Current 93 • Great American Music Hall • November 4, 2005

C93 played 2 nights at the GAMH, and I attended them both. It was another one of those deals where I was interested in seeing the headliner, but had really come more for the opener. In this case it was Om. C93 main man David Tibet was a fan of the Doom-onic duo, which explains Om's presence there; I just wondered how his fans who react to the drum and bass assault from 2 of the Bay Area's heaviest hitters. They actually got a very warm reception from the folky/gothy collective in attendance. I remember standing in the front next to this metal head who bore a striking resemblance to Jimmy Bower from Eyehategod. Indeed he was the very same, pumping his fist in the air throughout Om's devastating set. And standing next to him was Matt Pike of High On Fire. Put that guy up on stage with OM and they become doom legends Sleep. How fucking cool is that?
C93 were brilliant. I'm so very glad I caught both nights. Tibet has mentioned putting out a CD of those shows, but nothing has come of it yet. It would be a great gift to hear that music again, played by all those supremely talented people including (but not limited to) Maja Elliot on piano, Joolie Wood on violin, Baby Dee on harp, and Ben Chasny on guitar.

Supersilent • Great American Music Hall • November 4, 2004

A Norwegian arts council toured some of their finest musicians around the US, and so SF was lucky enough to experience Maja Ratke (who didn't play on this bill but who I got to see at a separate show the night before, along with Arve Henriksen), Jaga Jazzist, and the incredible improv group Supersilent. JJ was at least 15 people, and they were all a fantastic blur of frenetic energy and fun. Supersilent played a wonderful set that they will never play again, as the members have no contact with each other prior to hitting the stage, so each performance is completely improvised. I don't know how they do it. To me they epitomize what drew me in to music when I first got exposed to it as a small child: that it's utterly magical, that someone can play an instrument and seemingly pull these amazing sounds from the ether. And that's what I still love about it.