The End of the Ocean in Las Vegas

Somehow during my two week stay in Chicago there were nearly no shows – at least that I was able to find, at that wasn’t 21 and up (*ahem* Codeine).  Explosions in the Sky played the night before I arrived, sadly, but this past week back in Las Vegas I was able to get my live post rock fix – and it was better than I could have possibly thought, and, as regular concert attendee (okay, very few…) in Las Vegas would probably guess for a relatively smaller show that also included high school aged kids? Yeah, it was at Yayo Taco, and no, I’m not complaining.

Zvoov

After arriving midway through a decent opener, the first touring band, Zvoov, out of Brooklyn, NY, started up. Given that a good portion (well the headliner, and the support, that is) were post rock, I was expecting more in that line – yet while there was certainly no vocalist to be seen (just a mic for the occasional “thank you”) – Zvoov was something quite different, and enticingly different at that.

Zvoov

If you take the odd time signatures and transition bits on an average Opeth album, then gave Mikael Akerfeldt some heavily cocaine-lace weed, and asked him to flesh out those bits into songs, well than you might get sort of a picture of what Zvoov is. I guess the term math rock would fit, but it’s not what comes to my mind. Perhaps avante-garde advances into a jazz-induced progressive performance? No, that doesn’t sound quite right either.

Whatever it was, it was really damn good.

Past and Language

Next up was Past and Language, who’s “About Me” on Facebook proudly proclaims “We don’t sing. Ever.” – a perfect event for the gig, of course. P&L has been playing around for a good year or so now, and have been getting progressively better with every exhibition, heavily influenced by Explosions in the Sky and the like, which, in my opinion, is a good thing, and these unanimously high school aged guys have really got it going, and quite impressively at that – their live performance is only a testament to the fact.

Past and Language

Finally, it was time for The End of the Ocean, a five piece out of Columbus, OH. I admittedly didn’t catch the opening of their set, thanks to longer-than-expected lines at In-N-Out, but the portion I did manage to make was absolutely excellent.

The End of the Ocean

While only in the likes of a small taco shop, the tight knit band put out layer of layer and wave after wave of exuberant sounds, which washed over the crowd in a unanimous excellence. At times, the music was nostalgic (and some very-reminiscent-to-Alcest riffs), and others, hopeful, with some sorrowful moments, and many majestic, even, but all equally captivating.  The only disappointment came when they ended their set, despite cheers for more, but well, hopefully there will be a next time.

The End of the Ocean

The End of the Ocean

The End of the Ocean