Burma

July 5, 2004

I completely forgot to write up the Mission of Burma show I caught about a month ago, so here’s the abridged version:

The played the Henry Fonda Theater, which holds about 1500 folks and is one of the bigger clubs in L.A. It was the same night as a sold-out Sonic Youth show and it looked like the attendance suffered. There were probably only 400 people in the place, a disappointing number to be sure. In deference to Clint Conley’s tinnitus, Mission of Burma splits their set into two mini-sets. It seemed like the short sets made it difficult to ramp up momentum.

Musically, Mission of Burma is just incredibly powerful. Even with the drums contained behind a blast shield, there’s a tangible push coming from the stage. The swirling guitars and samples created an immense, physically punishing wall of sound. The new material from “onOFFon” seamlessly matched up with the older material, which is just about as big a complement as anyone could give. This wasn’t a reunion tour cashing in on past success, but a band picking up exactly where they left off. They ain’t done yet.

Posted in From Blown Speakers