Photo of Michael Gira of Swans by Enriko Boettcher
w/ Kristof Hahn | 8:00pm | 6133 Delmar Blvd. | All ages | $30 advance, $35 day of show
Avant garde experimental rockers Swans are returning to St. Louis for the first time in almost a decade at Delmar Hall on May 10th, 2024. Their latest record, 2023’s The Begger is another fantastic release from frontman Michael Gira and his collaborators since Gira reformed Swans back in 2010. It is as unsettling as it is beautiful, a challenging double record but not impossible. It is your imagination struggling to comprehend the eerie darkness just outside the campfire’s glow on a starless night. It is the warmth of oblivion. It is the face of God weeping after stubbing its toe on the void.
While their 16th studio album is quite an experience on its own, the intensity of an in-person Swans performance is something I have rarely encountered in my nearly 15 years of documenting live music. One may find themselves in a deep, heightened state that some may describe as spiritual or meditative. There is an emphasis on recalling musical phrases in many Swans songs, but this repetition is never boring in a live setting as Gira and his bandmates (including lap steel player Kristof Hahn, who will open the show with a solo set) express a level of concentration and feeling in their performance that is utterly captivating. Gira himself can appear on stage as a dour troubadour, a possessed maestro, and an irreverent malcontent. Sometimes, even in the same song. It will haunt you in the best way.
Warning: Bring good hearing protection, as this may very well be one of the loudest shows you ever attend. Letting high decibels strip away a few layers of your ego may be cool as hell, but tinnitus is not. | Bryan J. Sutter
For more information or to purchase tickets, click here.
Swans 2024 Tour Dates
05.05.24 – Salt Lake City, @ UT Soundwell
05.07.24 – Denver, CO @ Gothic Theatre
05.09.24 – Kansas City, MO @ Record Bar
05.10.24 – St. Louis, MO @ Delmar Hall
05.11.24 – Chicago, IL @ Cabaret Metro
05.14.24 – Boston, MA @ Paradise
05.16.24 – New York, NY @ Racket
05.17.24 – Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
