BIG|BRAVE and The Body kicked off their co-headlining tour at The Middle East Upstairs in Cambridge on July 8, with local support from the instrumental post-metal five piece Glacier.
The show’s lineup was a testament to how much a band’s live performance can transform the listening experience. BIG|BRAVE’s massive and texturally dense sound was both a sonic and physical experience. Songs from their latest full length, in grief or in hope, created a powerful atmosphere, accentuated by the vibrations and pulse of the room that accompanied each piece. The band closed out with one of the album’s more haunting tracks, “an uttering of antipathy.”
The following set from The Body was crushing and, at times, oppressively heavy. Despite being a two piece, they were able to shake the room as if a stampede was rolling through. The band is slated to release an expanded version of their 2013 record Master, We Perish, at the end of the month, but their set was not limited to songs from that album and featured many tracks from 2010’s All the Waters of the Earth Turn to Blood.
