Godspeed You! Black Emperor

Last night, I did what most people would consider a bad decision: I went to Tucson for a concert on a Monday.

I had worked all day at my internship. I had bought tickets five months earlier. I was going in a three-car caravan through the night. We stayed and got coffee afterward, and didn't start driving home till nearly 1am. When I got back home, I had to drive to a 24-hour Kinko's and Walgreens to get stuff for work mailings. I only got two hours of sleep. Sounds like a bad time, not worth it maybe? Good one.

Godspeed You! Black Emperor (GY!BE)  is one of my "holy grails." A band long broken-up by the time I discovered them, thought to never reunite. But, lo, they did.

What began with a roughly 15-minute, ever-growing bass drone threatening to rattle my friends and I's clenched (skinny) fists into a million pieces ended in a slowly-fading drone only drowned out by the exiting crowd but never fully leaving the audience's ears. In between were two hours of pure disbelief and blinding sound 

As many as three manipulated guitars, at times grated upon by screwdrivers. As many as two bass guitars, struck violently. Two drum sets pushing forth at a punishing pace. A squealing violin at times providing white noise, but other times singing sweetly to the baited crowd. A background lit by a rotation of four 16mm film projectors being manipulated live as we watched, alternating between mysterious loops and grayscale television static.

I cannot, and likely will not, be able to comprehend the most punishing, visceral two hours of music of my lifetime. And I am completely content.