Review: Keiji Haino/Charles Hayward Duo & support, Mon 17 Jun 19

Monday night for a gig can be a bit of an ask. Taking the train out of town for it knowing I
won’t be home until after midnight and with work in the morning is even more of an ask.
But as soon as I knew Keiji Haino and Charles Hayward were playing Hebden Bridge
Trades Club I got a ticket. That was back in February maybe.

Then there was the hernia. A lot of pain and problems standing for too long. But nothing,
nothing was going to stop me. And so to the gig.

Thesis, antithesis, synthesis.

First act up was Kelly Jayne Jones. She had a low-key start, but very quickly developed a
percussive roar and rumble. As well as electronics and laptop there were stones and foil
generating quieter noises. The performance included movement, almost dance, very
much a live art feel. Then there were processed vocals. Jones walked through the crowd
carrying the larger of the stones, echoing the processed vocals.

Jones rubbed stones together over the the foil. Faint sounds, but also dust. There were
spaces, silence, quiet sounds echoing into nothing. Focus, concentration, rhythms,
embodiment. Occasional feathers of dust blew from the stones, unless it was an illusion.
The dust gathered on the foil then was spread along it, up and down.

A triangle was struck and swung around. The vibrations ringing, dying, catching the ear in
different ways each time. Entanglement with foil, rolling with stones. A really fascinating
set. Utterly engaging. Recommended.

Next were Guttersnipe. A tall group. Like a couple of younger, skinnier, metaller, less
American Thurston Moores. Visual aesthetics aside this was great stuff. Fast, trebly,
distorted, fun and harsh.

Also, while we’re here, put out of your mind mid-noughties duos. Except maybe Lightning
Bolt, and even then, nah. Though a Guttersnipe/Lightning Bolt gig would be a great
prospect.

I enjoyed the set especially when there was more bass roaring through, mostly from the
drums. There were a couple of moments of good live art/performancey elements. Not in
the same way as Kelly, but the music didn’t lend itself to that sort of performance as
easily.

Speaking of. This was more recognisably musical, in the sense of using song structures
right out the gate. Albeit fast and loud and distorted.

If I had a nitpick I’d say I could have used more sonic variety. But it’s not that important.
Especially when the music blasts you over like this. Excellent.

And then what I was waiting for. Keiji Haino/Charles Hayward Duo.

Changes of tempo, shifting rhythms, fractured rhythms. Moments of quiet, moments of

sparseness, then opening up into an assault of noise. A pause. Angular. Drums, guitar,
then electronics. Moments of beauty and calm, before diving back into it.

Voice, full throat, a shredding roar. Slow down. Then fast again. The two sometimes
playing together in the way a band might, closely matched. Sometimes straying off to do
separate things, seemingly unrelated. Sometimes weaving in and out of each other. Often
all three in the space of 10-15 seconds. Complex rhythms, complex structures, complex
music. Until we’re back to brutal simplicity.

Then round again. Less live art than Kelly, less songform than Guttersnipe, but at least as
physical as either of those performances. Often more. It was sometimes hard to dance
with the shifts and changes, but never chaotic, never out of control.

Worth the ticket, worth the train, worth the pain from my hernia, worth robbing myself of
some sleep. Wild. If you get a chance to see this you have to take it. Though I think only
two other dates - although an album dropping on the 21st. And after a thrilling finish they
returned. Voice and loop station and drums. A howling improvised rant and roar and
pulse. But brief. Suddenly done and then just feedback and silence. Before I know it
walking in the dark through the park to the station, the sky lighter than expected.

Yes!