On November 21st, the band Boris played a show at the Great American Music Hall to the delight of many fans in the Bay Area. The opener was Starcrawler, a rock band fronted by Arrow DeWilde who came with a striking stage presence. There briefly seemed to be a strange sort of tension between Starcrawler and some of the crowd, and despite this hiccup, there was great synergy between the musicians. Many heads in the crowd nodded along, with Starcrawler delivering a solid glam-rock inspired performance.
Boris’ setup seems very complicated initially: a wall of amplifiers, tens of pedals, and a large shiny gong in the back that reflected light like the moon if you stood far back enough (and the lights hit just right). Fog machines added to the atmosphere and were very suitable for their overall presentation, creating a space that seemed to be a mysterious liminal cult of noise. While Boris does not define themselves within a genre, many consider them to be drone, sludge metal, post rock, noise, or a combination of the four. The genre bending acts as a recipe that ultimately invites the listener to define what they hear on their own. Celebrating the 20th anniversary of their album Pink meant that some of the gear (along with the tour poster) was, in fact, highlighter pink.
The current members are Takeshi (bass/rhythm guitar), Wata (guitar), and Atsuo (drums, various electronics), with all three members contributing vocals depending on the song. The show began with various songs off of “Pink” before delving into the rest of their discography, playing some of my favorites from their wide catalog: the droning and delightful “A Bao A Qu” and finally the hypnotic “Flood” (parts II through IV of their album, which shares the same title of “Flood”) at the end. Standing closer to the front, I could fully feel the sound in my entire body in a way that didn’t feel cheap nor overblown (cheap in the way that a fun, powerful subwoofer can be when you’re messing around in the car with your friends). Instead, it felt in line with a curated sensory experience paired with the music. The crowd was enthusiastic, causing some wrinkled brows for security when some fans began to surf said crowd, but all was well, and no one got hurt in the pit. During their more drone-adjacent works, I noticed some fans with their eyes closed swaying along contentedly with the sound in the same mesmerizing way that branches do in the wind, and it brought me great joy to see a full range of ways people enjoy music represented in just a single night. I would be delighted to stumble upon some Boris in KALX’s vast music library.
Review by Evan Grant
