My first introduction to Six Organs Of Admittance occurred back in 2004. Six Organs, aka Ben Chasny, was opening for Current 93 at The Music Gallery. There he was, one man on stage with a guitar making some amazing sounds. Intricate fingerpicking, drone based compositions – there was a lot to like about what he was doing. In short, I was mesmerized and that night I became a fan. However, in the intervening years I had not seen him live again. And eight years later, Six Organs Of Admittance is not really the same thing it was then. For the recording of his latest album Ascent, Chasny has absorbed his former bandmates in Comets On Fire into the fold and Six Organs have become all the mightier for it.
While the sound may have changed somewhat, the general vibe of the band is more or less the same, just more beefed up, more intense and way more amplified. And truthfully, you’ve got to admire a performer who’s willing to change things up a bit. And if I wasn’t quite feeling it as much as I did the first time, then chalk that up to The Drake not quite having the same atmosphere as The Music Gallery and also me being generally too old and tired to fully rock out on a Wednesday night. Probably mostly the latter.
That said, the band sounded great as they ran through several heavy, noisy, psychedelic guitar jams. While the bulk of the set was far removed from the mostly acoustic based stuff Chasny’s known for, the encore did provide an opportunity to experience something closer to that as Chasny returned to the stage sans band to run through a stellar rendition of “Words For Two” followed by a cover of Epic Soundtracks’ “Roll The Stone.” Meanwhile his bandmates made a beeline to the bar at the back of the room where they too enjoyed the rest of the show.
Setlist:
1.They Called You Near
2.Waswasa
3.Solar Ascent
4.Close to the Sky
5.(Unknown)
6.A Thousand Birds
7.Even If You Knew
8.Redefinition of Being: Creation Aspect Fire
Encore:
9.Words For Two
10.Roll the Stone