{"id":43587,"date":"2024-10-18T15:13:21","date_gmt":"2024-10-18T19:13:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/?p=43587"},"modified":"2024-10-31T16:36:05","modified_gmt":"2024-10-31T20:36:05","slug":"photos-xiu-xiu-as220-10-16","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/2024\/10\/18\/photos-xiu-xiu-as220-10-16\/","title":{"rendered":"XIU XIU @ AS220 10\/16"},"content":{"rendered":"

Photography by John Maniace<\/p>\n

Review by Sydney Spottiswood<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

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\u2019s how I knew I finally made it to Xiu Xiu\u2019s show last Wednesday night.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

American experimental rock band Xiu Xiu played at AS220 in Providence, R.I., during their <\/span>13″ <\/span><\/i>Frank Beltrame Italian Stiletto with Bison Horn Grips<\/span><\/i><\/a> 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.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Deriving their name from the 1998 drama<\/span> Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl<\/span><\/i>\u2013 which I\u2019d highly recommend if you\u2019re looking for a beautiful yet gratuitously depressing watch, by the way\u2013 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.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

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.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

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 \u201cact\u201d 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.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Culminating with an ambient track laced through a pitched-down sample of Lana Del Rey\u2019s \u201cDid You Know That There\u2019s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd,\u201d Straight Panic set the perfect tone for Xiu Xiu\u2019s performance next: pet play mask and all.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

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\u2019s set began around 9:30 with \u201cThe Silver Platter\u201d from their ninth album, <\/span>Angel Guts: Red Classroom<\/span><\/i>. Stewart\u2019s croony, Robert Smith-esque vocals evolved into desperate screaming through layers of ice-cold synths and Grotta Sonora Gongwork by Seo.<\/span><\/p>\n

The studio recording is haunting. The live version is terrifying.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cIt Comes Out As A Joke\u201d was easily the standout moment during the show, with Stewart practically moshing on stage in the midst of Kendrick\u2019s percussioning. What sets Xiu Xiu apart from other bands I\u2019ve seen overall was the sheer amount of instruments used during their performance: Seo and Stewart pulled out new bells and whistles\u2013 quite literally\u2013 with each subsequent track with a personal favorite of mine being the miniature recorders that the two simultaneously played to finish out the song.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

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.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Their synergy came to a halt when Seo\u2019s rig broke midway through \u201cVeneficium,\u201d a song from the album of their tour\u2019s 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 \u201cOCD tendencies\u201d to figure out what was going on.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s \u2018cause you\u2019re too powerful,\u201d said a voice in the crowd. Any tension dissipated with laughter.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cCommon Loon\u201d 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\u2019s discography, Stewart\u2019s obtuse vocals still act as an anchor to Xiu Xiu\u2019s roots: unflinching yet vulnerable music. Music for \u201cothers.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cCommon Loon\u201d 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\u2019s discography, Stewart\u2019s obtuse vocals still act as an anchor to Xiu Xiu\u2019s roots: unflinching yet vulnerable music. Music for \u201cothers.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Xiu Xiu\u2019s show was not a performance but an experience.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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\u2019s how I knew I finally made it to Xiu Xiu\u2019s show last Wednesday night. American experimental rock band Xiu Xiu […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24057,"featured_media":43608,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1895,1525,1523,15,1530],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43587"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24057"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43587"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43587\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44200,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43587\/revisions\/44200"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43608"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}