SUPERSONIC FRIDAY

Sunn Oh... Oh, oh... Yes!

Written By Joe McCabe

At just £15 for such an exciting, eclectic and generous offering, tickets for Friday night were sold out weeks in advance, with thousands eager to catch promoter Capsule's 10th Supersonic Festival first night line-up. On the Outside Stage, an incredible opening set saw Custard Factory stalwart, DJ Scotch Egg, along with cohorts hailing from the likes of Trencher and Boredoms, present their own blend of electro-stoner trip-hop and noisy psychedelic jazz through project, Drum Eyes. These multifarious-minded miscreants of music set the tone of the night which was as tight and well put together as it was diverse, innovative and interesting. There was 'something for everyone', from the shouty hardcore of Army of Flying Robots and the riff-pulverising Taint, to the dubsteping sounds of Scorn, the home-grown blend of PCM's drum and bass and the glitch-tastic breaks and samples of Venetian Snares. It seems inevitable that such a mingled assortment of acts would at times polarise opinion and whilst there was 'something for everyone', with each of the acts mentioned above, at times it looked as though at least half the crowd were left feeling confused and alienated by the unfamiliar spectacle they were observing. Perhaps it should be obvious that this esoteric dilemma is inherent whenever 'art', attempting to be radical, pioneering and multiform, is 'mass-marketed' to an audience which has such wide-ranging but individual tastes?
This being said, none would divide opinion on the night as much as my personal highlight, the mighty and ever so slightly ridiculous, Sunn O))). These warlocks of drone were, quite simply, the most terrifying and most probably the silliest performers of the night (narrowly beating Best Name Award winner Kylie Minoise, whose insane noise-drenched writhing-around-on-the-floor-like-a-lunatic routine came a close second). Friday night on the Outside Stage was a rare opportunity to witness Stephen O'Malley and Greg Anderson exclusively, without collaborators, perform material from their debut touring album, The GrimmRobe demos (a choice which to many may have appeared like a retroactive contradiction of the band's progress over the last decade and indeed their most recent release, Monoliths & Dimensions). As the two hooded heathens of heavy emerged through thick layers of dry ice to the sounds of haunting Gregorian chants I half expected a Spinal Tap-esque miniature model of Stonehenge to lower itself into the midst of this most serious of ceremonies. The proceedings' bathos continued to amuse as I found myself beard-stroking in austere thoughtfulness at this incredible spectacle whilst simultaneously breaking out in occasional fits of hysterical laughter at how farcically theatrical it all was. Could I really guffaw in the face of an awesome force so powerful, it actually rattles your ribcage and bruises your internal organs with its sonic assault!?
The answer to this question, I came to discover was, “Yes”. The monolithic power of Sunn O)))'s sound in its purest, most brutal, stripped-down, 2-guitar form, has the profound primeval ability to simultaneously evoke all extremes of human emotion, from happiness and sadness, to pleasure and pain. Through this visceral exploration of the human animal all are equal, reduced to their basest level and all are connected in the strength of their various reactions to the brutal onslaught of noise against them. Even if the reaction were, as it was for some, an overwhelming urge to go next door and dance to the Industrial Dub of Scorn instead! Here we see the fantastic organisation of the festival working to create a balanced harmony, offering the spectrum of punters a choice of seemingly dichotic yet equally innovative niche-interest performers to enjoy. So there really was 'something for everyone' as long as you made the 'right' choices. The moment I became almost certain I had made the 'right' choice with Sunn O))) was when, sat in front of centre stage at the end of the set, I believe I may well have experienced the indulgent delights of Anderson and O'Malley reaching, what Dr. Roger Schwenke et al might describe as the orgasm inducing 'Pink Note'! However, I think they may well have dropped the infamous 'Brown Note' in there too at the same time, which I must say was a bit of an anticlimax!