 Media Credit: Nick Feeley The crowd was behind Wild Eyes in its recent performance at TT the Bears.
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There are many different types of noise. There's the noise of your surroundings - cars honking, construction equipment operating, trains rattling. There's the noise of animals - the baying of dogs, the squealing of cats - you get the idea. And then there is the noise the Wolf Eyes create - brutal, turgid, violent, and completely enthralling.
On Tuesday night, the Ann Arbor three-piece brought their hardcore-meets-a-brutal-murder-in-a-scrap-metal-heap to TT the Bears in Cambridge and, one near-riot later, turned in a performance that bristled with danger and charisma.
The night began (for me at least; I missed Prurient) with Cambridge-based improv-rockers Sunburned Hand of the Man. The group has been known to turn in performances that can be incendiary or disastrous, depending on the chemistry of the players.
Tuesday night, its folk-damaged improvisation fell somewhere in the middle. Though it managed to conjure up several passages of intense interplay and intricate guitar telepathy, the fact that they were missing several key members of the band showed as the performance lacked the intense improvisation of previous performances. The band, though, did hit on several stretches of inspired playing, and managed to turn in a respectable set despite the setbacks and the clear signs of road fatigue.
Wolf Eyes set up next and immediately launched into a turgid blast of raw feedback and warped vocals. Though the band's music can be described as extremely experimental and inaccessible, the fact is that its stage show is a hilarious hodge-podge of "Bill and Ted"-style pronouncements, alcohol-fueled shenanigans, and shaggy male bonding. This no doubt affords it an edge over other like-minded groups such as Hair Police and even provides them with a small amount of accessibility (its last album was released on Sub Pop, if that tells you anything). One of the most surprising aspects of the show was just how into the band the audience was getting. During the songs with more beats, the audience hurled themselves around the room with abandon, something the band fed off of and no doubt appreciated.
Announcing that its next song would be dedicated to a good friend, the band launched into "Village Oblivia," a rambling assortment of twisted screams, digitized beats, and harsh electronics. At this point, the crowd seemed to uncork. It surged forward, knocking over a monitor onto the stage, which in turn knocked over an equipment stand. Unperturbed, the band marched on. An audience member grabbed the crate and began spinning around with it, leading to an altercation with the bar staff.
As the last blast of feedback left the speakers, the bar staff announced that everyone had to leave, prompting a chorus of expletives. Someone tried to steal the doorwoman's purse, prompting a chase up Massachusetts Avenue. Needless to say, it was a bizarre but strangely fitting coda.
Whether Wolf Eyes incited this behavior can be left up to debate. Certainly the band can claim credit for having whipped the audience into a frenzy. Ultimately, though, the fact is that the band proved that despite the harsh nature of their music, they are a force to be reckoned with live.
2008 Woodie Awards
