A Place To Bury Strangers – The Grand Social – Live Review
by Killian Laher

Ear plugs were the accessory of choice for the visit of the self-proclaimed loudest band in New York, A Place To Bury Strangers.  The band have been on the go for 20 years or so and there was considerable interest in their merchandise, where you could get CDs, records, cassettes, T-shirts and guitar pedals (the band’s main man Oliver Ackermann designs guitar pedals).  Support came from Stella Rose Gahan who played a relatively short set of intense, heavy electro.  Her vocals were like a cross between Siouxsie Sioux and early PJ Harvey.  Accompanying herself on guitar and laptop, her set certainly whetted the appetite for the headliners.

But little could have prepared the crowd for the main act.  Ackermann and Co. came on the stage with a curtain of dry ice and strobe lighting.  Opening with We’ve Come So Far, Ackermann was like a man possessed by the spirit of Iggy and the Stooges, walking through the crowd with his guitar in the air during the first song made it clear this was not going to be your standard gig.  With incredible levels of intensity, provided by formidable drummer Sandra Fedowitz, Ackermann seemed determined to conjure up dark vibes with frenzied guitar work.  John Fedowitz anchored proceedings on bass, and provided the vocals on Bad Idea before the band descended into the crowd with some sort of technical contraption to play a set right in the middle of the audience!  With John Fedowitz holding it all together on bass, Sandra Fedowitz pounded away on drums and Oliver Ackermann twiddled knobs on a control panel while howling into his mic.  Which was, of course, bloody brilliant.

Returning to the stage for Keep Slipping Away, Ackermann took out his remaining energy on his guitar, whipping it within an inch of its life with a microphone cord, before swinging lighting rigs and the giant amps about the place during an incendiary I Lived My Life To Stand In The Shadow Of Your Heart, joined by a furious brew of guitar, bass, drums and strobe lighting.  There was a feeling that anything could happen… you couldn’t take your eyes off the band for a second!

The gig was absolutely bonkers in the best possible way, wild and unhinged.  Forget any other gigs, this was the best gig in many a year.  Well, it’s hard to imagine that set being topped any time soon.