Daily things: Ace Ventura, photoshoot, Ryan Jordan, Esplendor Geometrico

Oh boy, that title feels wrong lol.

Perfume

Black Orchid. Math complimented on it. I was all, yeah you bought it for me? Thanks! :))

Music

Yesterday I was on my own most of the day as Math went to participate to an event called Django Girls as a mentor.

I listened to Dots & Dashes, Azar Swan, ∆AIMON, Snow Ghosts, Seabound, Mlada Fronta, Mahr, and several EPs from M‡ЯC▲LL▲.

Photography

I did a small photoshoot in the living room. Just some portraits. I wanted to do some macro sort of photos but it turned into something different and I shot some very intense black & white portraits.

Punky was watching me so I shot a few photos of her too. :)

Watching

Oh my! I watched Ace Ventura, Pet Detective (had never seen it, not a big fan of Jim Carrey's funny faces). It was mostly for the Cannibal Corpse scene, but yeah, it was fun. Until it became homophobic and transphobic. Yeah. :(

Concert

But, but, I MOSTLY went to see Esplendor Geometrico live, guys! And I had managed to enroll Math, which I don't think he regretted one bit. It was for an evening of the Sonic Protest festival, and EG were scheduled to start a bit after 10pm so we left at 9:30 by taxi. I wasn't sure I how long I would be able to stand so that was the safest decision. I took my crutch with me, as much as an aid as a visible signal for people to look out for me.

We arrived in the middle of Ryan Jordan's set. Sonic Protest had warned about the seizure-inducing potential of his show (his everything, really. Be warned if you visit his site) so Math was quite brave to agree to go in the room. It was indeed the strobiest thing ever. But also, drony, trance-inducing, and pretty amazing... if you're into that kind of sensory assault. There were a few people curled against the walls of the room, back to the stage at that point. The sound was surprisingly not super loud (it's been a long while I haven't seen a show without earplugs). And lots of white noise (which is my favourite sound in the world).

Sonic Protest offers a little background on the guy: Ryan Jordan is a British artist, with a hacker background, now living in Hong Kong. He builds his own synths (and from what I gather, the strobe is an intrinsic part of the synth he played, triggered with the music he plays). He integrates foreign materials into the instruments he builds, such as minerals, like pyrite, as conductors. He also burns incense during his sets (sure, why not), and well, it's overall very extreme and I regretted not seeing the whole set.

"Ryan Jordan @ Noise Corruption II London on 7/09/2013" (Watch on YouTube)

So, yeah, this is what it is like. You don't see anything because the video is bad. The room is basically just strobes for the whole show, and you can't see anything on stage.

 

People literally fled the room once it was over. And Esplendor Geometrico took everyone by surprise by starting a bit early. After the strobe fest, if felt like the most minimal show ever. No lights to speak of, just a video screen and a huge, unique, console, from which both members were playing (so, no idea of the gear they use). But honestly, they don't need bells and whistles. As soon as they started playing, the noise and rhythm took over and people started to scream and dance. This time, it was ear-splitting loud, even with earplugs (we were right against the stage though).

I must admit I am not extremely familiar with EG's catalog, although I've listened to it casually. So I wouldn't be able to tell you what they played. The songs went one after the other at a maniacal pace and Arturo took the front stage for several songs to growl into a microphone. And as the tracks went mercilessly one after the other, and got more and more intense, the crowd surrendered. It was definitely palpable. As the loud repetitiveness shook their core, people started to waver, and withdraw into themselves.

I was struggling with the leg pain, which is why I kept an external look onto it most of the time, but I could see at one point that Math was completely gone, which was awesome.


Here's a crappy cell phone pic. I don't know why I keep doing that.

The set must have lasted about 45 minutes, which was plenty. It was literally the most powerful noise set I've ever seen. More and everyone would have turned catatonic (which was close, honestly).

Just an update for today: I feel fine! No problem with my leg whatsoever. So we'll see if I manage to keep it up with Laibach tonight.