Reviews

Combichrist Tour: 

@ The Palladium - Upstairs [Worcester, MA (USA)]

Unsound Festival New York 2011: 

@ Abrons Arts Center [New York City, NY (USA)]

Millipede Show: 

@ Darkroom [Chicago, IL (USA)]

Combichrist Tour: 

@ Webster Theater [Hartford, CT (USA)]

The Swans Tour: 

@ The Middle Cafe - Downstairs [Cambridge, MA (USA)]

Tragedy For Us Tour: 

@ Champions Cafe [Everett, MA (USA)]

Steel Hook Prostheses Tour: 

@ Club Choices [Somerville, MA (USA)]

Wave-Gotik Treffen 2010 - Day 4 [Leipzig, Saxony (Germany)]

Wave-Gotik Treffen 2010 - Day 4: 

@ Volkspalast: Kuppelhalle [Leipzig, Saxony (Germany)]

Wave-Gotik Treffen 2010 - Day 4: 

@ Volkspalast: Kuppelhalle [Leipzig, Saxony (Germany)]

Wave-Gotik Treffen 2010 - Day 4: 

@ Volkspalast: Kuppelhalle [Leipzig, Saxony (Germany)]

Wave-Gotik Treffen 2010 - Day 4: 

@ Volkspalast: Kuppelhalle [Leipzig, Saxony (Germany)]

I wasn't sure what to expect to hear from Nurse With Wound as their sound varies from album-to-album. The live lineup was Steven Stapleton and four guest artists. I could not hear their names very well when they were introduced near the end of the set.

Steven spent the majority of the show sitting in a chair playing guitar off to the side. The man next to him played some consoles on a table. The one in the middle had a large mixing board and seemed to be the person putting it all together. Further down the line was a guy playing bass; and at the far end a man stood behind another mixing board, effects, and three blue dildos glowing from a black light. Sadly, the dildos were not played during the show. They were just there for aesthetics.

The music was mostly ambient loops with heavy bass and high pitched guitar riffs. A woman came out during the third or fourth song and did some spoken word. She was sampled, looped, cut up to a point where the words became sounds to be fed back into the song over and over. It was delightful to hear such masterful live sampling without the use of a program like Ableton.

The guy next to Steven left his station near the end of the set and went to the front of the stage. He played experimental jazz on a saxophone for the rest of the night. During part of that time, he removed the reed and played it through his hand. That was pretty spectacular.

During the second to last piece, Steven came out to honor the saxophone player and his contributions to experimental music. For the final song, Steven kept the microphone and shouted outlaw repeated over the aural assault behind him.

Not only did Nurse With Wound play an incredible set, they had the best video I saw at the festival. I wish I had taken more pictures of it. All of the videos were brilliantly looped, usually both forward and backward so it became difficult to tell which way the video was supposed to be going. The first one had mattresses falling out of and into the sky. Then there were people in a house reading and performing other mundane tasks. Then they were doing these things while on fire or underwater. It was rather creepy and fascinating to watch. The final video had houses breaking while tumbling down a hill. This one really caught my eye. Maybe I was imagining my own home tumbling down a hill and the contents that might spill out.

It was an honor to be present at this show and see how these men are still masters pioneering experimental/avant-garde music.

[Close Review]

Wave-Gotik Treffen 2010 - Day 3 [Leipzig, Saxony (Germany)]

Wave-Gotik Treffen 2010 - Day 3: 

@ Werk II [Leipzig, Saxony (Germany)]

Wave-Gotik Treffen 2010 - Day 3: 

@ Werk II [Leipzig, Saxony (Germany)]

Wave-Gotik Treffen 2010 - Day 3: 

@ Werk II [Leipzig, Saxony (Germany)]

Wave-Gotik Treffen 2010 - Day 3: 

@ Schauspielhaus [Leipzig, Saxony (Germany)]

Wave-Gotik Treffen 2010 - Day 3: 

@ Schauspielhaus [Leipzig, Saxony (Germany)]

Wave-Gotik Treffen 2010 - Day 3: 

@ Schauspielhaus [Leipzig, Saxony (Germany)]

Wave-Gotik Treffen 2010 - Day 2 [Leipzig, Saxony (Germany)]

Wave-Gotik Treffen 2010 - Day 2: 

@ Volkspalast: Kuppelhalle [Leipzig, Saxony (Germany)]

Wave-Gotik Treffen 2010 - Day 2: 

@ Volkspalast: Kantine [Leipzig, Saxony (Germany)]

Wave-Gotik Treffen 2010 - Day 2: 

@ Volkspalast: Kuppelhalle [Leipzig, Saxony (Germany)]

Wave-Gotik Treffen 2010 - Day 2: 

@ Kohlrabizirkus [Leipzig, Saxony (Germany)]

Wave-Gotik Treffen 2010 - Day 1 [Leipzig, Saxony (Germany)]

Wave-Gotik Treffen 2010 - Day 1: 

@ Agra Hall [Leipzig, Saxony (Germany)]

Wave-Gotik Treffen 2010 - Day 1: 

@ Agra Hall [Leipzig, Saxony (Germany)]

Kinetik Festival 2010 - Phase 5: 

@ Usine C [Montreal, Quebec (Canada)]

Kinetik Festival 2010 - Phase 4: 

@ Usine C [Montreal, Quebec (Canada)]

Kinetik Festival 2010 - Phase 3: 

@ Usine C [Montreal, Quebec (Canada)]

Kinetik Festival 2010 - Phase 2: 

@ Usine C [Montreal, Quebec (Canada)]