Explosions in the Lou

Last night I saw my favorite band, Explosions in the Sky, play live at The Pageant, their first time in St. Louis.  Explosions is a "post-rock" band that plays instrumentals with three guitars and drums.  Their music is experimental, beautiful, aggressive and delicate, cinematic (they scored Friday Night Lights) and full of dramatic tension and resolution; it's rare for music to be so abstract and still so emotionally appealing.  They're more about music than attitude, but it was thrilling to watch them shredding on their guitars in the more aggressive sections.  Except for a few transitions, they didn't play anything newer than last year's album All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone, which was a little disappointing because their music seems to get more contrapuntal with each album and I can't wait to hear where they'll go next.

The opener, Lichens, was less dynamic and more experimental, wordless vocals and guitar drones with feedback. It was interesting enough for me to buy an album after the show.

I'm on Explosions in the Sky's mailing list, which tells me about future shows, but it never mentioned St. Louis.  I wouldn't have noticed they were coming if a good buddy with excellent musical taste hadn't pointed it out to me.  Thanks, Scott!