by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Tonight’s Godspeed You! Black Emperor show at The Admiral is one of the weekend’s highlights. I saw the band the last time they came through back in 2016 when they played at The Slowdown. From the review:

Most compositions (songs?) were deep, repetitive ambient tonal melodies that evolved into haunting and/or majestic sweeps of sound. Sludgy, slow, deep ponderous movements were played in dim, deep-red sepia lighting, perfect for setting a mood or developing film. Overhead, the projections became less abstract — images of burning fields, film sprocket holes, a deer standing in a field, a sunset shot from inside a moving car — all in black-and-white (of course).

There wasn’t much on stage except lots of people leaning over things, huddled over guitars or effects pedals. Sometimes the compositions transformed into big rock numbers that reminded me of Meddle-era Pink Floyd or Mogwai, but most of the set was a pulsing dirge set to a 6/8 beat. It was beautiful and awful and exhausting. The set began at a quarter after 9. When I left at 11 and it was still going strong, the sold-out crowd standing in front of the stage was transfixed, mesmerized.

I expect more of the same tonight. It was a show better suited for a sit-down audience in, say, The Orpheum, or at a remodeled, majestic auditorium like The Admiral a.k.a. the old Sokol Auditorium (How long will I have to add that a.k.a. to The Admiral’s name?). 

Opening the show tonight is Portland-based guitarist/composer Marisa Anderson, whose latest album, Still, Here, was released earlier this year on Thrill Jockey. Her simple, quiet compositions are spare wilderness meditations you could imagine playing in the background as you walked across an open prairie during a winter afternoon, very much like the one pictured on her album cover. Tickets to the 8 p.m. show are $30 or $47 for balcony access. Today’s weather is the perfect accompaniment. 

Also tonight, Indiana “stoner-emo” band Cloakroom plays at Slowdown, Jr. The band is influenced by ‘90s acts like Red House Painters and Hum, and has a dense, sludgy, hypnotic sound on their latest album, Dissolution Wave (2022, Relapse). Joining them are Lincoln math-rock instrumentalists Turquoise and Lincoln grungers Ivory Daze (It’s veritable a Lincoln Invasion!). 8 p.m., $20. 

Also, it’s Benson First Friday. Enjoy some art and booze in the Benson District!

And it’s also Bandcamp Friday — you know the drill, Bandcamp and some independent record labels pass along their profits from sales directly to the artists, so it’s the best time to stock up on those releases you’ve been dying to buy. 

Saturday is a wasteland… again.

The weekend’s second big show is Death From Above 1979 Sunday at The Slowdown.  The Toronto act, fronted by Sebastian Grainger, dropped big into the scene with 2004’s You’re a Woman, I’m a Machine (Vice), which would prove to be their high-water mark. They’ve released three more albums, including 2021’s Is 4 Lovers (Spinefarm), as well as an unnecessary cover of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin.’” Fellow Canadians The OBGMs open at 8 p.m. $30.

And that’s all I got. If I missed your show, put it in the comments sections. Have a great weekend. 

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Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2022 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.