Planning For Burial – The Airliner; Los Angeles, CA

Sorry this is coming a few days late but I had a busy weekend.

I could not have been more stoked to learn Planning For Burial (aka Thom Wasluck) was coming to town for the first time in years. I’ve been digging the hell out of Below The House since its release in March and did not hesitate a ticket the instant I saw they went on sale. As in years past I’ll be prepping my “Top 100 Albums Of 2017…So Far” list in the coming weeks. At this point I’m pretty damn sure Below The House will rank among my favorite listens of the year. I can think of just a couple titles I might have played more than it to date. When I was disenchanted with work at the time of its release I would play it daily either on the commute to or from my office. More than a few times I’d lay on the couch at night drunk, letting the LP spin on and on…it was an immersive listening experience and became almost meditative after a while. If you aren’t yet familiar with the record…well…here ya go.

I’ve not yet seen a show at The Airliner, but with the recent closing of Complex (RIP) I imagine more acts I like might appear there. It’s an interesting setup with multiple stages across two rooms and an outdoor space. Friday night’s show took place in the upstairs space. No disrespect intended, but I was not really interested in seeing Ghost Noise or L.A. Drones — I kind of only cared about Planning For Burial and Wreck And Reference. So I did the snobby-lazy thing and Tweeted at Thom asking what time his set was scheduled for. I tried to couch the implied “Ew…you mean I have to sit through those bands?” with a compliment about hoping my face would be melted off. He was kind enough to respond with a time (10:30ish) and a response to my desire for a face melting set (“No Guarantees”).

In addition to the face melting, I’m pretty sure I incurred some measurable (small!) amount of hearing damage. Whatever mystical plane I ascended to by cranking Below The House while drunk on my couch were no match for the volume and intensity of the live performance. Though near-total darkness (the only lights beyond those of his pedals and amps was a small floodlight he kicked on) the rapt crowd was pummeled by volume. Even with fans blasting at both sides of the stage the temperature seemed to rise steadily over the course of 45-or-so minutes. Could we have endured longer? Oh, definitely. Would we have eventually found ourselves stumbling out into the night, ears still screaming, happily worse for wear? Oh, definitely.

Setlist:

1. (something)
2. Dull Knife (Pt. I)
3. Warmth Of You
4. 29 August 2012
5. Threadbare [MP3]
6. (continued)
7. Dull Knife (Pt. II)