Explosions In The Sky

By Si Truss

It’s a matter of mere moments before the arrival of Explosions in the Sky to the stage and the atmosphere in the Astoria is incredible. As with many of their post-rock peers, here is a band that demand nothing short of sheer adoration from their fans.

A wave of excitable, child like energy is running through the crowd stirring up memories of teenage anticipation, reminding us all of how good it felt to experience live music for the first time. The Texan four piece don’t disappoint, quite the opposite in fact. This is music written to be played live by a band who obviously love to do so.

Every note picked out on the three guitars is a precision assault on the senses. In the flesh the immense talent of drummer Chris Hrasky really comes to the forefront; creating crescendos on the cymbals with one hand and simultaneously building rolling snare hits with the other.

As the vocal-less melodies rise and fall and the songs seep into one another it’s impossible not to get inescapably lost in the music. As the set (which focuses heavily on new album ‘All of a sudden I miss everyone’ along with 2001s ‘Earth is not a cold dead place’) draws to a close the fact that the amp of guitarist Munaf Rayani spontaneously bursts into flames seems oddly fitting.

After a quick change of amps and one final song the band are gone but there is no doubt in anyone’s mind that the feeling of euphoria will last for hours.