Michael Rother can effortlessly convey an uplifting emotion and transport a person through time and space, away from the negative friction such upheaval would usually cause. I’m talking about anything I've ever heard from him, but in particular his guitar work - not only on his first three solo albums but in general. To have now experienced this live is nothing short of revelatory. Being taken so far by the common strum is a dream from which I never want to awake; a sensation I never thought I could experience away from a turntable.
Having said that, Michael Rother has added a modern disquiet to his sound, and, as a result, this is no familiar walk down memory lane. Tonight at the Barbican Center, Michael Rother creates some of the cleanest distortion I've ever heard. He stands behind a laptop and a table full of unidentified devices, only the head of his guitar in view. This is a good analogy of his sound; the guitar invisible at times, hidden by filtering. Its sound constantly pans through the heavens of the hall, rays of light and dark circulating on unseen currents, a hive of activity, both uniform and chaotic.
The physical shape of this sound is in stark and beautiful contrast to the immense contributions of Steve Shelley. Increasingly bug-eyed, his playing at times beggared belief such was it’s intensity, relentlessness and shear joy. His jaw dropping playing was harmonious and distinctive - a horizontally propelled, unstoppable force, disregarding many things in the cause for pure movement. Considering the shoes he was filling, this performance was remarkable and special.
Aaron Mullan also made an essential contribution, proving a base for Rother’s aerial excursions and ensuring the uninhibited abandon of his band mates sounded right for the audience. This live show was as valid and relevant as could be: sonically adventurous, emotionally weighty, and viscerally sensuous. At no point did this become a retread, and in no way could it be criticised as such.
One message in this music is to be open, to move at life quicker than it moves at you whilst knowing that you don't really need to move at all. Not only did this show do justice to that ideal but saw it reborn and given life anew.