To be honest with you this was more an initiation ritual rather than a live gig and I enjoyed it so much that now after almost a week I still can’t stop thinking about it!
I’ve always believed that the only direct way to connect with a band is to attend at least one live gig and this live gig didn’t prove me wrong.
When it comes to Wovenhand, listening to their albums in any other way than ( during a live) only tells half the story about what this band is really about. But let me take things from the beginning…
It was the first time that I went to the Bush Hall and the first time I was seeing Wovenhand live. The Bush Hall is a surviving example of Georgian architecture with great acoustics and it seemed to be an ideal place for the dynamic music of the band which has played live there four years ago. Unfortunately the tube’s delayed schedule didn’t allow me to arrive on time for Desert Mountain Tribe which played very briefly. This is a new and promising group and having listened to their debut EP ‘Desert Mountain Tribe’ it is obvious that their sound is classic heavy rock with an emphasis on electric guitar solos. I will be waiting to listen more from them in the near future.
When a setlist starts with such a dynamic and perfect song like ‘Hiss’ you can only expect that this will not be an ordinary live!
Wovenhand, respecting the announced stage time, appeared at 9.15 and played with a remarkable energy and passion for 1 hour and 45′. Bush Hall was almost at its full capacity and from the moment David Eugene Edwards started singing in an unknown and incomprehensible language coupled with capturing gestures, he gained everyone’s attention.
A mystic and wise storyteller…
David Eugene Edwards is a sturdy personality which somehow embodies perfectly the concept of a lonesome native American cowboy. No, the result is not a figure bound with the past but a mysterious and very expressive storyteller whose moves while singing, somehow paint the picture that the lyrics describe very accurately.
Starting almost every song by whispering words in a weird dialect and gesturing by pointing at specific points in space or by drawing weird shapes with his hands in front or at the back of him, his presence was lifted to a whole other dimension. His abstract yet very clear gestures when put in the context of the lyrics transferred us to the settings where the stories of the lyrics are taking place. When he pointed at a point in space while singing
“A standing fire ever doth intercede
Rip the roof off and lower me down
Forever in my time need…”
…he guided me to picture a standing fire among the audience…
Until now I have no idea why at some points it was almost obvious to me that he was not a real person but the ghost of a wise man coming from the past to deliver some sort of message…
I’ve seen various talented musicians on stage and even spoke with some and it is true that the imaginative spaces that some inhabit are so extreme that it takes a lot of effort to catch a glimpse of them while sometimes this is nearly impossible. However what Mr Edwards created in me was unprecedented. I was inspired and I was willing to listen to him and actually meditate upon his stories.
At times I was even reminded of the ecstatic energy of Swans even though stylistically the two bands can’t be compared. Let’s not forget as well, that Wovenhand’s previous album ‘The Laughing Stark’ was produced by Alexander Hacke who, along with Mr Edwards, participate since 2012, in the reunion of the band Crime And The City Solutions which released a great album last year. The pre recorded samples that were used had a whole different character (abstract experimental which reminded me of the solos of old school industrial/minimal electronics bands) with the music that was played live. These samples were very well integrated so that they actually offered something positive to the sound instead of just making it rich.
Wovenhand in context…
This is a band with 13 years of history and a sound which mixes so many styles so successfully that it gives birth to another genre. Heavy rock, abstract experimental samples, instruments associated with the native American music tradition, American country music and acoustic folk are only some of the ingredients of their unique music. We might seek reference points to the band’s previous alter ego 16 horsepower, in order to understand and grasp the essence of the music style that make up the sound of Wovenhand. However, once they start performing we can only realise one thing; a band can only engage an audience if its members really are or can become the things that they are singing/playing about. In that way the live gig becomes a sort of personal confession. The drummer was extremely skilful at playing percussion very quickly and with dexterity, the bassist and the guitarist each entered their own spiritual and emotional universes while playing so they created very sincere and strong emotions.
The setlist made a journey back to the years of 16 horsepower which was the band formed by David Eugene Edwards in 1992 and broke up in 2005. By doing a cover of the older ‘Horse Head Fiddle’ Wovenhand made a link with the past. The rest of the setlist included the whole of the band’s latest release ‘Refractory Obdurate’ except ‘King David’, songs from the previous album ‘The Laughing Stark’ and ‘Kicking Bird’ from ‘Ten Stones’. If you had already listened to their last album before the show, you must have felt, as me, that the band gave to it, a whole other dimension which is lost outside a live performance. Especially ‘The Refractory’ and ‘Obdurate Obscura’ my favourite songs from the new album, were performed in such a passionate way that I wish they never ended.
I left with the impression that Wovenhand couldn’t have performed any better than this. I’ve said it before that in my opinion the London audience is difficult when it comes to expressing emotions during a gig. During this one though, everyone was completely enveloped by the band’s collective stage personality and even though communication of the audience with the band was not strong during the gig, just before the encore everyone had the chance to express for longer their very warm satisfaction. Unfortunately, I learned that due to specific customs’ rules bands that travel from the US can’t bring their merchandise with them as they would like.
Blaue Rosen 