Concert review: Godspeed You! Black Emperor at The Orange Peel
By the time Godspeed You! Black Emperor was blasting through the thrilling, final explosive crescendo of set closer “Blaise Bailey Finnegan III,” it was hard to believe that a speck of paint remained on the interior walls of The Orange Peel.
Back at the Asheville venue for the first time since 2019, the influential Canadian ensemble no doubt gifted a portion of the packed crowd with ringing-ears during its devastatingly thunderous presentation on Nov. 11, and it’s doubtful that those fans have any regrets.
Currently on tour with GY!BE, local experimental duo MANAS opened the show in front of the hometown crowd. Although the improvised frenetic beats of Thom Nguyen (drums) and dissonant guitars of Tashi Dorji probably wouldn’t go over so well in front of many crowds at The Orange Peel, the audience there on Friday night was incredibly receptive, anticipating further blasts of sonic bliss from the headliner.
As usual, the instrumental octet of Efrim Menuck, Mauro Pezzente, Mike Moya, Thierry Amar, David Bryant, Aidan Girt, Sophie Trudeau, and Timothy Herzog performed in relative darkness. Evocative 16mm film projections by longtime non-musical members Karl Lemieux and Philippe Leonard provided a complementary visual backdrop to the sonic feast, which focused primarily on material from the group’s 2021 album, G_d’s Pee AT STATE’S END!.
For anyone who attended the 2019 show, it may have been a bit of a let down to hear such a similar set — only a couple songs were different — but I personally found this performance to be the more memorable of the two. Not only did increased familiarity with newer songs “First of the Last Glaciers” and “Cliff’s Gaze” lead to greater appreciation this time around, but also the increased driving force of the latter half of the set from the third movement of “Bosses Hang” to “Cliff’s Gaze” to “Mladic,” which kept energy building in the right direction to hold my attention even as I began to tire.
As seasonal depression has once again reared its ugly head, the majestic doom of the group’s droning post-rock epics provided an oddly satisfying sense of relief. Whereas instrumental peers Explosions in the Sky and Sigur Rós tend to deal in more optimistic euphoria, GY!BE’s music may be best suited to provide the accompanying score to the collapse of society. It’s music for those who see the beauty in watching predatory financial institutions burn to the ground, and that sentiment is pretty on point with my current mood.
Setlist
Hope Drone
Job’s Lament
First of the Last Glaciers
Bosses Hang
Cliffs Gaze
Mladic
BBF3
(Photos by Jonny Leather)
MANAS
