Tension 2013 Opening Acts

[m15a]

sorry if this isn't the right forum for this, but i thought it'd be good to have a thread to talk about the supporting acts for the tour, Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Explosions in the Sky, i.e., what people should listen to in preparation for the tour or reviews from people that have seen these groups live before.

EDIT: Gary Numan and Autolux are also opening for a couple shows each, so they can be discussed here, too.

and here's a list of the opening acts at most shows: http://www.sony.com/SCA/company-news...-now-str.shtml (http://www.sony.com/SCA/company-news/press-releases/sony-columbia-records/2013/nine-inch-nails-new-album-hesitation-marks-now-str.shtml)

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as for me, i just started listening to Godspeed You! Black Emperor today and i'm very pleasantly surprised. just from a few hours of listening, this is a group i'd definitely see by themselves if i was in town.

a bunch of their albums are on spotify and a ton of bootlegs are at: http://archive.org/details/GodspeedYouBlackEmperor

a list of their shows (with and without NIN) can be found here: http://cstrecords.com/gybe/

[fillow]

Can't imagine what kind of setlist are GYBE gonna play. 2-3 songs maybe? When I saw them live, the show clocked at 1h35min, and it was just 4 songs.

[Wretchedest]

The opening acts are two of my other favorite bands! I'm a die hard, long time fan, and once had the pleasure of shooting both of them for work, down in big sur. those shows were absolutely the most epic, beautiful things I have ever seen and some of the proudest moments of my life.

Godspeed You! Black Emperor is a big dark gloomy band who's body of work over the last 20 years has consisted of a whole 14 songs, most of which are more than 20 minutes long. Their size varies between 9 and 20 members (including violinist, celloists, glockenspielists... etc.), and they very rarely ever say anything and they're anarchists. They're like the biggest hipsters ever, and they were hipsters before there was a word for it.

with godspeed it's all about "F#A# Infinity". Everything else they do is good, but not as mindblowing as that first one. Their live show is excellent. they have a projectionist who manipulates multiple simultaneous reels, live set to the music. They tend to grab live tunes from all of their albums, so if your looking to familiarize yourself with their live set... just listen to whatever, really.

Explosions is much lighter listening and much more straightforwardly instrumental rock. They're like the poster boy for "post-rock". Their recent album, "Take Care, Take Care, Take Care" is possibly my favorite from 2011 and maybe their best to date. They'll probably play quite a bit from that and "Earth is not a Cold Dead Place" which is the album that was out at the time they became really famous because of Friday Night Lights. All oftheir albums are actually really good, so you can't go wrong, but having seen them a few times, these two are the ones to listen to if you want to be familiar with their set. They'll also likely play a shitload from "All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone" as well.

[BRoswell]

I'm so frustrated that Godspeed! isn't opening for them at the show I'm going to. They're one of my favorite bands, and I've always wanted to see them live. Not to say that I don't enjoy Explosions In The Sky, but if I had to choose between them and Godspeed!, I would choose Godspeed! a thousand times over.

[m15a]

do GYBE tend to do something different every show or is more fixed? just trying to decide whether to go to another show . . . :)

i'm honestly a little sad i just found out about this group. i missed so much!

[Wretchedest]

The set list is fixed but flexible, and the projectionist uses the same pool of materials but is improvising. If your trying to see them do something totally different on the same tour your better off saving your cash.

[Moebius]

I'm so frustrated that Godspeed! isn't opening for them at the show I'm going to. They're one of my favorite bands, and I've always wanted to see them live. Not to say that I don't enjoy Explosions In The Sky, but if I had to choose between them and Godspeed!, I would choose Godspeed! a thousand times over.

I agree completely. I still have no idea how Trent got GYBE to sign on as openers.

[thefragile_jake]

I'm so frustrated that Godspeed! isn't opening for them at the show I'm going to. They're one of my favorite bands, and I've always wanted to see them live. Not to say that I don't enjoy Explosions In The Sky, but if I had to choose between them and Godspeed!, I would choose Godspeed! a thousand times over.

Exactly how I feel as well. I discovered both bands in my first year of college back around 2006 and while I like Explosions in the Sky, I think Godspeed is just so much more of an epic act to see. I had the chance to see them at Pitchfork Festival last year but I ended up not going.

While I like instrumental acts, I wonder what bands Trent would have picked that would've been similar to the acts he chose for the Lights in the Sky tour? It's crazy to think that some of my favorite acts like Deerhunter, Crystal Castles and Boris had all opened up for NIN.

[Iran_Ed]

Is it wrong that I'm more excited to be seeing Godspeed for the third time than Trent for the first?

[Krazy]

Is it wrong that I'm more excited to be seeing Godspeed for the third time than Trent for the first?

Never thought I'd see a post like this on here. Whatever floats your boat though.

Listened to EITS on Spotify a couple months ago, they were OK I guess considering I don't get into that type of style music. I could see appreciating it more in a live setting assuming they have their act together. (No reason for me to believe they don't)

There was some discussion on this back when it was announced and would have to agree. Would've probably been better for ticket sales to get more well-known acts for openers.

[m15a]

Is it wrong that I'm more excited to be seeing Godspeed for the third time than Trent for the first?

no, as long as you're not one of those people that leaves (or worse, acts super bored) after the opening act. :rolleyes: