Isis @ Emo's, Austin (02.28.2007)

So, Isis rolled back through Austin again last night, which was a little unexpected seeing as they just stopped by here in September, on an off night from the Tool tour. As always, I was pumped to see them. However, as it turned out, I was in for a sub-par night.

First, the opening bands. Going on first was Intronaut, as a replacement for Jesu, who cancelled on the tour for some reason. Intronaut was OK, good rhythm section but the guitars and vocals were nothing special. Drummer tore it up though, and a lot of the bass work was pretty cool. After that was Torche, who I'm pretty sure I've seen before but I can't remember for sure. Anyway, I liked them a bit better, they had a good level of energy and, weirdly enough, a guitarist that to me looked just like Kim Thayil from Soundgarden. I may follow up with them and check out an album.

The sound for both of the opening bands was pretty good, but for some unknown reason the sound was absolutely HORRID for Isis. The only thing I could consistently hear cleanly was the drums. The bass was way too low, a couple of the guitars were way too high, and Turner's mic was also way too high. During mellower moments when only the bass or one guitar was doing something, it would sound fine. But most of the time if there was more than that going on, the entire thing would just explode into an overly distorted wall of noise. And the vocals had the same problem, it seemed like the mic was cranked so high that the signal was constantly clipping and the result was really distorted and crappy. I'm really confused as to why the sound was so off. This is the 5th or 6th time I've seen Isis at this venue, and the sound has always been superb. I guess it just happens occasionally.

Anyway, here is the setlist:

01. Wrists Of Kings
02. Not In Rivers, But In Drops
03. False Light
04. Dulcinea
05. Wills Dissolve
06. 1000 Shards
07. All Out Of Time, All Into Space
08. Holy Tears
09. In Fiction
(Break)
10. Celestial (extended alternate version)

Pretty good set, especially the closer. And as bad as the sound may have been, it was still Isis, live, still bringing the energy and power that they always do. And as most of you would probably would agree, even when the sound is off, if its a band you're very familiar with you can still pick out all the good stuff from the noise and have a great time. Well, this worked for about half the show. And then the idiotic moron "I don't want to actually listen to the music I just want to beat the crap out of other people" moshers started up. Moshers??? At a friggin Isis show??? Huh??? It makes no sense that people would get all aggressive and start shoving and punching to music that spends most of the time slowly building up to a climax. OK, getting a little rowdy and pumped up during the pay-off moments, no problem. But running around slamming people during the mellow ambient stuff, that makes no sense. I've never seen that at an Isis show before, it pretty much ruined the middle half of the show. Fortunately, the moshing seemed to fade out by the time Isis got to their last two songs. Also, it appeared that whatever adjustments the sound guys may have been making during the show finally got sorted out, and the last couple songs actually sounded pretty good. Especially the long version of "Celestial" that they closed with. I was really excited that they played that, I haven't heard them play that song since I think the first time I ever saw them. They really brought the intensity on that one and blew the roof off the place. In my mind, that song saved the show.

All in all, not the best Isis show I've seen, but I wouldn't blame it on the band themselves. They still brought the intensity and thunder, which in the end made up for the less-than-ideal conditions.