XIU XIU @ AS220 10/16
Photography by John Maniace
Review by Sydney Spottiswood
Walking into AS220 after an hour-long Amtrak ride, I was immediately greeted by a crowd brimming with technicolor-dyed microbangs, trapper hats, and wafts of cigarette smoke. That’s how I knew I finally made it to Xiu Xiu’s show last Wednesday night.
American experimental rock band Xiu Xiu played at AS220 in Providence, R.I., during their 13″ Frank Beltrame Italian Stiletto with Bison Horn Grips tour on October 16th with support from Providence-based noise music artist Straight Panic. The pairing of a gritty, community-run artist collective such as AS220 with a band known for its cacophonic sound was just too fitting for a night like no other.
Deriving their name from the 1998 drama Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl– which I’d highly recommend if you’re looking for a beautiful yet gratuitously depressing watch, by the way– Xiu Xiu has but a single remaining member from its original lineup: one of its founders, Jamie Stewart, who formed the band in 2002. Multi-instrumentalist Angela Seo joined seven years later in 2009, followed by percussionist David Kendrick in 2022.
Before the first set began, I observed Stewart stalking around the venue in jet-black attire and a matching Fender Telecaster. Despite their face being obscured with a face mask, their aura was simply unmistakable: it was them.
Decked out in BDSM fetish gear at a table crowded with various pedals, mixers, and synths, Straight Panic began the night around 8:30 p.m. with a noise set divided into four acts. The artist blended classical piano samples with police walkie-talkie vocalizations processed into dissonant feedback loops. Each “act” was segmented by distinct samples seemingly chosen to evoke nostalgia, including campfire sounds and intimate murmurs behind a wall of pure static. The dichotomy was hypnotizing. You just had to be there.
The audience was entranced with the opening act in a wash of red LED lights. A girl in front of me swayed in place to any semblance of rhythm in the set, clutching a Shadow the Hedgehog-themed backpack.
Culminating with an ambient track laced through a pitched-down sample of Lana Del Rey’s “Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd,” Straight Panic set the perfect tone for Xiu Xiu’s performance next: pet play mask and all.
Quiet chatter filled the room while Seo, dazzling in a matching houndstooth skirt set, and Kendrick, clutching a pair of drumsticks, set up their respective rigs and drum kit. Xiu Xiu’s set began around 9:30 with “The Silver Platter” from their ninth album, Angel Guts: Red Classroom. Stewart’s croony, Robert Smith-esque vocals evolved into desperate screaming through layers of ice-cold synths and Grotta Sonora Gongwork by Seo.
The studio recording is haunting. The live version is terrifying.
“It Comes Out As A Joke” was easily the standout moment during the show, with Stewart practically moshing on stage in the midst of Kendrick’s percussioning. What sets Xiu Xiu apart from other bands I’ve seen overall was the sheer amount of instruments used during their performance: Seo and Stewart pulled out new bells and whistles– quite literally– with each subsequent track with a personal favorite of mine being the miniature recorders that the two simultaneously played to finish out the song.
Xiu Xiu performs in what I could only describe as symbiotic catharsis. The trio transitioned wordlessly between each song, voyeuristic to the audience, leaving just enough time for the crowd to clap before moving on to the next track.
Their synergy came to a halt when Seo’s rig broke midway through “Veneficium,” a song from the album of their tour’s namesake. As she fiddled with the cables to troubleshoot the power cut, Stewart quipped in their first real acknowledgment to the audience that they must tap into their “OCD tendencies” to figure out what was going on.
“It’s ‘cause you’re too powerful,” said a voice in the crowd. Any tension dissipated with laughter.
“Common Loon” rounded out the set with an accessible yet climactic finish, blending noise rock with the peppery fuzz of shoegaze to end the night. Although the song is one of the most structured of Xiu Xiu’s discography, Stewart’s obtuse vocals still act as an anchor to Xiu Xiu’s roots: unflinching yet vulnerable music. Music for “others.”
“Common Loon” rounded out the set with an accessible yet climactic finish, blending noise rock with the peppery fuzz of shoegaze to end the night. Although the song is one of the most structured of Xiu Xiu’s discography, Stewart’s obtuse vocals still act as an anchor to Xiu Xiu’s roots: unflinching yet vulnerable music. Music for “others.”
Xiu Xiu’s show was not a performance but an experience.
