I was in the second row right in the centre for the first show, and the sound was amazing. Not muddy at all, I could hear every detail and it was shaking my bones. It did sound like a war zone though, or maybe exploring a constantly shifting, living alien machine that wanted to grind you into mincemeat.
I might have overdone the homemade edibles before the show though.
Unfortunately i missed Autechreās show a few years ago. Never saw them live and canāt really imagine what itās like. Sitting down listening to them sounds weird to me. But on the other side the later stuff isnāt really danceable either. Either way itās probably a very special experience.
best thing about sitting in darkness with intense rhythm and frequencies pummelling your body is the total loss of depth perception and spacial awareness. causes some interesting brain tricks.
I have to admit I prefer standing up to see them. I liked the Barbican show a lot and it was cool getting to feel all the low end through the seats but I wanted to move around a bit.
Even though itās not particularly ādanceableā music, I still want to dance (shuffle around like a knob) to it.
Plus, I really liked standing up trying to work out whether people were facing me or if they had their back to me.
When I saw them at Zoo in Manchester I was working my way through the crowd with three pints when they started the set and all the lights went off. Iād lost all pints by the time Iād managed to get to safety
Crossing, getting on stage, getting wired to the phones output, itās not easy without getting caught.
Itās usually a place a little on the side with a recorder in a shirt pocket, under a cap or in a bag of crisps.