Ramblings of a Redhead Music Snob

Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Kurt Wagner
Church of St. Paul The Apostle
3/17/11

Words are indescribable for this concert. It might have been one of the best shows Ive ever seen. In a darkened church with several candlelights overhead and just a stream of projections that had minimal images – it was just us and a band. A band that you could barely make out – but the sound was overpowering. It echoed off the walls  – the acoustics are amazing in there!

And with that – here is what I wrote during the show. I have no clue what song was what – and if these were distinct different songs – but here were my thoughts (solely based on imagery and the music).

1 – Hope Hopelessness Despair war desert dry sad

2 – happiness flowers hope hopefulness uplifting sky crescendo

3 – cat animal nature dark moonlight peace ocean road tree wind gray cold water nowhere heavy thunder rain bird warning leave get out impending doom

4 – the anatomy of melancholy solemn tired weary forward new life future awakening rebirth alive crawling screams falling disaster

5 – strength up pushing escape running faster locomotive tracks end racing too fast taut black death fear agony ‘why dont you just fucking kill me’

6 – exodus leaving odyssey ‘weve arrived’ new trip oceanliner titanic massive lonely seas ‘not going to make it’ calm solemn ‘at peace’ hope a rescue ‘save us’ ‘so close’

7 – beauty desert longing burning eternal engulfing sucking air ‘no breath’ finality overpowering

8 – bombers overhead chills destruction emptiness gone

9 – ‘a slow wakeup’ red haunting homeless decay apocalypse ‘there but not here’ media 2.4 hrs ‘Wall Street’ ‘fall of economy’ clashes anarchy ‘fall of society’

Setlist:
hope drone
gathering storm
monheim
albanian
moya
09-15-00 outro
chart #3
world police and friendly fire
the cowboy
the sad mafioso