Godspeed You! Black Emperor Tickets

Short Biography

Godspeed You! Black Emperor
February 2013 Australian tour announced

Seminal Canadian post-rock collective Godspeed You! Black Emperor will bring their heartrending live show to Australia for the first time this February. Already announced to perform at ATP’s ‘I’ll Be Your Mirror’, the band will also headline shows in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.

GY!BE was created in 1994 as a solo musical outlet for Efrim Menuck, with the name borrowed from a little known 1976 Japanese black and white documentary. Three years on, Menuck was invited to perform at a show in Montreal, and asked bassist Mauro Pezzente and guitarist Mike Moya to accompany him. The band quickly grew to a core group of nine members and in 1997 they released their debut album F#A#∞. They’ve since gone on to release 3 studio albums and an EP, each generally consisting of an entire piece which is then divided into sections ranging from 15 to 25 minutes.

The band work on both the smallest and grandest of scales, with their dynamic orchestral arrangements revolving around rickety piano melodies, a gentle and emotive string section and the roil of guitars and percussion. Their intense performances are coupled with an engaging use of art and visuals to create an overwhelming live music experience.

Don’t miss this extremely rare opportunity to see the incredible force that is Godspeed You! Black Emperor as they tour Australia for the very first time.

In-depth Biography
The instrumental, multimedia Montreal group Godspeed You Black Emperor! creates extended, repetition-oriented chamber rock. The minimal and patient builds-to-crescendo of the group's compositions result in a meditative and hypnotic listen that becomes almost narrative when combined with found-sound splices and the films of their visual collaborators. GYBE! formed in 1994, and that year self-released a limited-run (33 copies) cassette entitled All Lights Fucked on the Hairy Amp Drooling. The band's next recording, F#A#(Infinity), was initially a limited-run release of 550 LPs on the Canadian label Constellation, but was picked up by Kranky and released onto CD as well. Early 1999 brought the EP Slow Riot for New Zero Kanada (released by both labels) and increased recognition for a band intent on retaining anonymity. Nevertheless, interest in GYBE! only continued to grow among new music fans with much positive attention from The Wire magazine, the band's participation in the John Peel-produced Peel Session for the London BBC, and the group's consistently impressive live shows, including their performance at Quebec's 1999 new music festival FIMAV and the tour with Labradford later that year. GYBE! performances generally include at least nine or more musicians and a projectionist. The instrumentation consists of three guitars, two basses, French horn, violin, viola, cello, and percussion. 2000 brought about the release of Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven, pushing their diverse orchestral rock sound even further into the universe. ~ Joslyn Layne, Rovi