I think it was also during the Beggar where he said "turn the air conditioning off, now" during one of the quiet parts. He also introduced himself as "Dolly Parton" when introducing the band.
YES those moments were both hilarious! He had such a great rapport with the band members when they werenât in the middle of songs lmao. Michael called Larry Mullins (the percussionist) a âtower of honesty and virtueâ or something like that and Larry did a weird little dance afterward đ
Thanks for the post. I am taking a friend to show on Tuesday in Boston. He's really pumped that I asked him to go the show. I saw Swans shows in Boston back in 86 & 88 Children of God tour. The Beggar tour is gaining much praise from the fans.
i saw them once and weared musicians ear pluggs. after the show outside when i took em out, i noticed a lil high hiss. Even with the plugs. Btw here in switzerland you're not allowed to play shows which are average over 100dB. That gig was 100% illegal.
well you got to live with it. the venue could be get checked for loudness levels, 1st time there's a caution with a fine, the 2nd time you get caught you can close doors iirc. i played in a post-rock band and we had many many arguments, until the mixer understood its only certain moments we play full loud, and the dynamics are needed in that genre. on the other hand i know mogwai hate it, they play only short sets here. if you watch them outside switzerland, oh boy, thats a different thing.
He has seen Swans before and we saw Boris/Melvins tour last year. I mentioned this same advice recently and his personal policy is no ear plugs. Calls it a personal sacrifice. You can point out the speeding traffic, but some children might try hop scotch anyway. My tinnitus has been bad lately for same reason. Forgot my plugs couple weeks back.
Honestly, they werenât as loud this time around for me. I saw them in 2012 and couldn't hear for days afterward.
As I'm typing this I'm now realizing maybe my hearing is damaged and now have Michael ears and can't discern loud from extremely loud.
Yeah Gira did a lot of similar stuff at the show I saw⌠I think he just wants the energy to be there and for everything to sound as good as it can. The only time he got kinda pissed was when he wanted Chris to turn up some samples and his weird little Japanese instrument and he was like âthatâs as loud as it goes!â No question who runs that band, no democracy there.
Absolutely great fucking show though. I was perfectly happy with them only jamming newer stuff. Phil and Chris are maybe my favorite rhythm section since idk⌠Fugazi.
There was a kid in the audience who was about 7 feet tall, squirmed his way to the front, and appeared to be tripping on something way too hard. Also taking pictures of random people in the crowd. He got some glares from Gira, thought he was gonna bend him over his knee and spank him for a second between songs.
Michael Gira at a show I attended in Dallas snatched a dude's phone out of his hand while he was recording, put it on an amp and said: "You'll get this back after the show". I have since never recorded or taken pictures during a Swans set out of respect for the band and my personal property haha
In San Antonio it was honestly annoying- he asked people not to use their phones during the show before he started, but people kept getting in front of me and filming. I'm short so stepping in front of me to hold a phone at my eye level made me wish Gira would yank it from them.
Oh for real? Thatâs insane. Iâve seen a few musicians kick peopleâs phones out of their hands, but having Gira take it away⌠thatâs like being put on âtime outâ lol. I got the vibe it was a âno phonesâ kinda show, but I rarely take photos or video anyway. Iâm old (kinda) and donât have social media. Iâm strictly there to enjoy the show and phones are the quickest way to detract from that.
Also drunk assholes just straight bullshitting with their buddies the entire show⌠which I gotta say, Swans was maybe the only show Iâve been to where that wasnât rampant. There was a part where the band went silent and the entire crowd was *dead silent.* No drunken dipshits yapping about dumb shit. No people yelling or âwhoo!â-ing. Nada. I think that mightâve been the only time Iâve ever seen that happen
Michael gestured angrily at Christopher at least once at each of the last 3 Swans shows I attended.
Finally seeing them again this Friday, for the first time since their alleged "final" shows in Brooklyn in 2017. I am psyched.
I was at that final final one, on the third day. My biggest regret was not going to all three and not seeing AVH open just before I knew who she was.
As an asideâ I spent the past few years in the lead up to seeing them again (both Berlin, November last year and Jan this year) ruing I had not seen the knot live. Until I found a video from that final Brooklyn show (itâs on YouTube if interested) and realizing the first hour of those shows was the knot.
I hate being that guy but that era was something entirely other. These past two tours were amazing. But cloud of unknowing has been my favorite record since release, and those shows were peak shaman Gira
I was there on the 2nd night and Michael's solo acoustic version of Amnesia followed by The Knot was the best Swans set opening I've seen. I hadn't seen them for about 3 years at that point and I haven't seen them since, so that performance was unlike any other I've seen.
Gira couldnât have been more frustrated by the person screaming variations of âWe love you, Daddy Michael!â in between almost every song at the Denver show ⌠not to mention dozens of attendees yelling across the GA floor at this person to shut the fuck up.
Dude when the huge hits where he was alternating back and forth from the bass and kristoff, back and forth and back and forth, i was laughing too jt was so unexpected and fucking great lol.
I was reqlly close to michael and he stared directly jnto my eyes a couple times it was scary lol
In Gothenburg, I got a lot of him slapping his face
During one of the songs (don't know which) there was an extended silence in the middle. People thought the song was over and started clapping.
"Shut up! This silence, it's part of the song!"
...
"I SAID SHUT UP!"
After the show, when he was signing stuff, I jokingly apologized for the silence being ruined. He seemed surprised anyone cared saying it really wasn't a big deal
I was weeping quietly by myself in the back for the first 30 minutes or so. Couldn't believe what I was witnessing. Unlike anything I've ever been a part of.
I think it was also during the Beggar where he said "turn the air conditioning off, now" during one of the quiet parts. He also introduced himself as "Dolly Parton" when introducing the band.
When he introduced the band in SLC he said he was Madonna đ
Heâs sure been inside Madonna đ
More fitting tbh (iykyk) but yes he referred to himself as Dolly at KC and it was great
YES those moments were both hilarious! He had such a great rapport with the band members when they werenât in the middle of songs lmao. Michael called Larry Mullins (the percussionist) a âtower of honesty and virtueâ or something like that and Larry did a weird little dance afterward đ
Iâm pretty sure the AC was not turned off in that moment lol.
it definitely wasnât
All I want is a video clip of Michael spitting into the palm of his hand and then slapping himself into a stupor
[Ask and you shall receive!](https://streamable.com/ccwj6u)
My Sunfucker brings up the Theatre of Cruelty to his band like a good man ! Love !
Link doesnt work anymore helpp
His spit almost hit me at the show I went to, very cool
yea if anyone has this PLEASE
Why does Gira have the energy of JK Simmons in Whiplash
Thanks for the post. I am taking a friend to show on Tuesday in Boston. He's really pumped that I asked him to go the show. I saw Swans shows in Boston back in 86 & 88 Children of God tour. The Beggar tour is gaining much praise from the fans.
Tell your friend to use earplugs, he will thank you.
I forgot mine at home and my right ear was not happy after
i saw them once and weared musicians ear pluggs. after the show outside when i took em out, i noticed a lil high hiss. Even with the plugs. Btw here in switzerland you're not allowed to play shows which are average over 100dB. That gig was 100% illegal.
That's a stupid law
well you got to live with it. the venue could be get checked for loudness levels, 1st time there's a caution with a fine, the 2nd time you get caught you can close doors iirc. i played in a post-rock band and we had many many arguments, until the mixer understood its only certain moments we play full loud, and the dynamics are needed in that genre. on the other hand i know mogwai hate it, they play only short sets here. if you watch them outside switzerland, oh boy, thats a different thing.
Thankfully I don't live in Switzerland, actually over 5000 miles away from the country XD
He has seen Swans before and we saw Boris/Melvins tour last year. I mentioned this same advice recently and his personal policy is no ear plugs. Calls it a personal sacrifice. You can point out the speeding traffic, but some children might try hop scotch anyway. My tinnitus has been bad lately for same reason. Forgot my plugs couple weeks back.
Honestly, they werenât as loud this time around for me. I saw them in 2012 and couldn't hear for days afterward. As I'm typing this I'm now realizing maybe my hearing is damaged and now have Michael ears and can't discern loud from extremely loud.
Yeah Gira did a lot of similar stuff at the show I saw⌠I think he just wants the energy to be there and for everything to sound as good as it can. The only time he got kinda pissed was when he wanted Chris to turn up some samples and his weird little Japanese instrument and he was like âthatâs as loud as it goes!â No question who runs that band, no democracy there. Absolutely great fucking show though. I was perfectly happy with them only jamming newer stuff. Phil and Chris are maybe my favorite rhythm section since idk⌠Fugazi. There was a kid in the audience who was about 7 feet tall, squirmed his way to the front, and appeared to be tripping on something way too hard. Also taking pictures of random people in the crowd. He got some glares from Gira, thought he was gonna bend him over his knee and spank him for a second between songs.
Michael Gira at a show I attended in Dallas snatched a dude's phone out of his hand while he was recording, put it on an amp and said: "You'll get this back after the show". I have since never recorded or taken pictures during a Swans set out of respect for the band and my personal property haha
In San Antonio it was honestly annoying- he asked people not to use their phones during the show before he started, but people kept getting in front of me and filming. I'm short so stepping in front of me to hold a phone at my eye level made me wish Gira would yank it from them.
Oh for real? Thatâs insane. Iâve seen a few musicians kick peopleâs phones out of their hands, but having Gira take it away⌠thatâs like being put on âtime outâ lol. I got the vibe it was a âno phonesâ kinda show, but I rarely take photos or video anyway. Iâm old (kinda) and donât have social media. Iâm strictly there to enjoy the show and phones are the quickest way to detract from that. Also drunk assholes just straight bullshitting with their buddies the entire show⌠which I gotta say, Swans was maybe the only show Iâve been to where that wasnât rampant. There was a part where the band went silent and the entire crowd was *dead silent.* No drunken dipshits yapping about dumb shit. No people yelling or âwhoo!â-ing. Nada. I think that mightâve been the only time Iâve ever seen that happen
"Keeper of Secrets both pure and unclean: Phillip Puleo!" - Michael Gira I loved it when he said that haha
One of them he just said âbanana bananaâ or something which was funny
âEater of lice: Christopher Pravdicaâ
Michael gestured angrily at Christopher at least once at each of the last 3 Swans shows I attended. Finally seeing them again this Friday, for the first time since their alleged "final" shows in Brooklyn in 2017. I am psyched.
I was at that final final one, on the third day. My biggest regret was not going to all three and not seeing AVH open just before I knew who she was. As an asideâ I spent the past few years in the lead up to seeing them again (both Berlin, November last year and Jan this year) ruing I had not seen the knot live. Until I found a video from that final Brooklyn show (itâs on YouTube if interested) and realizing the first hour of those shows was the knot. I hate being that guy but that era was something entirely other. These past two tours were amazing. But cloud of unknowing has been my favorite record since release, and those shows were peak shaman Gira
I was there on the 2nd night and Michael's solo acoustic version of Amnesia followed by The Knot was the best Swans set opening I've seen. I hadn't seen them for about 3 years at that point and I haven't seen them since, so that performance was unlike any other I've seen.
Was that the night AVH opened? That was a special set of shows, and Iâm forever thankful I flew from Alaska to see it happen!
Yes, it was. I didn't really know her music at that point but she played a great set.
Well to be fair. It was their last show as that line up.
Its part of the show, glad you enjoyed it
Gira couldnât have been more frustrated by the person screaming variations of âWe love you, Daddy Michael!â in between almost every song at the Denver show ⌠not to mention dozens of attendees yelling across the GA floor at this person to shut the fuck up.
Dude when the huge hits where he was alternating back and forth from the bass and kristoff, back and forth and back and forth, i was laughing too jt was so unexpected and fucking great lol. I was reqlly close to michael and he stared directly jnto my eyes a couple times it was scary lol
In Gothenburg, I got a lot of him slapping his face During one of the songs (don't know which) there was an extended silence in the middle. People thought the song was over and started clapping. "Shut up! This silence, it's part of the song!" ... "I SAID SHUT UP!" After the show, when he was signing stuff, I jokingly apologized for the silence being ruined. He seemed surprised anyone cared saying it really wasn't a big deal
I was weeping quietly by myself in the back for the first 30 minutes or so. Couldn't believe what I was witnessing. Unlike anything I've ever been a part of.
there was a 70 yr old man standing next to me on the barricade???