Monday 2 March 2009

sunnO))) - Corsica Studios, London (22-F-09)


sunnO))) and their live rituals are heavily interwoven in the story and reasoning of Thee Claw.
We have, after all, travelled all over Europe to experience them, and their unique, one-off shows gave us the impetus in the early days to do a bit of travelling and be part of something special.

We didn't get a chance to see them at all during the last twelve months, so when the chance to see the original two piece Grimmrobes lineup of Stephen O'Malley and Greg Anderson in a gallery space in London came up, we jumped at the chance.

Skum, SJW and I travelled down from the North early on Sunday morning, listening to some Jon Lord fuelled rock and roll on the way down. We made good time and even had enough time to hang around for a bit doing the whole tourist thing before meeting up with the lads from They are Cowards, who had done an in-store in the capital on Friday night, for a few pints and something to eat.
A little stroll over to check out the venue and it was back for a few more pints before the gig.

The venue was nice and small, with the performers being raised on a stage at one end.
This was the eighth (I think) time I have watched sunn, and was the first time I wore earplugs.
I have a family now and I want to be able to hear the music my children are listening to before I ridicule it.
Some of the other venues I have seen sunn in had no need for ear protection, but here I was right up against the stage and to be honest, it actually enhanced the performance for me.
Sunn, stripped to a two piece (Tos was also with them earlier in the pub, but wasn't visible onstage) instead of the usual guest ensemble, played their trademark slow, punishing drone that Les Paul would never have believed could come out of his beloved invention. The feedback and low, low rumblings are heavy metal stripped down to the most primal level, wave after wave of cyclical riff.
Near the end of the set I took my earplugs out and it's there again, the utter chaos that was there at the start of Thee Claw's adventures, all through the past two years and into the future.

sunnO))) scare Tony Iommi.

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