Post-rockers Mono performed at Lee’s Palace in Toronto last Friday night, bringing their reverb-drenched instrumentals to an enthusiastic audience. I even heard someone talking about flying to Tokyo to see them perform with an orchestra in December – that’s dedication!
Mono is a band with a profound control over their dynamics. Within each of their mammoth songs you can expect to hear every dynamic step between a fragile whisper of sound and a barrage of feedback, distortion and propulsive energy. Sometimes the transitions are so slow and subtle that you hardly notice when the change happened, and sometimes the dynamic shift is sudden enough to make you (literally) jump.
Usually beginning with a delicate guitar part, Mono slowly weaves dissonance and chaos into their songs, building and building until they reach a terrifying climax.
Each melody is vulnerable and transient, about to transform from something gentle into a wild beast. This transformation is powerfully relevant, hinting at the destructive power of what first seems beautiful. But after the climax, the destructive and chaotic elements retreat and reveal that the beautiful beginning melody was bubbling under the surface the whole time. In the end, it’s the tender and vulnerable melody that wins.
It’s hard to describe Mono without describing their emotional impact. They make the sort of music that demands an emotional investment and what you put into it determines what you get out of it. I was left with a feeling that hope and steadfastness triumph over their dark and chaotic enemies, even though the battle can seem hopeless during the worst of it. Maybe everyone else in the audience had a different impression, but it would be difficult to avoid being moved at all.
And some of the most emotionally affects people in the room were Mono themselves. They perform in a trance of serene passion, as if their performance is a spiritual act. Mono are uncommonly powerful performers, and their live show is truly something special.
Video: Burial At Sea
(It turns out my camera is rubbish at filming in the dark, but the audio came through okay so I’m including this video anyway)
