In Continuum.

That is the impression I get when you are talking about the band Battles. I remember the first time I picked up the album Mirrored by Battles because of the raving reviews it got on the internet. I didn't quite get the hype at first until I took some time off to watch some of their live performances - and oh my, did that change my perception of them once and for all. I remember thinking to myself, this isn't the kind of music I have heard before, and they certainly sound like something right out of a science fiction novel. Battles does not sound human by any standards, not exactly because of the synthesized voices in the songs but how they layer all the different instruments and guitar on top of one another to create this progressive rock anthem. It is the kind of music that I haven't heard before, which was why I was really excited when I heard that Battles was coming to town, despite the recent episode when I almost sold my ticket for the Rachael Yamagata concert. In the end, I succumbed to Kania's advice, and I am going for that other concert as well. That's four concerts in a month, which is going to be something to look forward to definitely. In the mean time, I suppose, I better give some rest time to my ears with all the ringing that is still going on in the ear drums. 

The concert was held at the concert hall this time around, not exactly my favorite venue but good enough (Theater Studio tops the list for now). Dave Konopka strolled onto the stage alone at the beginning of the set and started turning some knobs on the dashboard. Very soon, a strange and eerie analog rhythm rang through the halls that became almost deafening at some points. The light from above also casted a creepy shadow on top of him as he moved from knob to knob, adding layers after layers of rhythms to the one he created just before. Then he is joined by the rest of the band on stage, with Tyondai on the keys, vocals, guitars and circuitry, Ian on keys and guitar, and the famous John Stanier on drums. The band kicked off their set with the first song in their Mirrored album Race Out, and then it became really clear that the evening was going to be one that is different from all the other concerts that I have ever been to. You just don't expect the expected when you are at the concert of an experimental post-rock band like Battles, because they take something conventional and twist it in such ways that you have no idea where it'd end up. Like the tracks on their album, you don't really know where they are going for the most part, or where they are headed. You are in it for this strange and fascinating ride, and even more so with them live on stage. 

The entire concert is pretty much one big song. Or rather, it is a medley of a bunch of songs. It reminds me like the Alive 2007 album by Daft Punk, with all the songs stitched and compacted together into this one long musical extravaganza. The band weaved through the set with melodic grid of crunching guitar riffs, trippy keyboards, over-the-top vocals passed through heavy effects and distortions, and waves of glitches layered over everything else. What happens is that the guitarist would, for example, play a base riff on stage and loop it over and over. Then on top of that, he'd then play another riff to layer over that original loop. He'd loop that, and then layer another portion of guitar playing on top. The same is done over and over again, until all the sounds get piled on top of one another to create this crescendo of sounds at the very end of each song. Which is also why my favorite track is Tonto, which really has a strong build up and a fascinating slow fade out towards the end. The same goes for every song that they have, slowly building up and then almost always reaching this height in the middle of the song that takes you off the ground. 

One thing that is worth mentioning is probably John Stanier. His relentless beats and the odd time syncopation, you can tell why he is being hailed as one of the best in today's business. The intensity that he brings to every single song is breathtaking, and you could see how focused he is at every single song, just taking every beat down with all the energy he has in his hands. Like I mentioned, the entire concert felt like this one long song, and he didn't have programs to aid him in the playing. His beats were not looped, and he had to play on and on throughout the set, which could be seen from the perspiration on his forehead, with me being all the way at the back of the crowd. 

I mentioned this before about live performances by bands. It is one thing to play live, and another when you can recreate the sounds in your album on stage. Psapp did it last Saturday, and so did Battles. They took everything from the album and amped it up ten notches or so, and everything sounded as good or better live. That is the measure of a band, when you can do everything you did in a studio, on stage. The entire concert was pretty short, and I don't think it clocked in at one and a half hours at all. Yet, it's not like the tickets were too expensive anyway, with me paying just forty-three dollars for my seats on the floor, I thought it was pretty worth it. I did head bang to the music so hard that my right leg was numb and I was sweating my head off by the end of it all. But it was enjoyable, it really was, a very different kind of concert from all the rest that I have ever been to. To get a taste of what Battles is like, scroll down to the bottom of this entry to catch the video of the performance somebody recorded from last night.

P.S. By the way, Neptina is who you want to take to concerts, because unexpected things happen with her all the time. First I was at the front row of the concert and the autograph session for Psapp. Yesterday night, I was face to face with the band members as they came out from backstage. I also bumped in Skye at the Esplanade underpass on my way to Citylink Mall. Oh, the awesome things that happen when I am with Neptina.