Swans play ‘Cathedrals Of Heaven’ in Brighton church

SWANS + NORMAN WESTBERG – ST. GEORGE’S CHURCH, KEMP TOWN, BRIGHTON 11.8.23

3,379 moons ago, an album by the name of ‘To Be Kind’ by a macrocosm-in-disguise known as Swans was brought to the world; It took me until the age of 17, four years later, for me to discover this album and the layers of epic chaos that could be unfolded. Now, on Friday, I had the absolute privilege to finally see Swans live in Brighton for a completely monumental show.

Originally formed in 1982 by Michael Gira in New York City amidst the underbelly that was the no wave scene of the 1980s. A plethora of groups from this time such as DNA, Mars, and Teenage Jesus and the Jerks barely survived the rising tide of new wave and beyond, while other artists like totalism composers Glenn Branca and Rhys Chatham, Sonic Youth and Suicide would come out the other side exploring, refining and cementing prominences as influential figureheads in their own respective territories… for the record, Swans fall into this second category.

Early albums such as ‘Filth’, ‘Cop’, and ‘Greed’ would become exemplifications of the no wave movement before they would develop into more neofolk and gothic tendencies on records like ‘Children Of God’ and ‘The Burning World’. By the time Swans had approached nearly 15 years as an musical operating unit, Michael Gira decided to call time to focus on other projects, before embarking on one final hurrah in the form of 1996’s ‘Soundtracks For The Blind’. A significant record in the band’s catalogue, this nearly two and a half hour spectacle embraces a complete retrospective exploring, not just industrial territories and ambient passages, but swells of post-rock and experimental rock music that would come to define their original run. 14 years on, a subsequent reformation catapulted Swans into underground music relevancy again with ‘My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope To The Sky’, an album that, while its material stems from Gira’s The Angels Of Light side project, bears importance to what would follow.

Taking into account how many years it had been between the band’s initial formation and the release of ‘My Father…’, the following era of Swans has since been regarded as the pinnacle of their musical career. A trilogy of two-hour records was presented to us, all following the post-rock leanings of ‘Soundtracks For The Blind’, the first being 2012’s ‘The Seer’, an album rich in sound design while still maintaining the nihilistic viewpoint of Gira’s lyrical framework. The second was the aforementioned 2014’s ‘To Be Kind’, rhythmic and tumultuous in instrumental backdrop; and finally 2016’s ‘The Glowing Man’, a mammoth undertaking of progression and atmosphere that concludes the trilogy perfectly. This trio of records has set the template for the material in this current incarnation of Swans, first with 2019’s ‘leaving meaning.’, and ‘The Beggar’, released in June this year. After completing a brief, but fruitful European tour championing the material from ‘The Beggar’, Michael Gira and his cast of characters premiered the first show following the album’s release, at Brighton’s St. George’s Church.

The queue outside the doors to the church was awash with T-shirts all adorning several eras and album covers of Swans, with of course, an obligatory “PUBLIC CASTRATION IS A GOOD IDEA” T-shirt, taken, of course, from their live album of the same name! Soundchecks were still taking place inside the church with a window slightly ajar, with the murmur of the queue giving way to a beautiful wave of reverberant drums and shimmering guitars. I was bewildered at the notion of Swans performing inside a church such as this, but thinking about how majestic the material they’ve been releasing as of late, I can’t think of a better place for them to have played.

Shortly after we adjusted to our seats, with some fans still queuing for drinks or merchandise, the support act in the form of Norman Westberg commenced. Notable for featuring in every significant studio album release of Swans bar ‘The Beggar’, Norman treated us to a stunning 40-minute improvised set. My recollections of watching videos of Swans playing live often consist of how intimidating and scary most of the members looked on-stage, including Norman. However, in this set, he seemed quite humble and at ease with his performances. A turning of an hourglass placed on Norman’s table of guitar pedals, and a soft pulsating drone signals the beginning of the improvisation. This drone patiently progresses into a thicker timbre, forming a G major chord that becomes a musical ground for Norman to play around with. Just hearing the way the drones intensify really demonstrates his importance to Swans while in the band; his knack of guitar tone and patient soundscapes are really quite something.

There is a prominent usage of extreme delay throughout the performance, creating these waves of sound that carry across so nicely within the church. As the drones in this leg of the improvisation begin to soften, we can hear Norman giving us some legible guitar lines enclosed in this cavernous soundscape. Despite the occasional chatter from the audience and queuers, I felt totally at peace with Norman’s performance, especially at this portion of the set. A quick turning of his hourglass precedes the drones now beginning to reach loud volumes, even with earplugs in! Norman mutates the drones into a sparser timbre with occasional chords seeping through, almost like something you’d expect to hear in a project by The Caretaker. He begins to make use of scale ascensions and subsequent descensions that bring an exalted aura to the soundscape before percussive usages of his guitar pick-up evoke memories of Swans’ ‘To Be Kind’.

A quick adjustment on Norman’s pedals give way to a sudden stiffness in the accenting on the drones’ repetition, creating the sounds of giant footsteps walking through the snow. (Observer’s note: It’s around this point of the show where the intimidation I originally perceived of Norman comes around again as he stares down an audience member walking across the front row seats in an oddly hypnotic way!) A final turn of his hourglass signals a softer turn in harmony, with the drones now anchoring back and forth between two open guitar chords. Here, occasionally clean guitar notes are beginning to seep through the fog of ambience with Norman looking less like he’s “performing” and more like he’s “tinkering” (this is a good thing by the way!). A comparison I could make to avant-folk artist Loren Mazzacane Connors is eligible for the final portion of the set as these improvised guitar lines around the now C major-oriented drone begin to engulf the church into a lull before decaying into thunderous noise to close off.

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After queuing to grab myself an orange juice and a brief congratulatory handshake to Norman for a wonderful set, I began to make myself comfortable before Swans were due to start. In this intervening period of time, I caught a glimpse of Swans members Kristof Hahn and Christopher Pravdica saluting each other with drinks walking opposite directions across the church floor; please note that this felt strange, taking into account the ominous presence that these guys have when performing. Speaking of performing, the remainder of the six-piece begin assembling to the stage, five minutes early no less! With a hearty “thank you for having us, it’s time for dinner.”, from Michael Gira, the show was under way…

Sat within a chair slap bang in the middle of the stage, Gira starts painting the opening introduction with a repetitive and static open D chord on his acoustic guitar, as the following members join in one by one: Kristof Hahn and Dana Schecter present distortion-layered lap steel guitar drones, Larry Mullins brings forward quiet Mellotron humming, Phil Puleo embellishing the room with soft tapping of crash cymbals and Christopher Pravdica, on what appears to be a shahi baaja (“royal instrument” – a modified Indian zither instrument with typewriter keys added to it). Gira displays an aura of vulnerability as he wordlessly murmurs into the microphone, while looking up at the church ceiling. All of a sudden, Christopher drives this ambient atmosphere forward with a heavy bass sound, coupled with sub-bass from Larry, before the entire room rises in distortion and chaos with Dana switching to a second bass guitar and Michael ghoulishly waving his arms in the air in terror… only ten minutes into the show and I can safely say this is possibly the loudest opening to a live show I’ve ever been to.

The official opening track of the set is the title track from the new album, ‘The Beggar’; here, we are welcomed by loud wordless yelling from Michael as he waives an open E major chord adorned with Phil’s cymbals. Larry, Dana and Kristof add to the performance’s tone with their respective soundplay of synths and lap steel guitars. Most of the track’s performance sees Michael acting as somewhat of a pseudo-conductor, raising his trembling hand to indicate swells of noise and rising dynamics. Towards the end of Gira’s lengthy and menacing lyrical diatribe, there is a tight rhythmic crescendo which sees all the band members playing to their volumetric strengths until Phil and Michael signal to stop.

The following track, ‘The Hanging Man’ from ‘leaving meaning.’, is perched within a strong, but angular rhythmic backbone that lasts through the track’s ten-or-so minute performance. The acoustics in the room make the sound of the performance sound more like something from Swans’ earlier releases where reverb-heavy drums played a significant role in the sound palate. As lap steel drones begin to take shape, the overall texture and progression of the track begins to increase and thicken in scope (something that is an incredible strength in most of Swans’ recent material). In this one track alone, I had the space to work out the true meaning of Swans being a musical body for Michael Gira to create these illustrious depictions of nihilism and introspection.

Following quick band introductions, the tumid atmosphere onset by ‘The Beggar’ blossoms into the optimistic and luscious ‘Ebbing’, a strong highlight on its parent album and possibly one of my favourite Swans songs overall. The first half of this song is reliant on a haze of tranquillity depicted by Kristof and Dana’s lap steel passages and Michael’s loose, yet entrancing vocal deliveries. Eventually, the sound dives into a freeform groove until… SLAM! An overwhelming array of auditory transcendence as the six-piece hang on this angelic D major chord and build on it with shuffling drum fills, a melodic bass riff and majestic sweeps of dynamics until the song comes to a close. This was a purely otherworldly moment in the show, almost like an out-of-body experience I’ve seldom encountered in any other live show!

This moment of peace is soon counteracted by ‘The Memorious’, a track which takes a completely different form to the version that appears on ‘The Beggar’. Where the album version places itself within a steady groove a la many a Swans track of the last ten years, the rendition they perform live corners itself within these wailing walls of noise and dark ambience, complete with the rustling of jingle bells and thunderous bass chugging from Phil and Christopher respectively. The dark and foreboding prose from Gira, emanating from an ominous lyrical world the likes of which Jandek or David Tibet could walk across, while difficult to hear against the overwhelming noise, is delivered in a terrifying manner. After moments of rocking back and forth to gather guitar feedback and cries of “we were gone forever, gone, gone, gone!”, the song comes to a sudden close, and once again, the band is praised with overwhelming cheers and applause from the seated crowd.

Another lengthy groove-central track follows suit with the title of ‘Cathedrals Of Heaven’, another track from ‘leaving meaning.’. Perched within a steady 6/8 groove, this track refreshed my appreciation for this specific era of Swans’ material as, while a great album, ‘leaving meaning.’ did not overwhelm me with the vast array of instrumental and atmospheric range as ‘The Beggar’ did. ‘Cathedrals Of Heaven’ sees Larry engage in a stellar multi-instrumental skill, playing the set of percussion to his left while playing passages on the Mellotron on his right.

We are treated to one of the most angelic and transcendent songs of the night, ‘No More Of This’ (coincidentally, possibly the only song of the set to have a verse and chorus structure!). This track gave the impression of a traditional folk song with its lusciously-performed lap steel from Kristof as well as beautiful atmospheric usage of the higher end of the bass guitar from Christopher. This was such a bittersweet moment on the new record, so to actually witness it live was such a moment to behold.

Now, we come to the final performance of the night, a piece composed of three separate motifs in Swans’ discography, ‘Leaving Meaning’, ‘Cloud Of Unknowing’ and ‘Birthing’. The first of three, ‘Leaving Meaning’, sees the sextet tune into the final introductory drone with glistening electric piano keys from Larry and loose drum fills from Phil. A shuffle groove tightens the performance up as we transition into ‘Cloud Of Unknowing’, a track that remains steady, but overwhelming in sonic scope. Intensity is soon built beyond breaking point as Michael proceeds to place his guitar on the floor and raise his arms in a maniacal fashion, yelling at us to stand from our seats and sway with him. The third and final movement, ‘Birthing’, sees one final euphoric groove-builder followed by a segue into creaking bass and Michael’s soft vocals to round out the show with a high.

Swans are greeted with a complete standing ovation and waves of cheers and applause from the crowd with a final thank you from Michael before departing the stage. The crowd subsequently disperse into groups, whether they’re heading straight out to catch a train home, queuing to the merch table to get their items signed by Michael, or standing at the front of the stage to inspect the band’s equipment. Friday night at St. George’s Church proved to be a momentous evening of musical ascendancy courtesy of underground music’s favourite experimental rock titans. Finally catching Swans live after all this time of being a fan amplified my respect and appreciation of them for creating such monumental and groundbreaking music, even after 40 years in tenure. Swans are no longer dead.

Swans setlist:
‘Intro’
‘The Beggar’ (from 2023’s ‘The Beggar’)
‘The Hanging Man’ (from 2019’s ‘leaving meaning.’)
‘Ebbing’ (from 2023’s ‘The Beggar’)
‘The Memorious’ (from 2023’s ‘The Beggar’)
‘Cathedrals Of Heaven’ (from 2019’s ‘leaving meaning.’)
‘No More Of This’ (from 2023’s ‘The Beggar’)
‘Leaving Meaning’ (from 2019’s ‘leaving meaning.’) / ‘Cloud Of Unknowing’ (from 2016’s ‘The Glowing Man’) / ‘Birthing’ (currently unreleased)

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Further reading – The musicians:

Michael Gira – Vocals, words, acoustic guitar, production. Gira started Swans in NYC in 1982 and has been the primary songwriter, singer and producer throughout the years. During the Swans hiatus (1999 – 2010), he released several albums by and toured with a group called Angels of Light. Gira recently published a book of his short stories, journals, and words for music, called The Knot. He lives in New Mexico.

Kristof Hahn – Lap steel, various guitars, vocals. Kristof first joined Swans in 1989 and was a principal contributor to Angels of Light, and a core Swans member 2010 – 2017. Kristof’s other musical ventures have included the Rock ‘n’ Roll Noir band Les Hommes Sauvages and Kool Kings (with Alex Chilton). When not making music Kristof translates books. He lives in Berlin, Germany.

Larry Mullins – Drums, vibes, orchestral percussion, Mellotron, various keyboards, backing vocals. Larry is a trained symphonic percussionist. He played through the ‘90s with Iggy Pop and later with The Stooges. He played with Swans in the late ‘90s and was a main contributor to Angels of Light. His current main job is playing drums with The Bad Seeds. Larry lives in Berlin, Germany.

Dana Schechter – Bass guitar, lap steel, keyboards, vocals, piano. Dana played bass in and was a core member of Angels of Light. She subsequently released music and toured as Bee and Flower. Her current band is the power-duo, Insect Ark. Dana is an animator and designer in the film industry and currently lives in Berlin, Germany.

Christopher Pravdica – Bass guitar, sounds, keyboards, vocals. Chris played bass as a core Swans member in 2010 – 2017. Chris has played with the bands, The Gunga Din, Flux Information Sciences, Xiu Xiu, Yonatan Gat, Medicine Singers and has a project of his own called We Owe. Chris is a sound designer and lives in Brooklyn, NY.

Phil Puleo – Drums, percussion, vocals, piano, exotic wind instruments. Phil played drums with Swans in the late ‘90s and was a core member in Swans 2010 – 2017 and contributed to Angels of Light. Phil’s early NYC musical venture was Cop Shoot Cop and has since played with Human Impact, among others. Phil is an extremely talented illustrator and lives in Chicago, IL.

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