Swans Live?

Hey anons. I was curious as to whether anyone here has seen the band Swans live. It can be at any point in their career, but feel free to share your stories. I start this thread because Swans is coming up on their last shows as a collective, and I am considering going up to New York to see one of the last shows. Feel free to share experiences.

Everyone in Swans looks like they've commited at least one murder.

.-.

dont bring ear plugs, i saw them in a small room up close and nmh was much much louder.

holy shit, i hadn't heard that this was their last set of performances. they've come to philly a few times recently but i've never gone (so i don't actually have any input here), but thanks for the heads up because i'm going to get tickets to one of the NY shows now

saw them at NXNE 2014 opening for St Vincent at the free venue downtown Toronto. It was outrageously loud. Overwhelming, engrossing, intoxication and entrancing. Incredible show that left my ears ringing for quite some time. Funny part was the free shows downtown I saw for St Vincent, Mac DeMarco, Danny Brown, etc had a few thousand people in the crowd but in the first 15 minutes of the Swans show the ones just there for a free show thinned out pretty damn fast. I was right front row but the photographers got to be in front of the barricade. They got spit on a lot by Michael when trying to take pictures of him.

Really? I've heard that if you don't bring earplugs it can physically hurt due to the intensity of the music. Thanks for the advice though, user.

I saw them live a few years ago at Big Ears. They turn their amps up loud and you feel like you get the point of their music and are content to leave after 10 minutes.

I hope you get them before they sell out. Good luck user

thats just every concert basically, if you're going to shows very regulary then consider it but theres nothing special about how loud they are. not to say that they aren't amazing live.

When I saw them live it was at a festival, they played to a small crowd and they just jammed on stage for about 80 minutes. Gira's stage presence was noteworthy too. He would go up to each of his band mates, whIle playing, and just nod his head to the music. He did this all night.

seen them outdoors without earplugs and still regretted it. Its not too bad but you don't want to go an entire concert without them.

Not really, I've only had this at a few shows. Saw MBV, Whirr, and Swans were pretty rough. Whirr was noticeably the most brutal. They're hell bent on being louder than MBV but I mean Swans and MBV are a pleasurable and soothing loud, Whirr is just harsh, ear splitting feedback. I had to cover my ears that one lol. (I've never worn earplugs)

Fuck no dont listen to that user , you definitely can fuck up your ears. When i saw them live at times i took my earplugs out and theres no way you can make it through the entire show without them without getting tinnitus

I saw them last year in Chile and was somewhat dissapointed. Went with great expectations and thinking that I would get my chest kicked in by the power of the sound and the songs, but they where pretty mellow. Ear plugs where definitely not neccessary.

Seen them twice. Once in 2014 on the TBK tour, and last month, both in London. Both times amazing. I remember the first time when I went with my brother we saw some girl there who decided to come in basically a black wedding dress, fucking weird.

I will never forget the feeling of the bass and how powerful the sound was, it literally hit my chest. It felt like a pressure on my body.

Oh yeah, and by the way... Screenshot live is basically one of their best songs, its a fact.

I saw them a few months ago. I was close to the stage and i'm not sure if it was supposed to be that fucking loud. I didn't enjoy it much because of that. My hearing was terrible for 3 days or something.

Take earplugs with you just in case

Saw them in Manchester, was loud and gira abused the tech guys for fucking up his lyric spotlight kek. also dragged a finger across his neck to someone in the crowd. madman.

Bring them and don't use them if they don't get loud. You're an I if you don't bring that as insurance

So, what's even happening? I keep hearing things like "TGM is the last album in their current incarnation", but what does that mean, considering they're calling this their "final tour"?

Saw them live in NYC three times. First time my friend insulted Gira and he lost his shit, don't tell him that his band is, "Senior citizens playing the same three chords for three hours". The other two times were great. This guy from the same band we were in had been on tour with Chelsea Wolfe, so we were able to get backstage and chill with everybody. I know Norman pretty decently and he's a great dude. Thor and Christoph are fucking the nicest guys on the planet too. Gira is kind of a raging self important megalomaniac, but I like him that way. He wouldn't be Michael Gira if he weren't. I can say for certain he hates my friends and I, but the rest of the band digs us

They were handing out earplugs the past couple times on this tour. Most people at my show didn't even use them, it was loud but not incredibly loud. I saw Death Grips a couple months later and it was surprisingly much louder.