SunnO)))

By now I’ve been to over 200 concerts since 1984 (AC/DC).   And even now I can say I’ve seen a new and different experience.  This was the SunnO))) show at the (new) 9:30 Club on Sunday, March 12, 2017 AD.

Old vs. New.  The old 9:30 Club was at 930 F Street in DC, not far from the Verizon Center and the Spy Museum, also Ford’s Theater.   It was small, cramped, and had a bizarre layout that provided a small triangular floor space in front of the stage, with deeper passageways;  you could still hear the band play, but the line-of-sight to the stage was somewhat limited.  At that location we saw Faith No More, Hawkwind, Nik Turner’s Hawkwind, and Type O Negative.

Then they moved up to V Street & Florida Ave, up near Howard University and Seventh Street.  While the location is not as convenient – though street parking is far easier to find – the club itself is much larger and has a more conventional layout.   There’s a basement bar with monitors for the stage.  There’s a main ground floor with a large open space of standing room with excellent views of the raised stage.  And there’s a second floor with a bar opposite the stage at the back – where you can sit and watch the band, although seating is extremely limited – and balcony areas facing down.   You can either stand up at the railing and look down at the stage, or sit back on stepped seating areas, though your view will be obstructed by anyone standing at the railing, and at a heavily attended show (this one wasn’t) you wouldn’t be able to see anything, in which case you’d have to stake out and keep a railing position OR stand downstairs on the main floor, if you want to actually see the band play.

The band itself plays music which could best be described as “heavy ambient”.  Far more so than Tool.  Much more.

The band members dress as monks.   Actually, that doesn’t matter that much.  Prior to the set beginning, the band filled the venue with fog.  We’re not talking the usual 1-2 feet of fog on the stage floor (“The people of Stonehenge, where are they now?”), we’re talking enough to completely obscure the stage AND plunge the standing room area into such smoke that the entire audience was hidden from the second level.   The fog was colored red, blue, and purple.  See upper left image, taken from the second level balcony. 

The lyrics, to the extent there is any singing, is a distorted growl that sounds like Phil Anselmo reading from a Latin bible, i.e. effectively unintelligible.   There is NO drummer – unlike the Grateful Dead, who had two drummers (#1 drummer Bill Kreutzmann, #2 drummer Mickey Hart) and King Crimson’s Kurrent lineup, which has three.  The guitars and bass are tuned WAY down.  Here I thought C# was low, which is what Tony Iommi tunes to for a few Sabbath songs (e.g. “Into the Void”), but these guys are down to A.    

Before the show, I debated purchasing more of their material besides the latest two albums, Kannon and Monoliths & Dimensions, the two I had.  After listening to them again, I realized it was pointless.  All their songs sound exactly the same.  In fact, with no gaps between songs, no discernable difference between the songs, and no drummer, the whole effect of this concert was of one continuous 90 minute heavy droning emerging from a purple fog. 

After standing at the railing for awhile, I realized that, unable to see the band members on stage, it was more sensible to sit back on the steps and absorb the music, focusing on the aural element of the experience.  In addition to the instruments, the band relies heavily on feedback.  If there is a lowest note discernable to the human ear, I dare say SunnO))) has found it. 

Finally, so far as I can tell, the backline – before the fog obscured it completely – suggests the band’s name should actually be AmpegO))).  But that doesn’t sound as cool, does it?