I'm Going To A 'Gig' (Shock!) - Demdike Stare at Union Chapel

Going to see Demdike Stare this Saturday. I'd call it a 'gig', but that suggests the ancient phenomenon of a band playing 'live'...which is ancient to me anyway because the last band I saw 'live' was.............................yes, that long ago (so long that I can't remember). Bands still play 'live', so I've heard. I'd go and see a big band, meaning a Jazz big band, not tall, or fat, or both, playing guitars...and singing. The thought of anyone doing that in front of me is horrifying. Unless it was The Stooges...although I even turned down the chance to see them last time they played London...because it's been so long and my listening has consisted of so much that is not Rock that I couldn't face a Rock Gig, filled with Rock Fans...

One thing's for sure; Demdike Stare will not 'rock', except in the other sense of the word, which I believe is no longer used much, and may never have been applicable to Demdike Stare performing. Perhaps 'performing' is not the right word, since it suggests a performance, which implies doing more than standing hunched over...whatever it is they'll being twiddling the knobs of...

There will be visuals, which is the main selling point aside from their manipulation of pre-recorded sounds, which I hope will be warped into something markedly different from the album tracks. Otherwise, what's the point? I once swore to myself that I'd never pay to see knob-twiddlers...and here I am, three days from doing just that. But the The Union Chapel is such a perfect venue to see Demdike Stare that I couldn't resist. My hope is that they will evoke such thunderous spirits of darkness as to bring the place down...after I've left, of course.

Footnote: the last time I went to the Union Chapel was to see the Art Ensemble of Chicago...that was the early-90s, and they were a band that could always get me out of the bunker.