05.05.2007 Explosions in the Sky/Eluvium

Around mid-June I realized I never posted this entry. At the time it was too late to post this, but now I have a reason to post this because I've got audio up from this show. Although the first paragraph is now a little irrelevant, I kept it as I like the band and I'm still disappointed I had to choose between 2 great bands that night.



First let me say this, I love the band Murder By Death and wouldn't think twice about seeing them if they ever came to town. However, when I found out they were coming to town (yay!), opening up for Rev Horton Heat (uh....), I was rather disappointed. Why? because it was on the same day as Explosions in the Sky. EITS wins this battle because they're headlining.

After at least 2 botched attempts at coming to Vancouver, Texas' beloved sons, Explosions in the Sky finally made it to the upper Westcoast. The venue itself was somewhat surprising, not only for locals (when was the last time an established post-rock band played an all ages venue?), but also the band themselves, as they remarked how big the room was. The venue was far from sold out, yet was rocked as if it were. I got to the venue about an hour or so before doors to meet up with fellow music blogger and one serious EITS fan, Brian from iamserio.us (He also has his recording from this show + a couple other from his northwest "tour" with the band.) Very nice guy.





Eluvium from Portland, opened up with half hour set of guess what, instrumental music. Eluvium is actually a one person band who plays post-rock like music, using keyboard, guitars, loops, delays and distortion. For me, his music ranged from brilliant at times to tedious. Lots of distortion and delays when needed, but also a lot droning mundane noise at other times. It didn't really help that he hid behind his keyboards half the time. Still, for a one man band, he's very talented.





Explosions is everything you want in a post-rock band, beautiful melodies, crazy crescendos and a wall of sound for those times when you want to be blown away. They played a near perfect 70 min set, mixing new songs with old songs, transitioning each into the next seamlessly. Yep, no breaks. They even played my favorite song off of "The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place" (and the Friday Night Lights Soundtrack), as Michael Smith traded in his bass for a guitar for "Your Hand in Mine." The whole night was just amazing. The way EITS plays, with so much heart and emotion, you can't help but just stare and lose yourself for that 70 min.





If you've ever seen an EITS show, you'll know that they don't do encores ...
...and today was no different. Munaf came out thanked us for coming, but apologized for not playing anymore. They do this at every show, but that's ok, their longer sets make up for an encore-less show. Encores are stupid anyways. I don't want to wait when I know there's more music coming.





Explosions in The Sky
2007-05-05
Croatian Cultural Center
Vancouver, BC

source: DPA 4061>DIYBB>IHP-H140
location: stage lip right
lineage: WAV-M>FLAC

01.) Introduction
02.) First Breath After Coma
03.) Welcome, Ghosts
04.) With Tired Eyes, Tired Minds, Tired Souls, We Slept
05.) Your Hand in Mine
06.) Greet Death
07.) Catastrophe and The Cure
08.) The Only Moment We Were Alone

you can d/l .mp3s here.
space courtesy of LMA.

or check out brian's source here.

$25/$25

*UPDATE 1/2008*
video up, check the "DOWNLOAD VANCOUVER SHOWS" link on the right.