“What did you get up to last night?”
“Oh I went to a gig, saw School of Seven Bells.”
“Ah cool, what type of music are they”
*END SCENE*
Ok they aren’t that genre bending at all, but it’s a bit hard to explain. I drop the phrases shoe gazer and dreamy into the mix, reminding me of an orgy of bands like Asobi Seksu, M83, Sigur Ros and The Bellmen if I want to get really wanky on the description but they are just a big soundscape of music.
I wasn’t really looking that forward to this gig as after I listened to the album on Spotify (as a friend recommended me as they were touring with Ms Khan), I was left underwhelmed. So we get to the gig and the support band just started. They were a pile of bass and nothing else. I mean drone bass with lack of melody. So the anticipation of School of Seven Bells was getting even lower, but the conversation and laid backness of sitting of the floor was good for me.
Once they get on they start going through the songs. With no drummer and two guitarists, a synth and a shit load of effects pedals I was getting even more anxious. But then suddenly, it hit me. Maybe I was a bit of a cheap date feeling the effects of 3 pints? Maybe it was the tiredness after being awake since 6.30am? But whatever it was, I was engaged into a atmosphere as if I was in some sort of progressive night. The music seemed to grab a hold of me and I totally zoned into it. Every instrument was doused with effects or vocal harmonies, but it seemed to create a vibe which took control of you. As the set drew towards the end I was still in a trance like state just feeling the massive sound scape created by the pre-programmed beats and layered instrumentation.
At this point I was getting drawn towards the synth player and turned into a dirty pervert as she exerted an aura to me of being the better looking out of the identical twins (you know what I mean?).
*END SCENE*
Only joking, I’m not from truck driver from Ipswich. But at the end of the gig, I left with such a warm feeling of being taken into an Lewis Caroll story and then pleasantly dropped out of the last page. It was very strange as during parts of the gig I would start thinking of mundane tasks such as work and general life moments whilst the music sound tracked that. Surreal but somewhat pleasant.
So the joys of going home, putting on the album and thinking this is… oh wait it’s still pretty average. It’s just one of those things really, the soundscapes they create needs to be in a venue where the sound can travel across the venue and shake through you, whilst getting lost in your thoughts in a sea of bodies. So basically catch them when you can.
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