Epic Psychedelic Rock
Enigmatic psychedelic rock at its finest, A Place To Bury Strangers have the crowd fixated within seconds as their kaleidoscopic projections engulf the stage and audience and ‘Missing You’ explodes into our ears. The barrage of percussion, echoing guitars and frenetic noise melts away the distance between band and audience with fuzzy rock perfection. ‘Don’t Think Lover’ with its mellow refrain and hypnotic drumbeat is fabulous and puts a smile on everyone’s face. ‘I Know I’ll See You’ is frantic and really gets the crowd moving to the careering beats as frontman Oliver Ackermann paces the stage, thrashing his guitar around and slamming his tremolo at a hypnotic rate.
The projections add to the moody atmosphere with a black mesh of strobing squares descending over the band and almost casting them into total darkness at one point during an epic instrumental. Ackermann changes guitars by beating his first instrument into a pulp, dragging it to and fro across the stage like he’s taming a wild animal, before reappearing with a shiny Fender steed and delivering the rapturous closer, ‘Ocean’.
Plenty of bands carry of an enigmatic style, avoiding conversation with the crowd but tonight Oliver Ackermann’s empty stares into the room and aloof nature feel a little disconnected as if the band are doing what they do with no regard for the audience in front of them. Maybe this is what it takes for them to get into the zone, or maybe they’re perplexed by the dwindling audience as the gig stretches on beyond 11.30 and the crowd begin to disappear to catch last trains. The set feels slightly brief for a headline slot too, lasting just over 30 minutes, but maybe anymore fuzzy psychedelic rock would be enough to melt anyone’s head and the unwise who have braved the gig without earplugs are already clutching their ears halfway through. A Place To Bury Strangers definitely have to be seen live to be fully appreciated but this may not be one of their finest shows.