Review: Sleigh Bells

A live show can be graded based on several standards: How did the crowd react? How long did the band play? What songs did they play? How did it all sound?

By a couple of those standards, the Sleigh Bells show at the Beaumont Club on Thursday night was a rousing success. A large portion of the 600 or so fans in the place had a great time. You could tell that by how demonstratively they bounced and danced and pumped their fists through the band’s one-hour fusillade of half-live, half-canned electro/industrial/hardcore disco anthems. As hard and thunderous as it sounded all night, I wondered if the name of the duo of guitarist Derek Miller and Alexis Krauss (plus a second guitarist) might be a clever fusion of Slayer and the AC/DC song “Hell's Bells.” It was that heavy and loud -- loud like the Motorhead show at the Midland a couple years ago.

The noise whipped the crowd up front into several prolonged dancing fits. A few of those might have been involuntary, prompted by sheer laws of physics. More than once, the throb of the bass (there was no bass player) softly vibrated the sleeves of my shirt, and I was standing far back, behind the sound guy.

The diehards seemed to recognize nearly every song they were pounded with, though it was nearly impossible to discern the lyrics from Krauss, the duo’s vocalist. She is a dynamo, a banshee in constant motion who stirred and stoked the frenzy on the floor and adored for it.. When she crowd-surfed for a short spell, the place responded as if she’d walked on water. Her voice this evening, however, was just another fuzzy squall buried in the furious din of noise. I did hear her say “Kansas City” a few times. And I caught enough lyrics to say with some confidence that they performed “Crown on the Ground,” “True Shred Guitar,” “Tell ‘Em” and “Rill Rill.”

There was a decent light show, one that emanated from amid the stack of Marshall amps at the back of the stage, thus casting the band mostly as silhouettes. That was appropriate, I suppose, because the way the sound was mixed, the songs felt cast in thick, murky silhouette, too. I was advised to stick in some ear plugs and move up close, where it sounded better, but I stayed where I was. When the show ended, those up front emerged from the dance pit, shirts wet with sweat, in various states of exhaustion and glee. Clearly, they didn’t let a major detail like the sound mix get in the way of a rousing good time.

| Timothy Finn, The Star

Comments

[Steve Wilson]

You are the master of the unsaid. You describe what I would anticipate from a Sleigh Bells live show. Their second album actually exhibited a little better songwriting and production, but I don't think their audience particularly cared.

[CER]

Good write-up, Tim. I was in the back by the bar(which was vibrating) the whole night. My ears are still ringing. Atrocious sound mix.

[pellboy]

"It was that heavy and loud -- loud like the Motorhead show at the Midland a couple years ago" - TF

Didn't go to this show but this is an analogy I can relate to. That Motorhead show will forever be my standard going forward in comparing the loudness of another band/show. A complete sonic assault that didn't just affect the eardrums but my entire body. I felt like a heavily used tuning fork after that show. Nevertheless, good show.

[Jim]

I did as was suggested to you Tim—put in my ear plugs and moved up close. That was definitely the best way to experience this show. It was truly an assault on the senses and I enjoyed every minute of it.

[Reacher]

AC/DC does not have an album called Hells Bells.

[Tim Finn]

der. you're right. i meant song.

[The Truth]

I watched Sleigh Bells at a festival last summer. I thought the sound was awful then, too. So much so I left and watched another band's set.

[Scott Martinez]

The sound at The Beaumont is notoriously bad I hear. When we played there, I wasn't impressed. Surprising because their gear looks REALLY nice.

I remember though, looking over at the sound guy working the side stage, and he was texting during our set.

[Bob L.]

It's not the sound or the room, people, it's the band. Bands like Sleigh Bells know themselves that they have little to offer in terms of actual music. So, in turn, they throw loads of attitude and atmosphere at their audiences in hopes of drawing attention away from the music and shifting the focus on "the spectacle." It's a smart marketing ploy, but too much volume does stress sound systems.

[unbiased sports fan]

"sounds" like you should have checked out the gaslight anthem show.

[Hankster]

How was the G.A. show in Lawrence?

[Green]

I saw Sleigh Bells at the Midland and wore ear plugs, I was front and center, I met Krauss after the show and she said she remembered me because I was the one wearing ear plugs and then went on to say that it was very smart of me to do so.

[Rick]

Bob L, you don't say who you mean by "(b)ands like Sleigh Bells" emphasizing spectacle over music, but you should hear their CDs as the content's there.

Any good show straddles the line between spectacle and substance. When I attended the Einsturzende Neubauten show at Parody in the 80s, it was the biggest sonic assault I'd ever encountered, but anyone who was there knew that it wasn't at the expense of their music.

[Bob L.]

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy many bands who stress spectacle over music. However, Sleigh Bells isn't one of them. I bought their first CD and it just wasn't for me. To each his own as they say.

[Green]

What do you spectacle over music? There live show is a stack of amps and strobe lights. I don't see much of a spectacle on the stage. Are you speaking of a spectacle of noise or spectacle stage production?

[Nike Air Max 2009]

Although this is not really the type of music I live, it sounds like a good show. (TC), Can you describe their well-off numbness surprising cover? Like the album version, or are they changed?

What do you do spectacle of music? There are live performances is a stack of amplifiers and flash. I do not see a spectacle on the stage. What you say is a noise glasses or glasses production stage?

[peterbillionaire]

The sound at the Sleigh Bells show at the Beaumont was OK front and center. It got worse the farther you moved away from the stage. At the back of the room, it was way too boomy and muddy. Overall the sound was too loud, but it added to the excitement, which I assume was the point.