Ah, noise

I was talking to a friend and remembered a particularly impactful show from years ago. I believe the band that initiated the conversation was Lightning Bolt, but the show was called the Oops! Tour and featured them along with Erase Errata, The Locust, the Flying Luttenbachers, and Arab on Radar. It was the last one that left probably the most indelible stain on my psyche and my idea of what I wanted a live show to be (as an audience member and a performer).

They wore matching button-up black outfits, similar to Crass's, but that's kind of where any similarities end in terms of stage presence (though the noise guitar is not far off). As a YouTube commenter puts it, the guitarists seemed like they hated playing guitar — in fact the whole band seems to hate music — and they seemed on the verge of a terrible breakup-inducing fight at all times. The lights at the front of the stage cast giant shadows of the members behind them. It was goofy, ridiculous, and terrifying all at once. I've seen a lot of shows but there aren't that many I want to relive. Off the top of my head I can think of the Cramps, the first time I saw Neurosis, Butthole Surfers, Bauhaus's reunion... and this.

Here's a video from a similar time that gets the experience pretty close.