Ahead of Thursday night’s recordBar show, we reflect on Swans and their previous KC gigs
Photo Courtesy of Swans
With Michael Gira’s return to the area approaching this Thursday, we take a look back at all four times that the artist has brought his talents to KC and Lawrence.
As I sit here on this rainy day, 12 o’clock on a Sunday, the fresh air sensation from dark clouds and light precipitation on the inclined patio outstretched from my apartment, it’s a faint reminder of why art matters to us.
Rain droplets softly falling down onto the street, with various birds chirping away in patterns unbeknownst to everyone, and a small, yet powerful sense of tension being calmed, just in the same way music can provide it. As four days separate this moment from Swans returning to Kansas City for the first time in 12 years at recordBar on Thursday night, with cars rummaging down the road so you can hear the wet pavement sensations in a unique and glowing way, April’s hectic and want-to-forget moments are left in the rearview. Just as Michael Gira would want it.
When asked if Gira was going to recount tracks from Swans behemoth The Seer anytime in the near future, he responded with, “We only play current material, or material that’s in development. Not interested in reliving the past, but thanks.”
In a way, Gira’s responses to all of my questions on latest LP The Beggar from the NYC experimental group recalled the best of how David Lynch operates in the cinema scope of the art world. In an attempt to dig down deep into the state of how a 31-year old project goes about their work—from rummaging through older material but still trying to remain fresh and new and afloat—Gira brushed off a good number of my questions revolving around borrowing from previous work, playing off preceding lyrical passages, reusing sounds from older material, refusing to explain how most of the tracks came to be. They just came.
And although breathing in the failure of my work as a journalist, it’s a learning curve for me and everyone else that sifted through that article, as the short and appearingly combative responses from the rock legend also provide a sense of levity for anyone trying to understand the best way to go about their life—new or old, artist or businessman, parent or child. Things happen, let’s move forward.
So it’s no surprise that Gira’s main project, Swans, are playing five unheard and unreleased tracks, comprising an estimated one hour and forty-five minutes, during their long run of shows that began in the Netherlands in early February. The group has come here three times since the band’s inception in 1982, all coercing with a slew of new members and different lineups—something they have become known for over the years, with an historically high 35 all-time members during their three-decade run.
Here was the lineup during their October 19, 1989 set at The Bottleneck in Lawrence, KS (In bold are active members that will supposedly play at recordBar this week):
Michael Gira – vocals, guitar
Kristof Hahn – guitar, lap steel guitar
Norman Westburg – guitar, vocals
Jarboe – keyboards, vocals
Virgil Moorefield – drums
Drummer/percussionist Vinnie Signorelli is also listed as an active member of the group in ‘89, but his Wikipedia page mentions his joining the band a little later, in ‘91.
Billy Smith—VIP Manager for Warner Music Group—was a talent buyer from the ‘90s through the 2000s in the KC area, while playing bass in several local bands during the time. He was in attendance that fall night, which met concert goers at 40 degrees and fell into the 30s as the show went on.
“I had no expectations for what Swans were,” Smith says. “For me, I kind of came from more of the Filth and the early, more destructive records. I wasn’t expecting something as acoustic and almost even folky. They had transitioned into something a lot different than what I think I remember seeing from early footage of the Filth record. At that time, right around then, my friend’s band Quitter’s Club had just covered the song ‘Half Life’ by Swans. So I remember hearing The Burning World and it was very different.”
‘89’s The Burning World was a unique time for Gira—who just transitioned the group to Universal City Records—after three successes on K.422 and Children of God’s wanderings to Caroline. ‘91 LP White Light From the Mouth of Infinity was about 18 months away from release—the first album that Gira made on current label Young God Records—which he formed not long after this Bottleneck appearance, as a way to achieve a more avant-garde, non genre-specific sound.
Local music business owner Darren Welch—who previously played in a variety of Lawrence/KC rock groups in the early 2000s, such as The Hearers and In the Pines—has seen the group twice, including that ‘89 debut performance.
“In ‘89, when The Burning World came out, that was their first album that didn’t have the drony noise, hypnotic thing going,” Welch says. “I went kind of expecting to see a little bit of that sound, and it really wasn’t anything like that. It was more of a mellow, pretty show, and that’s all the influence of Jarboe. She’s the one, I think, who really sort of led the band in the direction of more pretty, rather than grindy. I went to hear the noise and it wasn’t there, but it was still a really pretty show.”
The setlist for the night was as follows:
I Remember Who You Are (Burning)
The River That Runs With Love Won’t Run Dry (Burning)
Will We Survive (White Light From the Mouth of Infinity)
Jane Mary, Cry One Tear (Burning)
See No More (Burning)
Song for Dead Time (White Light From the Mouth of Infinity)
God Damn the Sun (Burning)
Let It Come Down (Burning)
Miracle of Love (White Light From the Mouth of Infinity)
Can’t Find My Way Home (Burning)
Mona Lisa, Mother Earth (Burning)
“I just remember the show being quite loud,” Smith says. “I don’t know if I was engaged as much as I thought I was gonna be, because it had so much more of a folk presence, versus the brutal guitar and industrial noise stuff that I kind of liked.”
Fast forward a little over seven years and four LPs later—including some major records for the group like White Light, The Great Annihilator and supposed final album Soundtracks for the Blind—Gira returned to The Bottleneck with this lineup on a clear January 19, 1997 night that actually brought a steady and warmer 40 degree temperature.
Michael Gira – vocals, guitar
Phil Puleo – drums, percussion
Jarboe – keyboards, vocals
Clint Steele – guitar
Bill Bronson – bass
Midwest-based promoter Jeff Fortier—also co-owner of Mammoth, Inc. based in Lawrence—had just taken over The Outhouse by the time of the ‘89 show, but was in charge of booking this one.
“I just remember it being really fucking loud and I remember it being around 200 people,” Fortier says. “We couldn’t make it work in Kansas City because everything was 21 and older. One of the reasons why The Bottleneck was always such a great option, and why a lot of those shows went to Lawrence, was because of the age requirements. It took until Uptown had opened and we managed to get a different license. Same thing with Beaumont Club. We were able to get different licenses and that took a lot to navigate.”
Fortier recalled a 150-seat venue called The Hideaway that almost everyone end up playing on the end of 12th near The Granada, calling it the Jackpot of the ‘90s. Some acts couldn’t play on The Hideaway’s PA system, so then they’d go to The Bottleneck, which was opposedly not 21-and-up.
“I think I booked through the agency,” Fortier says. “A lot of times, you either chased something or the agent called you, and I’m pretty sure that they just had tracked me down. I was doing a lot of The Jesus Lizard, The Unseen, The Cherubs, Helios Creed, etc. back then. The thing that really struck me with The Bottleneck was that I don’t think anyone had really great PA at the time. That’s changed. None of us could really afford good PA back then, but now it’s a little different.”
Back in ‘97, everyone in attendance thought this was going to be the very last occasion that they would get to see Swans. Wade Williamson—a guitarist and keyboardist for local KC group Season to Risk, headed by recordBar’s Steve Tulipana—helped out where he could back in the day when he wasn’t out there playing in various bands. He made a point to try and see Swans when he could.
“Everybody thought it was the last of the last, so you had the old guard, and then you had all the kids that had never seen them before at the same time there,” Williamson says. “It was pretty cathartic and loud as hell. You think you’re seeing them for the last time, so you’re just trying to absorb as much of the catharsis as possible before it’s over. They did some stuff off of an EP, I think I Crawled. You had a bunch of young people there that were wanting to see what this was all about—The last hurrah for a band that they had never seen before. They got their minds opened up for sure.”
This would be the final time keyboardist/vocalist Jarboe would make an appearance in Kansas City. The singer joined Gira for ‘85’s Greed, remaining the only other constant member, apart from Gira, until their dissolution after Soundtracks in ‘97. She would later help Gira out with guest vocals on 2012 record The Seer.
“I was playing a bunch of old synthesizers at the time, so I was trying to get up to see what Jarboe’s rig was, because she had it set up in a rack underneath,” Williamson says. “I had just bought my first digital sound synth and was really curious to see what she had racked up in there. By the time I got up to the front of the stage to see what it was, I think they busted into another song. She was pretty intense, that’s for sure. She was probably the most enchanting and frightening person on-stage during that show.”
There is no setlist published online for the show, but the previous night at Bluebird Theater in Denver, plus many of their earlier January sets before, featured these cuts:
Feel Happiness (Swans Are Dead)
Low Life Form (Swans Are Dead)
Not Alone (Swans Are Dead)
My Birth (My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky)
Blood on Your Hands (Anonymous Bodies in an Empty Room)
Hypogirl (Soundtracks)
I Crawled (Young God)
I Am the Sun (Annihilator)
Blood Promise (Annihilator)
Between ‘97 and 2010—during Gira’s time away from the band—he formed side project Angels of Light, which cast a wide range of Swans members, new and old, while foregoing their previous sound for less brutal and more melodic passages, with a more neofolk influence.
Fast forward four years, and Angels made a run of shows in the winter of 2001, with KC becoming a landing spot.
“Anne Winter and I decided to bring them,” Billy Smith says. “It was at a Chinese buffet type of restaurant called Double Dragon. They had an upstairs that looked like a karaoke room that had a New Years Eve party and was never used again. We threw it up there.”
Welch—whose band The Hearers opened up the night along with Virgil Shaw—was lucky enough to get to see Gira in action for a third time that December night, which brought 30 degree temps.
“I just remember being really overwhelmed with how beautiful it was,” Welch says. “Angels of Light, to me, is a really good era of Michael Gira’s music. It’s different from Swans, in a way. If you came at me with the question, ‘How is it different?,’ I don’t know how I’d answer that. The show was everything you would have expected. I was familiar with the record they were touring with, and he played up to every expectation and so did the band. It was cool to be able to see something live that you heard already and love, just like any show with anybody who loves something.”
Welch claims to not be a dorky person, but did say he geeked out when meeting Gira, getting his ticket to the show signed. Smith and Tulipana met with Gira for the first time to talk about the town, prior to the winter evening.
“I believe Steve and I both met him for the first initials,” Smith says. “We just talked about Kansas City. He wanted to know what trade industry made up the city’s economy. Michael was really ecstatic about the space, he thought it was really nice. There’s actually a VHS of that show somewhere that needs to be digitized.”
Forming in 1998 and having two records under their belt—New Mother and How I Loved You—Gira’s squad—made up of Dana Schechter, Larry Mullins, and Thor Harris—requested access to a non-music venue or club, resulting in Smith checking out the Chinese restaurant off 51st and Main.
“I think they did a typical one hour and thirty minute set, something like that,” Smith says. “I thought that meeting Michael was obviously an honor. I’m a huge fan of Swans, and this particular project was just a little bit more sedate. I think his demeanor matched where the music was. That’s where his head was.”
The folk quartet ended up recording four more LPs after the 50-80 person dinner show, rotating members in-and-out, before Gira reopened the Swans lore for a second stint.
“I think it’s a good memory for Kansas City Westport, for people that were part of it,” Smith says.
Then, around 11 years later, Steve Tulipana booked Swans’ return to KC in 2012 at Beaumont Club.
“I’ve been a Swans fan for a very long time, since the ‘80s,” Tulipana says. “In the ‘90s, the band that I was known for was called Season to Risk. We were on the same booking agency as Swans and I had met them a couple times back then. I’ve been a longtime fan, and when they took so many years off, then got back together and started doing that new lineup, I really wanted to tour, and I knew their agent, so I got a hold of him.”
The new lineup that Tulipana is referring to consisted of this slew of members.
Michael Gira – vocals, guitar
Kristof Hahn – guitar, lap seel guitar
Christopher Pravdica – bass, backing vocals
Phil Puleo – drums, percussion
Norman Westburg – guitar, vocals
Thor Harris – drums, percussion
“The old recordBar location was just too small—they wouldn’t fit on the stage, it wouldn’t work,” he says. “But it had to come to Kansas City, so I just looked at different places and what was available. I’m friends with the Mammoth people and they were like, ‘We can try to do it at The Beaumont,’ and I was like, ‘It might get up to 400 or 500 people.’ We ended up doing 350 or so there We kind of did it as a half-room vibe.”
Hipshot Killer frontman Mike Alexander remembers the September night vividly, bringing to the table many details that add light to the historical and almost mythological night, which lived up to every expectation.
“I remember every second of it,” Alexander says. “I was a huge fan of Swans from the time I was in high school until that show 12 years ago, which is a long time. They put out that record The Seer in 2012 and that just blew my mind.”
“I watched their soundcheck and they soundchecked for quite a while,” Tulipana says. “They really worked out the nuance for this one part. Michael is very particular and he hears things that I don’t think other people hear immediately. He knows what he’s looking for and he works really hard to get it out of his players, and when he finds it, they build and go even farther. He’s constantly trying to, from my impression, explore different stuff.”
The reported setlist for the Wednesday night is as follows:
To Be Kind (To Be Kind)
Avatar (The Seer)
Coward (Holy Money)
She Loves Us (To Be Kind)
The Seer (The Seer)
Nathalie Neal (To Be Kind)
The Apostate (The Seer)
“I’m standing there, I’m right in front of the stage, I’m watching it, and I’m like ‘You know, it’s not gonna be that fucking loud,'” Alexander says. “It’s gonna be loud, but is it gonna be Godflesh at Liberty Hall loud? Is it gonna be Helmet at The Outhouse loud? I don’t think so.”
“The song that they’re playing is a song called “To Be Kind,” which ended up being the last song on their next record. It hadn’t been released yet. They’re notorious for that. They’ll start writing stuff on-stage and that’ll just become part of their set. It’ll become a cool, fleshed out song by the end of their tour and they won’t record it or play it ever again.
“If you listen to that song, right in the middle, it just all comes crashing in on this one note. The whole band just kicks in, and I’m just standing there watching it, and when they hit that one note, it was like getting hit with a baseball bat made of air. My clothes flew back, it was literally like getting hit by something. It was like, ‘Okay yeah, this is the loudest show I’ve ever seen. Dude, we’re in. Swans has me for the next two hours and there’s not a fucking thing I can do about it.'”
Fellow San Jose experimental group Xiu Xiu opened the night with a rather strange introduction—something even atypical from what fans of the band are accustomed to.
“It was a great show, it was as loud as they come,” Tulipana says. “It seemed like they had a good time. Like I said, they were very loud and very particular. Xiu Xiu opened the night. I’ve seen Xiu Xiu do some really beautiful song-oriented stuff. That night, they were doing this electronic harpsichord thing, it was really brutal. I just remember it being very noisy and brutal to the ears. But then Swans came on and they were kind of glorious and huge.”
If there is one time to note about the history of Gira’s live shows, it’s the uptick in volume—the absolute necessity of earplugs, the visceral reaction of audience members (sometimes leading to vomiting), and the improvisation of everyone on-stage. Alexander mentioned that they would lock the entrance during some older NYC set so that no one could leave, and they handed out earplugs at the door that night at Beaumont without extra cost.
“The gig is done, finally,” Alexander says. “No encore, nothing like that, it’s two hours, boom, we’re done. Everybody’s off and the applause is kind of dying down, and I look over and there’s this kid, and he looks like he’s having a seizure. It’s not really a seizure, he’s just kind of doubling over and coming up. He’s not hurting himself, he’s just kind of freaking out, in what looked like a good way. He’s just like ‘YEAHHHH! YEAHHHH! FUCK YEAHHHH!’ for a while. Long enough that people were just looking at him like, ‘Alright, man are you cool?’ This is seconds after all the music has just died out.”
Williamson—who was also present that fateful Wednesday night—was not quite on the same wavelength as Alexander, particularly due to resorting to the back of the club with his soon-to-be-wife.
“I’m not an earplug guy, but I should be, because I do some recording and engineering,” Williamson says. “There’s just a different feel and I don’t get it. If I went and saw The Unsane, I would wear them. Standing at the back of the room, I still needed them at Beaumont Club, for sure.”
Now comes round five for Gira. Seven songs, two-and-a-half hours. A high of 68, a low of 50, partly cloudy, with no rain forecasted—thankfully in avoidance of the recent downpours in the area. And be sure to prepare by listening to Leaving Meaning’s “The Hanging Man” in advance, even though the live setting version has developed arms-and-legs above what you’ll hear on the LP.
“It’s looking like it will be from 9:30 p.m. to midnight,” Tulipana says. “Kristof Hahn, their guitarist, is doing the opening set from 8 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. That’s the thing with them—the songs that will be on the record, they’ll expand into these long, beautiful, you kind of shut your eyes and just go with it. It could be transcendent. That’s the thing with their soundchecks, they’re long, too, and they really work stuff out and kind of change things. He’s a true artist, he really wants things to be singular and unique.”
To go along with everyone bolded in the three previous lineups, the 2024 iteration of Swans includes drummer Larry Mullins—who rejoined the band in 2019—as well as bassist Dana Schechter—both of whom helped Gira out with Angels of Light. Billy Smith was able to speak briefly with Schecter, who had this helpful insight to share, or warn.
“I talked to Dana and she said the set is going to run close to three hours at maximum volume, so I’m looking forward to the show,” he says.
I had just turned 16 at the time Gira, Harris, Westberg, Hahn, Pravdica, and Puleo triumphed that night at Beaumont, and had never listened to Swans—a mistake I later rectified in college. But it’s safe to imagine, from here on out, this is a requirement if you are a member of the cult.
“I would go every time,” Welch says. “Not to say Michael Gira is the whole thing, but he kind of is at this point. I feel like if you’re a fan of his, especially if you’ve been a fan since they started, it’s kind of like a cult following. He’s kind of a hypnotist, in a way. If you’re a fan, you kind of stay a fan and always want to know what he’s up to and follow along the whole time.”
Been a minute? Here is a small refresher as to what Swans has accomplished over the years. Although Gira doesn’t want to look back, I think it’s easy to say this music will live on forever.
Swans play recordBar on Thursday, May 9, with opener Kristof Hahn. Details on that sold out show here.
