Reviewed on Tuesday March 8
I couldn’t help but wonder what nine Canadian anarchists who play lyricless, sonically confronting epics spanning 20 minutes in length would think upon visiting Sydney in 2016. The anti-government, anti-fascist tinge to their music is, at times, kept open to interpretation, but it’s certainly no secret either. Would Godspeed You! Black Emperor appreciate the irony of playing music motivated by feelings of frustration and political isolation, slathered in jarringly contrasting sentiments of ecstasy and despair, in a city that’s in the middle of arguably its most devastating cultural neutering in recent history? Who knows? Maybe they had no idea you couldn’t enter a pub after 1:30am here and went on to be unpleasantly surprised later on in the night.
Regardless, without saying a word at all, GY!BE offered a nearly two-hour breath of fresh air from all of that. They were prefaced by Xylouris White, a drum, lute and vocal duo who were incredibly reminiscent of a medieval King Khan & BBQ Show in their stage set-up. But with Jim White of Dirty Three behind the kit, you could see the angle from which their music was coming. Despite not being able to hear the snare or toms particularly well, the outfit were fantastic to watch and a pretty wise choice to open the night.
GY!BE proceeded to file out one by one, building on a fuzzy drone started by bass and guitars and eventually embellished with violin, their renowned projection installation and two drum kits. The crowd was surprised to witness the band open with ‘Storm’ in its entirety – a choice cut from 2000’s Lift Yr Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven – seemingly added to their set specifically for their Australian tour.
It’s an incredibly uplifting piece and it set the tone for the rest of the evening. GY!BE’s music is crafted and performed in such a way that even amid the harrowing noise and ambient suites, they still manage to reach dizzying climaxes – they played their newest record Asunder, Sweet And Other Distress in its entirety, to overwhelmingly cathartic effect. The crowd was plunged into seratonin-sapping misery and brought right back up again with little to no effort – like witnessing a car accident and a child being born at the same time. On only their second trip to Australia ever, I’m confident GY!BE left the fans feeling like they’d witnessed something truly special in a city that might otherwise have had them desperately seeking release.
