There was a drunk man taking sanctuary in the bathroom. “It’s so fucking loud,” he said with a grin, poking little scraps of toilet paper into his ears to protect them. And the headliners hadn’t even begun yet – the source of the scraping, reverb-saturated din this man was hiding from were Tangled Thoughts Of Leaving, a post-rock outfit who have spent the last 12 months capitalising on an already remarkable reputation with a series of stunning live shows.
Not that the band’s set was one long bout of scraping aural assault. During key moments, the cacophony of guitars bottomed out, and beautiful, melodic keyboard lines filled the silence. At such times, the heart of this band was revealed: these are musicians who, even in their most unforgiving moments, leave space for a little warmth in their music. It is all the richer for it.
Of course, headliners Boris are the veritable masters of such a loud/loud/quiet approach. In Australia to celebrate the tenth anniversary of their masterpiece Pink and the 25th year since their formation, the Japanese three-piece were as crushing and uncompromising as one might have expected – but, as ever, their ‘speaker stack kicked down a flight of stairs’ approach was accentuated by moments of true melodic beauty. The quietly beautiful opening to ‘Farewell’ has not aged a day in the decade since it was written, while the jazzy ‘N.F. Sorrow’ provided a quiet moment of reflection for a feedback-addled audience that so desperately needed one.
That’s not to say the metalheads in attendance walked away from the gig at all disappointed – they, like the rest of us, stumbled out of Manning Bar as though they had been hit by an army of Mack trucks. Tracks like ‘Pink’ and ‘Are You Ready?’ proved so incendiary that those hanging off the coveted spot on the front barrier had to wince back a little bit, and the late-set addition of an honest-to-God gong transformed what had already been a brutal gig into an all-out aural bloodbath, with the front of the stage transformed into a kind of killing floor.
And there, throughout it all, were the members of Boris: stoic to a tee, smiling only ever slightly at the assembled mass of battered bodies swirling about in front of them. Genuinely appreciative, they capped off the night with a track from their yet-unreleased record due out this year, introducing the song with softly spoken votes of thanks before launching into the vicious little number.
Here’s to another 25 years of Boris.
Boris played Manning Bar on Tuesday May 16. Photos by Ashley Mar
