Destroyer @ The Record Bar, 05/01/08

In a review of Lou Reed’s Metal Machine Music, pianist and avant-garde composer “Blue” Gene Tyranny wrote, “Sudden silences leave the listener floating.” As each side of the purportedly unlistenable album ends, the aural assault ceases. The abrupt quiet is disorienting; the listener is acutely aware that the piece has ended and is left adrift.

Similar conditions arose as we headed west towards Kansas City. A massive storm system ravaged the area and we were made to inch along the interstate behind a pair of taillights that grew dimmer as the rain fell harder; we weaved between lanes, pummeled by the wind. The rain drowned out the stereo and made conversation impossible. However, the noise was only noise when we passed beneath overpasses. The “sudden silences” that Tyranny spoke of accentuated the sound of the storm; we were only made aware of the cacophony after it had gone.

So too, listeners were only made aware of how obscenely loud Destroyer was after the encore. Thirty-six hours later, my ears still ring. I left the Record Bar floating, awash in a sort of cicada hum, keenly aware that the experience had ended. For those of you keeping score, Destroyer was tits.

Recollections:

Drummer Scott Morgan was sequestered in the corner, barefoot, looking like a GI Joe that had been brought to life for the occasion.

That point when the rhythmic strumming that kicks off “Rubies” gave way to the 1812 Overture bombast that follows? Awesome.

As expected, no material prior to 2002’s This Night was played in full. However, the coda to Streethawk track “Bad Arts” was tacked onto the end of “From Oakland To Warsaw.” (You’ve got the spirit, indeed.)

Bassist Tim Loewen and guitarist Nicholas Bragg excelled as backing vocalists, going so far as to whistle at the appropriate point in “Trembling Peacock.”

Opener Andre Ethier’s backing band joined Destroyer on stage for “Certain Things You Ought To Know.” Imagine Dan Bejar fronting M83 to perform a shoegaze lullaby.

Andre Ethier’s Jethro Tull impersonation was dead on.

[Ed. - Massive thanks to Steve Tulipana for admission to the previously 21+ show.]

(click to enlarge)

Setlist
Crystal Country
Dark Leaves Form a Thread
From Oakland to Warsaw
Leopard of Honor
Modern Painters
Rubies
Trembling Peacock
My Favorite Year
Foam Hands
New Ways of Living
Hey, Snow White
(Encore)
Certain Things You Ought to Know
Self Portrait with Thing (Tonight is Not Your Night)

[review by Adam Rux; photos by Zach Noland]