By Andrew Bansal
[Photos by Brad Worsham & Kaley Nelson]
October 3rd 2013, El Rey Theatre, Los Angeles CA: Despite having been around for more than two decades, English rock band Anathema never toured North America. But finally in 2013, they’ve been able to rectify that and are currently towards the end of their first ever North American tour, a co-headline run with French atmospheric metal band Alcest and Seattle-based experimental act Mamiffer. Both Anathema and Alcest have varied the course of their musical journey over the years and sound a lot different from what they used to in their early days, but this show promised to be an accurate representation of where they stand musically as of now, and fans of both bands seemed more than excited at the prospect. For the kind of music they’re pursuing at the moment, I had no doubt in my mind that they picked the perfect Los Angeles venue for the gig.
The doors opened at 7:30 PM and Mamiffer, an experimental/art rock duo from Seattle made up of Faith Coloccia and ex-Isis member Aaron Turner, took the stage at 8:30 for a 30-minute set of music that involved a very hefty use of samples, intertwined with female vocals by Faith that lent a haunting, atmospheric touch to it all. While I was able to respect and appreciate their attempts and thought it was interesting, I felt they could do so much more with it and it could have been tenfold more powerful. The samples were well-chosen and well-arranged but there wasn’t as much of the actual ‘live’ performance aspect. Aaron Turner had a guitar on him but was hiding behind the huge sampler table of his (as in photo below) and it was hard to see what he was (and wasn’t) doing on that guitar. I did enjoy Faith’s vocals a great deal, and wish there was more of it. Her use of the piano was also minimal. So, I’d say there needs to be more of a human aspect to their live music. Either that, or may be I’m just not able to understand what they’re trying to do.
Alcest were next to hit the stage, at 9:15. For those unfamiliar, this band is a one-man musical project created and controlled by mastermind Neige, and over the three studio albums released so far he has not been afraid to extend his boundaries and bring new musical elements into the mix on each album. But when Neige brings Alcest onto a stage, it’s very much a band effort, with three other musicians helping Neige present the Alcest sound exactly the way he wants to. I saw them open for Enslaved a couple of years ago at the Troubadour and was immediately taken aback by the power of their music. Although shoegazy and not entirely ‘heavy’ by any means, it possesses a great degree of strength and is something even a fan of heavy music should be able to appreciate. This gig was a very apt representation of the Alcest live experience, and it was a compelling 75-minute set which held the audience’s attention despite its slow and soft nature. With that said, there certainly were heavy segments as well, as Neige dusted off the old extreme metal growls for good measure. They did play a couple of songs from the upcoming album ‘Shelter’ and those tunes really stood out from the rest of the set. They created a different atmosphere, and makes fans anticipate the album’s release even more. Overall, an excellent set by Alcest, one that all fans present at the El Rey Theatre would have been satisfied with.
Alcest photo gallery (by Kaley Nelson):
Set List:
1. Autre temps
2. Là où naissent les couleurs nouvelles
3. Les voyages de l’âme
4. Opale
5. Souvenirs d’un autre monde
6. Beings of Light
7. Sur l’océan couleur de fer
8. Percées de lumière
9. Summer’s Glory
10.De´livrance
Anathema began their set at 10:50, and the audience’s excitement knew no bounds. Some of these fans had waited years to see the band, and here was their chance to do just that. The five Liverpudlians played a set that mainly consisted of tunes from their three most recent albums ‘Weather Systems’, ‘We’re Here Because We’re Here’ and ‘A Natural Disaster’, with a few others thrown in the mix as well. It’s safe to say that the audience that turned up for this gig knew what to expect, and weren’t really demanding the band to play anything from their early doom era. These fans enjoyed Anathema’s set for the most part, and as for myself, I liked the strong vocal harmonies, specially the contributions of female vocalist Lee Douglas, and I particularly dug the tone coming out of guitarist Daniel Cavanagh. Although most of the music was atmospheric and poppy, he did get a chance to shine and used it to the fullest. In spite of the extremely poppy nature of the set, in all honesty I almost feel guilty that I enjoyed this Anathema set. It was not even remotely metal or hard rock, but in many ways it was a throwback to old-school pop, and in the end I thought it was set full of good music, albeit not heavy. I wouldn’t recommend the current incarnation of Anathema to strict metalheads, but if you’re more of an open-minded explorer, give them a try.
Anathema photo gallery (by Kaley Nelson):
Set List:
1. Untouchable, Part 1
2. Untouchable, Part 2
3. The Gathering of the Clouds
4. Lightning Song
5. Thin Air
6. Dreaming Light
7. Deep
8. A Simple Mistake
9. Something in the Way
10.A Natural Disaster
11.Closer
12.Fragile Dreams
Related: In Conversation With Alcest Mastermind Neige (Audio)
Anathema interview coming soon
Check out a photo gallery from the show by Brad Worsham: