Shellac, HDU - Centennial Milk Bar, Raglan, NZ, 2/3/00 |
A good size crowd has gathered at the friendly Milk Bar when HDU get things rolling around 10.30pm. These guys really know how to build up the tension in a song until it's almost unbearable and then bring it back down again, lulling their audience into a false sense of security, before violently jerking them out of it with a blast of feedback or a violent smash of the crash cymbal from drummer Dino - as a rather cosmic local lady quite rightly pointed out, HDU were "blowing everyone's mind maaan"
Go outside for some fresh air and a drink and then join the beeline for the door as Shellac take the floor, Steve Albini in characteristic hunched and jerking posture, drummer Todd Trainer bashing it out and bass player Bob Weston keeping a steely eye on the audience (who are quite literally at his feet) while coaxing particularly nasty noises out of his bass.
Not only do songs from 'At Action Park', 'Terraform' and their forthcoming album all get a good working over but they kindly stop every once in a while for a question and answer session, where audience members get to annoy them with questions about Big Black, Brick Layer Cake and the new album. They didn't seem to happy to take requests (in fact, they refused) and instead of an encore they had the crowd sing 'Happy Birthday' to Todd Trainer.
Much like their albums, Shellac live are harsh, abrasive and not to be missed. Great to see so many people there.
Click on the
thumbnails below to view the larger images
(and use the 'back' button on your browser to
return to this page)
Back to reviews page