Godspeed You! Black Emperor played Roadrunner – 6/28
Post-rock greats GB!YE returned to Boston with support from guitarist Marisa Anderson.
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The first time I ever caught a headlining show from Canadian instrumental heavyweights Godspeed, way back in 2012 (that’s a blog post you don’t need to look up), seeing them in person felt rare and strange. The collective had been on hiatus for most of the time I’d been aware of them, reuniting for much-discussed live dates in 2010 and 2011 before surprise-releasing their fourth LP (and first in a decade) ‘Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend! at that very show. As always, they performed seated and in the shadows, barely acknowledging an adoring crowd. Their inscrutable mystique was a powerful thing.
Thirteen years later, Godspeed are certainly not out here stage-diving to a blazing light show, but they have become something of a reliable and less mysterious presence. We’ve now gotten five records’ worth of new music from the group and a pretty consistent touring schedule to go with them. What hasn’t changed, even if you’ve caught them a bunch during that span, is how raw and moving their brand of alternately bleak and transcendent post-rock remains every time.
Rescheduled from last November due to an illness in the band, June’s Boston stop came in support of album number eight, No Title as of 13 February 2024 28,340 Dead. The record, which makes explicit reference to the Palestinian death toll in Gaza, is a powerful and politically charged piece of work that was the main focus of their Saturday night set. I’d argue it’s the best Godspeed since ‘Allelujah, and the new songs held up seamlessly next to old favorites in “Monheim” and the show-closing “BBF3.” Illuminated in their traditional film loops of firestorms and desolate train lines, the band transported and transfigured over the course of their lengthy compositions, casting a spell that was uniquely theirs. Transfixing as ever.
Guitarist Marisa Anderson, whose reshaping of American primitivism was both familiar and surprising, played a gorgeous opening set to an unsurprisingly rapt audience. Check out photos from both sets below.
