So after buying my ticket back in January, I waited with baited breath for 3 months for the day to come. Last Saturday I made my way down to Bristol on the train and made it to the venue an hour early. A quick stop off at the pub beforehand brought me into contact with Micheal Gira, Swans front man, earlier than expected. He was in the beer garden, sat in his cowboy hat, just 2 hours before going on stage. He brushed past me on his way out and I must admit it was a bit of a 'fanboy' moment.
Anyway, I got inside and found my way to the front, right up in front of the main amps. As is typical with any live performance, it always seems like you're waiting AGES for the performer to come on stage. At 7:30 Xiu Xiu came on. At least, Jamie Stewart was there. I didn't see the other half of the duo Angela Seo at all. He came out and played a blissful set. Set behind his guitar was lots of distortion and what sounded like rainforest noises. It provided the ambiance for a really intimate performance. Being up front, I could see Jamie putting so much into every word. He played about 8 songs, ritualistically taking a sip of his drink and looking up to the heavens after every song, then jotting down notes on his lyrics sheet. Overall I really liked the whole performance. It provided a perfect contrast to the hard hitting Swans. The calm before the storm, if you will. 
After Jamie finished up it was time for Swans to come on. Gira strolled on to the stage casually and starting tweaking things immediately, as did the other band members. They took a while to get going but boy, when they did, it was really something. Gira started off playing a quieter, lyrical song, singing "There are millions of stars in your eyes." It was really powerful. After this he brought on a sonic onslaught, seemingly from nowhere. With a single stamp of his foot, the band unleashed all of its power. I loved it. For many, something this loud and abrasive would have seemed like a mess. But with Swans you just have to go for it, throw yourself into the whirlwind of sound and eventually you will find something that grips you intensely and purposefully. This piece went on for what seemed like 10 minutes or more, with Gira initiating more and more noise with every stamp of this foot. He played another song similar to this before breaking into the first song I was familiar with, 'Mother Of the World'. The song absolutely blew my mind. The relentless beat progressed into an almighty symphony of sound. The drums were abrasive as hell and in the end Micheal's vocals were all but obscured by the distortion.
The band went on in fine style, providing my senses with a right old kicking. Gira's movement was captivating throughout, he danced and dashed about the stage like he was possessed in sometimes rather erratic fashion. Frequent jamming with the bass player was intense to watch as Gira looked to inspire him to play harder and faster with every stroke. On what felt like the funkiest song in the set, Gira turned to band and appeared to almost conduct them. He became at one with the rhythm of the band as the audience were really starting to become at one with it too. One of my favourite songs of the set was the song where Micheal sings "Put a knife in me." For some reason every time he sang that the hairs would stand up on my neck. It was quite profound. The band continued to bring a constant supply of pummeling music, bringing in horns towards the end that added further to the pounding bass. Nearer the back end of the set, Gira broke into perhaps my favourite Swans song, the title track from The Seer. Wow. Like 'Mother Of The World', this song was just so damn relentless! The band played for at least five minutes before Micheal sang the repetitive "I see it all, I see it all, I see it all...", to which many of the audience joined in. That for me made the show, it was truly mind expanding and entrancing to be so close to.
The band played for a little longer and by the end it amazed me that Micheal Gira and the whole band still had the energy to move. I knew I was spent. The whole experience was so absorbing, so overwhelming, so god damn loud that I think it ended at the perfect time. At the expense of the ringing in my ears and the possible damage to my iPhone 5's microphone, it was one of the best 20 pounds I've ever spend. Looking back on it, I am really lucky to have seen Swans live here in England. I thoroughly recommend you go and see them at some point, you won't regret it!
Some short clips from the show and a short spoken word video will be up on my YouTube channel very shortly - http://www.youtube.com/user/MrDylanRecords?feature=mhee
