Just because I’ve gotten older, I have not stopped going to shows as have so many of my peers. I do, however, go to a lot less of them. Long gone are the days of 24/7 tinnitus from having my ears assaulted nearly every night. If this is telling of the current music scene’s offerings or of my own waning interest, I can’t be entirely sure. I will venture to guess that it’s probably a little bit of both. One thing that I can be certain is that a band like Japan’s Boris will drag me out of my cave. They played the First Unitarian Church here in Philadelphia last night with Galaxie 500 alumni, Damon and Naomi.

Boris has definitely achieved a fairly large amount of hype in the last couple of years and has raised their visibility a bit as was evident by the crowd drawn to the show last night. By and large, it was a younger long haired crowd looking to pump their fists during the band’s more typical metal moments. I counted three T-shirts ironically referencing “mullets” in attendance and at least two shouts of “Slayer”. Apparently neither of these things ever get old. Sadly, this element was not so interested in Fursaxa’s folky psychedelic accoustic set and seemed to just tolerate indie veterans Damon and Naomi if only to secure a good watching point for Boris. I might even go further and say it’s a bit of a shame for Boris, who offer quite a bit more than just bringing the rock. Don’t get me wrong, they do indeed bring it. You don’t cart a Gong out along side your full stacks if you’re not prepared to bring it, but there is a lot more going on there in the quieter moodier and dronier moments that should not be overlooked. I don’t know, to me it just seems like going to a museum just to look at pictures of naked chicks to just come out and head bang. You’re missing out on a lot. Whatever, enjoy it however you do, I guess. As to be expected, Boris played a great set. I think the highlight

for me was the second or thrid song with Wata taking on the vocal duties. For this show Ghost’s Michio Kurihara was on stage for both Boris and Damon and Naomi, adding his noisey, post-rock, psych guitar stylings. Pretty awesome. This same line-up will continue for the rest of the tour.

10-03 Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg
10-04 Pittsburgh, PA - Kelly-Strayhorn Theater
10-05 Columbus, OH - Wexner Center for the Arts
10-06 Milwaukee, WI - Mad Planet
10-07 Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock
10-10 Bellingham, WA - Nightlight Lounge
10-11 Seattle, WA - Chop Suey
10-14 San Francisco, CA - The Independent
10-15 Los Angeles, CA - Echoplex
10-18 San Antonio, TX - The Ballroom
10-19 Austin, TX - Scoot’s Inn
10-20 Baton Rouge, LA - The Spanish Moon
10-21 Birmingham, AL - Bottletree
10-22 Atlanta, GA - The Earl
10-23 Athens, GA - 40 Watt Club
10-24 Carrboro, NC - Cat’s Cradle
10-25 Charlottesville, VA - Satellite Ballroom
10-26 Washington, DC - Black Cat
10-27 Annandale-on-Hudson, NY - Bard College
10-28 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
10-29 Boston, MA - Middle East Downstairs

Thanks to Joseph Gervasi for letting me use his photos from last night since I was unable to get any decent ones. You can check out more of his shots from this show here