Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Manchester Academy. 23rd September 2022

The last time I watched GY!BE it was at Albert Hall. I’ve been to many, but that was one of the best gigs I’ve seen. They never disappoint though and even in the slightly soulless Academy the sound is as immense as you’d expect from a band that are the very definition of epic. It’s not quite sold out, so there’s a comfortable amount of room. To be honest I wish this was the capacity all the time, it’s so much better. Granted you don’t really need a lot of room at a Godspeed You! Black Emperor gig. You’re not here to dance. You’re here to stand in awe and let these majestic swaths of music comfort your soul, whilst your internal organs liquify. At a few minutes to Nine, the throb begins. It’s low to start, but it’s there. Waiting menacingly for the band to take the stage with a polite applause flecked with expectant ecstasy. The projector fires and the hush descends, aided by a few shushes. We start with ‘Hope Drone’, it’s slow strings building with that throb as the bass loosely joins and the whole band lock in. A GY!BE gig is pure aural cinema. It may sound nuts, but I find closing your eyes and letting the swell envelope you is just heaven. You can feel your breath quicken and the corners of your mouth raise like skinny fists. Truth be told, they’re not exactly animated on stage. In fact it’s all rather intimate. Like hundreds of people have stumbled across a private jam session. As the melodies of ‘The Sad Mafioso’ cascade around my eardrums, the roof opens up and the floor fades away. It’s a blissful maelstrom and some of the most beautiful music I’ve ever heard. There’s no point trying to compare them to anyone. There’s no one like Godspeed. They’re an eight headed monster on a dark and brooding apocalyptic rampage. In both the dark and light, there’s moments of pure beauty. Couples hug and rest their heads on each other’s shoulders, although perhaps with a tinge of acceptance that this is the last night of their lives and we’re all here to watch the world burn. When my time comes, I’d quite like GY!BE to be the soundtrack. Okay the sound in the Academy isn’t quite as good as other venues in the city, but they push beyond its limits. It’s over 20 years since I first saw them live and I’m fairly certain that each time I’ve said they sound better. I’m not sure if that’s the truth or if it’s just that every time I’m lucky enough to catch them, the remind me just how incredible they are and how much I love them. ‘World Police and Friendly Fire’ feels like a real treat as the projection switches to colour. Blurred lights of the city framing the band in a near psychedelic haze. Come the end of what can only be described as 90 minutes of perfection. The feedback loops echo out and all sense of any framework is destroyed, my mind blown wide open. A clean slate. Revived. A Godspeed You! Black Emperor gig is a religious experience. Each and every time.