Hypnotizing a capacity crowd for nearly two hours, Montreal’s avant rock collective Godspeed You Black Emperor! showed yesterday why it is truly a unique musical entity in today’s modern rock world.
With the single word “Hope” spitting from a projector in the rear of the Wexner Center’s Performance Space, Godspeed took the stage to a large round of applause, from the respectful crowd of sophisticated music fans. With the emphasis on the music and not the band itself, evident by not a single light shining on the band, Godspeed took the audience on a two-hour journey that began with a single violin note and climaxed to a ten-piece explosion of instrumental marvel.
Draped in shades of darkness, Godspeed transfixed its audience as three film projectors flashed and looped images of children, adults, animals, architecture and nature, often running all three projectors on top of one another.
Godspeed began each of its songs with just a single note or sound, adding violin, cello, percussion, guitars and bass as the symphony progressed to a crescendo. An explosion of sound would then envelope the room, taking the audience to a transcendental world of tones, only to have most musical movements regress to a single, drawn out note.
Barely allowing for downtime, Godspeed seemed to challenge the audience with its music. At times the music became difficult to listen to, as the images, which at the beginning were pleasant and light, seemed to grow disturbing and unattractive. Never hinting at their objective, Godspeed continued to ask for the audience’s full attention as it explored the inner psyche of mankind through sight and sound.
Building to a spiritual climax towards the end of the show, Godspeed was determined to make its musical presence felt and remembered in Columbus. Godspeed stretched its final cry to a maximum length, gripping the audience with its final burst of song, only to have it suddenly stop in the way it all began — with a single note and “Hope” stretching across the screen behind the stage.
2008 Woodie Awards