact route is grounded, but i'm going to need to experiment to determine something more optimal. detours. bus schedules, maybe. or perhaps even just getting used to it....
