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The billing for this show is a bit deceiving, since GLENN BRANCA himself wasn’t actually playing. Rather, this was a performance of his Symphony No. 13 for 100 Guitars, which first debuted at the former site of the World Trade Center back in 2001. However, the performance on this evening was the first of the revised symphony. Having not seen it beforehand, I’m not sure what the changes were. But they obviously worked, as I was blown away.
Branca is a respected composer best known for his stint in late ‘70s no-wave stalwarts STATIC and THEORETICAL GIRLS, and for such works as Lesson No. 1 and The Ascension. Those are his best-known works, partly because they served as the launching pad for the careers of THURSTON MOORE and LEE RANALDO, who would later wind up forming SONIC YOUTH.
Although it’s been almost a quarter of a century since that time, Branca is still at it, creating some of the noisiest and loudest pieces that can still carry the tag of ‘symphony.’ Conducted by JOHN MYERS and featuring drumming by longtime Branca associate WHARTON TIERS, alongside the 100 guitars, the piece built throughout the course of each of its four movements, pulling the listeners into a hypnotic trance of brutal, repetitive rhythms.
As the name of the symphony implies, this is loud, punishing, brutal and repetitive music which left some concertgoers (no doubt including those that had season passes to the theater and are used to quieter fare) stunned at what they saw. It was not for the faint of heart. Mostly, however, the crowd was appreciative, giving the players the requisite standing ovation between each of the symphony’s four movements and again at the end, when the shy Branca finally came out after lots of cheering and yelling.
