Earth, Gorilla. 11th November 2019

Last time I saw Dylan Carlson play, my ears rang for 48hrs. Tonight I’ve come to Gorilla with earplugs as he’s joined by Adrienne Davies on drums to play songs from his band of drone rock legends Earth. Before that happens though, support act Helen Money takes the room by surprise. Armed with an amped up cello, she glides through songs so delicate you can hear people’s footsteps as they quietly try to move about the room. Only then to unleash violent aggressive stabs to a driving backing track. It’s this stuff that catches the audiences attention, but for me it’s the stuff reminiscent of GY!BE that peaks my interest. On to what we’re here for though... This is latter day Earth, the sonic drone is still present, but it’s pumped up with a percussion that almost has swagger. Fear not though, the backbone of the sound is still there, heavily distorted, layered guitars played loud, although the volume in Gorilla was comfortable enough for the earplugs to stay in my pocket. There’s a third player on stage, Tristan Jemsek adding a second tier of guitars... can you ever have enough? The tone is always warm, like a dry dessert sunburn, the mood set to mellow. Heads bob with the rhythm as the distinct smell of weed drifts through the room. Carlson is the epitome of cool, glossy hair down to his elbows, aviator shades and an odd but charming southern voice that’s only used to thank our bobbing and to introduce the next song, with fantastic names like ‘A Wretched Country of Dusk’, ‘She Rides an Air of Malevolence’ and ‘Decent to the Zenith’. Close your eyes and you can imagine rolling down a quiet dessert highway in a beat up convertible. Cracked leather seats and tank full of fuel, heading for the horizon as the sun slowly drops. To say it’s calming is an understatement, the NHS should prescribe this for anxiety. Davies looks like she’s conducting rather than drumming, her moves powerful yet graceful. This band, this music, live it’s about losing yourself. Even on record it wants to wash over and into you, at this volume though it permeates your soul.