(On the 16th of this month our friend Ben Manzella attended a show by Neurosis and Terry Gross at The Fillmore in San Francisco, and we’re grateful for his evocative review of the performances that you’ll find below, and for his wonderful photos of the event.)
I feel a bit suspended in time as I start this article recounting last night’s Neurosis show at the Fillmore with Terry Gross. I don’t know that I’ve experienced this level of emotional and physical intensity at a show in a long time. I think it was the first time since I was a teenager that I had a hard time falling asleep just from my body radiating what I can only sum up as energy.
I briefly chatted with someone who had only recently started listening to Neurosis, and it seemed like they had bought their ticket after seeing them at Fire in the Mountains earlier this year. As a long-time fan, it was great sharing an almost tangible sense of awe as we waited for the bus.
Starting the night were San Francisco locals Terry Gross. I don’t remember how I originally heard about them other than being amused that a favorite NPR host was now being immortalized as the moniker of a band. This was my first chance to see them, and I was blown away. Their music is labeled as Psychedelic or Rock in general, depending on where you find it, but for the sake of discussion, I would say there were moments when I was reminded of bands like Earthless, Shellac, or Metz to some degree. Either way, I’d recommend checking out their records and even more so encourage you to see them play live. I couldn’t think of a better introduction to their songs. As it turns out, their next show will also be in San Francisco with Earthless and Carlton Melton on the 20th of November at Bottom of the Hill.
With Terry Gross as the only opening act, the changeover on stage didn’t take long at all. Soon after the stage was set, Robert Hall and Charlie Speicher of the Firekeeper Alliance shared about their work with youth of the Blackfeet Nation in addressing suicide and the prevention of it. It was great having the Firekeeper Alliance both with a table set up to sell merch and raise funds to go back into their work, as well as sharing about the power of music being a great connector, which provided the perfect way to lead into Neurosis.
As Steve Von Till howled “We Are Torn Wide Open”, I would imagine the grin on my face was almost comical. I struggled at first to focus my camera lens because my arms were shaking from the vibrations in the room. I didn’t want to waste the brief time I had in the photo pit, so I made a point to focus as best as I could. As with every time I’ve ever seen Neurosis, this was a needed and welcome time of personal catharsis. There was something different about it, though, a lightness of sorts breaking through the expected darkness found in heavy music.
Even now as I listen to An Undying Love For a Burning World, I’m brought back to being inside the Fillmore. To some degree, I felt like a soaked rag being wrung out. As intensely satisfying as it is to hear the new songs by Neurosis brought to life, it was equally cathartic and enjoyable to hear personal favorites like “The Tide” from A Sun That Never Sets as well as “End of the Harvest” from Times of Grace. The chemistry within the band was life-giving to witness, and I think it exemplifies that the return of Neurosis meets a need among the individuals within the band almost more than it does for the audience experiencing it in real time.
On an unseasonably hot night in San Francisco, Neurosis returned to the geographic area that is seen as their collective birthplace at a decibel level that felt like it could reconfigure the peninsula. I’m sure I don’t have to say this, but there is no time to waste in getting a ticket for whenever they are coming near where you live or are able to travel in order to attend.
As uncertain as I am about my own future, let alone the future of humanity at large, I needed this show and this time, as it feels like the beginning of a new era personally as well as another step forward in this next phase for Neurosis. I can’t thank Steve, Dave, Jason, Noah, and Aaron enough for what they came together to create and are now generously sharing with all of us.
I’m reminded of a portion of lyrics from “Last Light”, the final track on An Undying Love for a Burning World: “Weltering in the blood of our love / The river itself starts to weep / All swept away / Cast from sun and into shade / Cold fall ceaseless / In this we are held”
