LIGHTNING BOLT IN CONCERT:
Noise rock mainstay Lightning Bolt continues to live up to its name with electrifying, guerilla-style performances on tour. They may just be a duo, but drummer/singer Brian Chippendale and bassist Brian Gibson treat fans to an aggressive, awesomely loud show that rivals bands twice their size in terms of sheer sonic power. Chippendale delivers his distorted vocals while pounding the drums at breakneck speeds, and Gibson’s arsenal of bass effects expands the instrument’s textural range to wild and unfamiliar places. The pair often eschews a stage, preferring instead to play hard-charging tunes like “Dracula Mountain” and “The Metal East” on the venue floor surrounded by thrashing fans. The result is a visceral, scrappy, adrenaline-filled concert experience that’s larger than the sum of its parts.
BACKGROUND SNAPSHOT:
Lightning Bolt formed in Providence, RI, in 1994 while Chippendale and Gibson were students at the Rhode Island School of Design. They spent their first few years touring the country performing improvised sets, and only began writing and recording songs after linking up with Load Records in 1997. They released their self-titled debut on Load in 1999, impressing fans and critics alike with their DIY sound and fast, noise-filled songs like “Into the Valley” and “Caught Deep in the Zone”. The band continued to amass fans with 2001’s Ride the Skies and 2003’s Wonderful Rainbow, but it was 2005’s Hypermagic Mountain that really launched them to indie stardom. By the end of the ‘00s, Lightning Bolt ranked at No. 8 on Metacritic’s Artists of the Decade list. Since then they’ve dropped two well-received LPs including 2015’s Fantasy Empire, their highly anticipated debut on Thrill Jockey Records that has fans eager to catch them on tour.
