I had already taken my son to see Godspeed You! Black Emperor on their previous tour at the Barrowland and we both came away suitably battered by the experience. Their concerts aren’t really something you simply watch. They’re something you endure, absorb and emerge from slightly dazed on the other side.
This time, however, it was Emma’s turn.
The fact that it happened to be my birthday provided a convenient excuse, although if I’m being honest I probably didn’t need one. Godspeed You! Black Emperor are one of those bands that I find almost impossible to ignore when they’re touring. Every performance feels like an event rather than just another gig.
So off we went.
Trying to describe Godspeed You! Black Emperor to somebody who has never heard them is surprisingly difficult. They’re often labelled post-rock, but that barely scratches the surface. Their music can move from near silence to overwhelming crescendos that seem capable of rearranging your internal organs. Songs unfold slowly, building layer upon layer until the whole thing becomes something closer to a force of nature than a conventional rock concert.
The visual projections, the atmosphere and the sheer scale of the sound all combine to create an experience unlike almost anything else.
I was curious to see how Emma would react.
Over the years I’ve taken her to hundreds of gigs covering just about every style imaginable, from folk singers and singer-songwriters to psychedelic rock, shoegaze, punk, metal and tribute acts. Godspeed, however, occupy their own category entirely.
Thankfully, she got it.
In fact, by the end of the evening she told me it was one of the best gigs I had ever taken her to.
I had to agree.
There was something magical about the performance. The band were utterly locked in, the audience were completely immersed and for long stretches of the evening the room seemed suspended in a shared state of concentration. Unlike many modern concerts, there was very little distraction. People weren’t there for social media clips or singalong choruses. They were there to be transported somewhere else for a couple of hours.
And transported they were.
What has always impressed me about Godspeed You! Black Emperor is their refusal to compromise. They have spent decades making music entirely on their own terms, unconcerned with trends, commercial expectations or radio-friendly formats. The result is a catalogue of work that remains as powerful and relevant today as it ever was.
As a birthday celebration, it was pretty hard to beat.
Great music, great company and one of the most intense live experiences around.
Looking back, I suspect this will be one of the gigs Emma and I talk about for years to come. Not because of any particular song or moment, but because of the overwhelming impact of the performance as a whole.
The footage below captures some of the evening, although no recording can fully communicate the scale of what Godspeed You! Black Emperor do live. Some concerts are performances.
This felt more like an experience.
The Photos
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