Hoods and Moods

Tricky title for this post, right? Really trips you up, doesn’t it? Trips me up, at least.

If you know me (you probably know me), think about what kind of music you think I like. Think about what kind of music I might listen to the most. Ok now let me tell you something. The music I listen to the most is music that does not distract me when I am studying, reading or working, and I’ve found the music that best fits this description is droning music where nothing happens. Just long sounds that change every now and then. And one of my favorite makers of this type of music is a band called Sunn o))) (which I’ve learned is pronounced “Sun.”) It’s these two guys who play long droning heavy guitar “songs” where almost nothing happens. It’s the music equivalent of a lot of my favorite books.

Imagine my surprise several months ago when I found out that Sunn o))) was coming to Columbus! I snatched a ticket right up and then, on April 9, I found myself at that very concert. Here are the pictures of the sonic druids in “action”, and at the end of the post, some more words:

So, the thing about Sunn o))) live shows is that they’re known for being incredibly loud. I mean, look at all those speakers! And it’s true, it was very loud. I had my ear plugs in of course! But their droning noise just rattled by body and the room. The funny thing is a couple of times I took my earplugs out to “see” how loud it really was and I thought “Hmm, that doesn’t seem that loud.” It wasn’t painfully loud, just consumingly loud, if that’s a thing. I think the loudest band I’ve ever heard was Black Rebel Motorcycle Club a million years ago at the DV8 in Salt Lake. That was painful, everybody was plugging their ears with their fingers. As you can see from these pictures, people weren’t plugging their ears at Sunn o))), they were vibing out, enjoying the sonic journey. Honestly after about 10 minutes I was like “ok I get it” and could have just left because not much changed because not much happens in their “music” but I stuck it out and eventually started roaming the venue.

After the show, though, heading home I was like “what is that rushing sound, am I by a river?” I mean it’s not awesome to write this but basically my hearing was functionally gone. I’ve left a lot of shows where my ears were left ringing, but never left, uhh, not working? I wound up even taking a sick day the next day because I need to hear to do my work! But by that night things were back to normal and by my next workday I was listening to Sunn o))) on my headphones again. Their droning really helps me concentrate! I’ll keep them in my rotation for a long time, I think. But I probably won’t see them live again. Probably. I think.