When we talked to Peter Silberman at the end of 2009 while they were touring Hospice, he told us that in The Antlers’ live show they aim to “fill up a lot of sonic space” and leave the songs “looser and a little more open-ended.” This looseness led to a different sound live than on record; one that was slower and airier, with a lot more focus on the vocals and synthesizer textures. These facets have gone into the recording of Burst Apart, but their sound is now even more complex, so have they managed to successfully find a way to translate the new songs live? And do the tracks from Hospice fit in with the new ones, even though they’re out of album context? The short answer to both is a resounding Yes.
The first thing to be noted is that The Antlers are now a four-piece live, like their albums are recorded. This extra presence puts a lot more emphasis on the guitars, which form a steady undercurrent before the usual explosion of sound that concludes the majority of songs, which can reach post-rock levels of grandness and volume.
The band opened with a trio of songs from the relatively straightforward first half of Burst Apart, with “I Don’t Want Love,” “Parentheses” and “No Widows” all playing out more or less as they would on record, but with a little extra bite given by the mere physical presence of the men onstage playing so vigorously, particularly Silberman, who moved his body with the music throughout and writhed passionately as if possessed at the most cathartic of moments. Darby Cicci’s work on his Korg synthesizer brilliantly recreated the haunting organ of “No Widows” and coupled with Silberman’s pitch-perfect vocals (consistent throughout the night), it set a new high-watermark for The Antlers’ live show.
That is, until the next song. “Kettering” was the first taste of their now much-beloved breakthrough Hospice, and as the chilling opening notes seeped between the languid fuzzy guitar intro the crowd cheered in recognition and excitement. The patient build of the song was teased out gradually, with the painful words coming out from Silberman’s mouth almost in slow motion, before the song reached its climax and the eruption of guitars far outweighed that of the recorded version or any live version I’ve seen the band perform previously. Over the thunderstorm of guitars Silberman howled chilling wordless vocals, superbly recreating the nightmarish introduction to Hospice. “Bear” followed, which lightened proceedings a little with its deceptively upbeat chorus, and, at its conclusion, one member of the audience decided to break the respectful intra-song silence by shouting “what a fucking band!” which pleased the band and crowd in equal measure.
The Antlers concluded the main set with three of their more relaxed new songs, layering guitars upon each other and using the Korg’s capabilities to conjure gorgeous soundscapes. Silberman struck the opening long high note to “Rolled Together” flawlessly, which got a spontaneous cheer of approval from the crowd. Cicci even got to show off that he’s been working at his vocals by singing back up on “Hounds” (he has a long way to go to match his bandmate, though).
With the encore of “Two” and “Wake,” The Antlers proved that they now have the ability to bring a level of potency to their live show that makes them indomitable when it comes to histrionic music in a live setting. The set may only have included 10 songs, but it lasted a good 70 minutes, with The Antlers showing their ability to expand their sound in many ways, some of which would come off as ponderous if tried by other bands, but from The Antlers it was consistently compelling.
The Antlers set list:
I Don’t Want Love
Parentheses
No Widows
Kettering
Bear
Hounds
Rolled Together
Putting the Dog To Sleep
—
Two
Wake
