Review: Swans live at Variety Playhouse

Swans: Experimental rock. Noise rock. Post-rock. Industrial rock. Post-punk. Avant-garde.

None of those are wrong. As punk reacted to main-stream music, Swans entered the music scene what “reaction” really looked like. Punk was certainly more than a fashion style, but they owe many debts to the very artists they were moving away from. Swans took a bolder path to show what a thematic rebellion looked like: Power dynamics, dominance, submission, raw sexuality, psychological distress, human emotion, existentialism, the darker side of life. Nihilism.

And the music: Powerful, overwhelming, layered, expansive, abrasive, building, retreating. In this concert, most songs began simply with the constant thrumming of an open E-string on acoustic guitar, building in volume as the band joins in, and, per their reputation, to decibel levels that send venue staff to the far doors.

The concert began with a recording of “Big Louise” from Scott Walker, an avant-garde artist himself but with a song from his pop-crooning days. The song is beautifully orchestrated, but the lyrics speak of a woman, possibly a prostitute, judged by her neighbors resigned to a life without hope. It’s such a beautiful song, you wonder whether people listen to it.

It’s the perfect intro. The band even settled in their seats for half of it emphasizing it wasn’t house music. And with that, founder, singer, songwriter, and leader Michael Gira began with a joke. “I’m having a bad hair day. I look like your future President.” That’s an interesting test of worldview to figure out whether the subject matter over the next two and a half hours made the world brighter or darker.

The band played seven songs with brief pauses between, if anything a brief reset for the audience and perhaps the band. But probably not for Gira, who with each song and movement within it vocally and visually delivered in nuanced but dramatic fashion, pointing to his larger than life existentialist themes. Scott Walker sang his song sweetly. Gira makes his message clear, often in a chanting cadence or pronouncing judgment like a prophet of despair. No Latin was necessary.

“The Beggar,” from their 2023 album of the same name, began the set. Building and retreating over… twenty minutes? It defines the mood and what follows for the remainder of the evening, with Gira at times leaving his seat to raise his hands or swirl them above his head. It doesn’t seem to be about encouraging his band or playing to the audience. It’s his extrapolation of how the music makes him feel in the moment.

After “The Beggar,” one might have expected applause. For that song, as throughout the show, the crowd just absorbed the experience. No crowd noise between songs, no shouts during musical highlights, no attempted conversations with the band in between songs. In that way, it was like church. A church with really, really loud volume.

“The volume is used for selfish reasons, really. I want to personally atomize in the sound. I want it to obliterate me. I can’t help myself. I’m addicted to it. My goal is for my limbs and innards to festoon the rafters of whatever venue we’re playing at the time. It’s part of the fun. Also, elements such as sustain, resonance, overtones, and sheer physicality don’t exist sufficiently unless at a proper volume.” ~ Michael Gira, ScenePointblank.com

I don’t know if there’s any better summary about what you hear and see than how he puts it. Whether that’s how the audience takes it… who knows? What is known is that the band brought out many old fans but is also attracting younger ones. And there is no other experience like a Swans concert.

The band is touring in the U.S. through mid-May. Bring your ear protection. Insider note: The best place to sit or stand would be at stage left, or facing the stage, to the right, as Gira far more often faces that direction.

Merch included four T-shirts with different colors, a tour poster, vinyl and CDs. Notably, Gira promises to sign items shortly following the show.