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Tuesday, May 6,2008
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Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Friday, May 2 @ Turner Hall Ballroom
A
cursory glance at current events attests that there are fates more
physiologically unpleasant than having to endure—without sunglasses—Black Rebel
Motorcycle Club's two-hour set at Turner Hall. Enucleation by a flaming
sparkler or being tied to a chair and forced to watch a feature-length flicker
film in a sauna, however, are not among them.
Friday
night's aural and visual onslaught was not unlike witnessing the implosion of a
minor star during a meteor shower while being crushed to death by a wall of
sound that’s missing a few bricks. All of this had the trappings of a great
metal show, but was a white elephant from a band that utters the words “I gave my soul to a new religion/ Whatever
happened to you, rock 'n' roll?” and still manages to play it
straight.
To
their credit, B.R.M.C.’s epic set required Herculean stamina. Displaying
veteran foresight, drummer Nick Jagowisely wore sunglasses, ostensibly to combat the constant barrage of
seizure-inducing strobe lights, which were mounted above eye-level to mete out
cornea-shattering white lashings. If the amps were cranked up to 10, the lights
surely blared at 11.
During
an acoustic intermission—a brief but welcome respite from the mind-numbing
lightfuck—B.R.M.C. pulled cuts from their Americana-tinged 2005 album Howl.With strummed round-robin
soliloquies by Peter Hayes and Robert Levon Been, they seemed out to prove
they're not entirely resting on their Stone Roses—er, laurels.
The
evening's hyperbolic presentation tested the limits of a power dynamic between
audience and performers, the latter either oblivious to or inconsiderate of
their fans' tolerance for visual contrast. The experience was an exercise in
sadomasochism, tantamount to an electric fist in the face by an incoherent
lover who's forgotten the safety word. None of this paves the way for a lasting
relationship, but certainly burns in the afterimage of an indelible one-night
stand.
Also in Concert Reviews:
The Cure @ The Allstate ArenaFlight of the Conchords @ The Riverside TheaterM.I.A. @ Turner Hall BallroomThe Hives @ the RaveThe Avett Brothers @ Turner Hall BallroomDeVotchKa @ Turner Hall BallroomThe Swell Season @ The Riverside TheaterTegan and Sara @ The Pabst TheaterMaritime @ Turner HallThe Cave Singers w/ Wooden Robot
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