Ben Frost
Berghain | 22 May
The last year must have been busy for Ben Frost. Somehow finding the time to compose and tour an ambitious opera based on Iain Banks’ gothic horror The Wasp Factory and record a new LP for Mute Records. Thursday 22 May saw him play Berlin’s Berghain as part of his ongoing tour to promote that very record, the excellent A U R O R A
Obviously one has to write a few words about the venue. THE venue. The space, the mythology and the legendary soundsystem of Berghain always give performances a boost, the sound is incredible and the audiences are responsive. However, this is all irrelevant the second Ben Frost starts playing. We’re utterly transported, and for the duration of his set, it doesn’t matter where we are.
Opener, Circuit des Yeux, is a wonderful surprise. As she traverses the stage with just a 12 string guitar looking ready to knock out a few pop folk songs, there is a collective double take from the audience. Any misgivings are soon dispelled, playing through a handful of pedals, Circuit des Yeux dial in sounds ranging from sitar-esque to all out walls of noise whilst wailing, growling and muttering, channeling Nick Cave and David Lynch for some doom laden vocal accompaniment. Noise music played on a 12 string guitar is the last thing we’d expected to hear, but it’s a wildly appropriate opener for Ben Frost.
Performing tracks from A U R O R A, Ben Frost’s already powerful sound finds additional physicality with the support of two drummers, playing with intense focus and precision. The asymmetric rhythms of Frost’s music becomes the beating heart of the performance, marking a shift in his output, from what might be described as ambient (even though “ambient doesn’t even begin to describe Ben Frost’s body of work), to something much more focussed and explicitly structured. The heavy drum patterns play against the thick emotional melodies fuelling an intensely dramatic ambiance. Many of the melodic aspects of the performance could once have belonged in dance tracks, overwrought trance leads becoming epic shoegaze walls of sound, almost lost in frenzied blastbeasts. As the performance develops, it feels as though the sound itself is pressing on our chests, the sheer volume and heart-rending melodrama become physical presences. At 50 minutes, the performance ends perhaps a little too soon, leaving the audience dazed and exhausted, but wanting more.
Oddly, Ben Frost performed barefoot, perhaps signifying a comfort in his eccentricities and embracing his role as an “Artist”. As a presence onstage, he radiates a quiet intensity that fits his music. If you get a chance to see Ben Frost perform on the remainder of the A U R O R A tour, or to see The Wasp Factory, which is also incredible, grasp it with both hands.
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Words: Thomas Painter
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