Low Live – A Religious Service With Frosted Mini Wheat Sacrament
What a Low, Strange Trip it’s Been
Low Live @ Neumos March 7
By Paul Stinson
After a decade of beautiful but predominantly glacial whole-note heavy harmonies, Low’s SubPop debut The Great Destroyer all but obliterated previous conceptions of the Duluth Trio, as guitar feedback and crunchy guitars added new colors to a band whose raison d’etre was not to add to the mid-90s noise, but to make as little of it as possible.
The new album invigorated old fans and won over new ones, establishing Low as a heavy-hitting indie band who could sell out North American and European venues, without selling out their credibility or the honesty of their craft. The Great Destroyer proved to be a prophetic album title, as revealed in the song by the same name – time is the great destroyer. More than ten years of touring had taken a toll on Sparhawk, who cancelled all of Low’s remaining dates in May of 2005, citing “mental health†issues.
What a Low, Strange Trip it’s Been
Low Live @ Neumos March 7
By Paul Stinson
After a decade of beautiful but predominantly glacial whole-note heavy harmonies, Low’s SubPop debut The Great Destroyer all but obliterated previous conceptions of the Duluth Trio, as guitar feedback and crunchy guitars added new colors to a band whose raison d’etre was not to add to the mid-90s noise, but to make as little of it as possible.
The new album invigorated old fans and won over new ones, establishing Low as a heavy-hitting indie band who could sell out North American and European venues, without selling out their credibility or the honesty of their craft. The Great Destroyer proved to be a prophetic album title, as revealed in the song by the same name – time is the great destroyer. More than ten years of touring had taken a toll on Sparhawk, who cancelled all of Low’s remaining dates in May of 2005, citing “mental health†issues.
Fans responded on the band’s website with an outpouring of support and sympathy, hoping that Sparhawk and company would resurface once again. Several months later, they got their wish, as Low resurfaced with a new bass player for a series of Minnesota shows in December, a rehearsal of sorts for the packed van, box of merch and Triptik road planners to come.
“I’m still not certain about touring,” admitted Sparhawk in a December interview with The Minneapolis StarTribune. “I love playing music. I really do. But between having my family on the road and being in a van for days on end, it’s hard to be in close proximity of me if I’m having a bad day.”
Some artists struggle with their music, others with themselves, or so goes the tired cliché. However, for a generation, a Low show is as close to a religious service as many (myself included) will ever get. If that sounds over the top, go to the show and listen to the silence they command in their quiet moments. Low is still an achingly beautiful band who can plan with Spartan arrangements like no other. Although they may be frosted mini-wheat with two distinct and powerful sides, these days their quiet moments are no less than the eye of a very powerful storm in which a great many are happy to be washed away. 