Pallbearer played MHOW with Marissa Nadler & Kayo Dot (review), expand tour
Pallbearer are wrapping up their short US tour in Chicago tonight (3/31). They played Brooklyn on Saturday 3/25 at the Music Hall of Williamsburg, the day after the release of their third album, Heartless. That show (and most others on the tour) was opened by Kayo Dot and Marissa Nadler, both of whom offered a distinctive yet fitting performance to pair with Pallbearer. Nadler and Pallbearer are especially a suited pair, each delivering music that seems intended to be felt with your whole body.
Nadler performed mostly solo, and occasionally with the help of one other person on guitar as well. After the release of Strangers in 2016, she’d been touring with an electric guitar and a full backing band after having exclusively played solo with an acoustic for the earlier part of her career. This show seemed to offer a medium between the two, maintaining an effortless intimacy. Nadler manages to fill entire rooms with her voice, gentle melodies, and haunting lyricism.
The venue itself at least partially aided to this sense of intimacy, with its relatively small layout and upstairs balcony offering a place to sit. This seems important to note in light of it being, ostensibly, a metal show — not exactly evocative of relaxation. But as with Marissa Nadler, Pallbearer offered a similarly intimate performance that sonically filled the room.
Pallbearer’s music seems surprisingly fit for simply sitting down to enjoy. Since Pallbearer’s first album, 2012’s Sorrow and Extinction, the band has crafted a uniquely expansive and tragic sound founded upon a tradition of doom metal and southern influence. It largely seems meant to be taken in and analyzed, though it’s just as good to simply listen to, as well. Pallbearer has cornered in on an ability to push metal into satellite genres and a broader appeal
Heartless, their newest album, takes this a step further. Its doom metal qualities are further subdued, while a more apparent prog/pop quality steps forward. Heartless really puts these stylistic elements of Pallbearer in the forefront, bringing new light to the fact that these elements were there all along. In the live setting, this is all the more powerful, and at very least sets it apart from the expectations of a metal show.
The band was particularly excited to perform the new material, as they had finished recording it last fall. As they began playing songs from Heartless, the lead singer took to a keyboard. “We told you guys we were gonna get a little more far out,” he said, as they introduced their newly electronic elements.
Pallbearer recently announced another US headlining tour with Gatecreeper opening on all dates, plus Pinkish Black, Inter Arma, Spirit Adrift, and Venomous Maximus on select dates. They’ll also be playing a Philly show with Baroness and Nothing. All tour dates are listed below.
Watch some videos of the MHOW show:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BSG2zyqAzNu/?taken-at=97445
https://www.instagram.com/p/BSHAQ0pAXx0/?taken-at=97445
Pallbearer – 2017 Tour Dates
US DATES
3/31 Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall $
5/11 Houston, Texas @ Warehouse Live — Studio ^
5/12 Dallas, Texas @ Curtain Club ^
5/13 Austin, Texas @ Barracuda ^
5/15 Phoenix Ariz. @ The Rebel Lounge %
5/16 San Diego, Calif. @ Casbah #
5/18 Los Angeles, Calif. @ The EchoPlex #
5/19 Oakland, Calif. @ The New Parish #
5/20 Reno, Nev. @ Jub Jub’s Thirst Parlor #
5/22 Salt Lake City, Utah @ Urban Lounge #
5/23 Denver, Colo. @ Bluebird Theater #
5/25 Kansas City, Mo. @ The Riot Room ^^
5/26 Minneapolis, Minn. @ 7th Street Entry ^^
5/27 Des Moines, Iowa @ Vaudeville Mews ^^
5/28 Madison, Wis. @ High Noon Saloon ^^
5/30 Columbus, Ohio @ Ace of Cups ^^
5/31 Pittsburgh, Pa. @ Rex Theater ^^
6/01 Washington, D.C. @ Rock and Roll Hotel ^^
6/02 Philadelphia, Pa. @ Union Transfer **
6/05 Harrisonburg, Va. @ The Gameolden Pony ^^
6/06 Louisville, Ky. @ Zanzabar ^^
6/07 St. Louis, Mo. @ Fubar ^^
$ w/ Marissa Nadler, Kayo Dot
^ w/ Gatecreeper, Pinkish Black
% w/ Gatecreeper, Spirit Adrift
# w/ Gatecreeper, Venomous Maximus
^^ w/ Gatecreeper, Inter Arma
** w/ Baroness, Nothing
EUROPEAN DATES
Apr 05 Botanique Brussels, Belgium#
Apr 06 Underworld London, United Kingdom#
Apr 08 Thekla Bristol, United Kingdom #
Apr 09 Ruby Lounge Manchester, United Kingdom#
Apr 11 Hafenklang Hamburg, Germany#
Apr 12 Sticky Fingers Göteborg, Sweden#
Apr 13 Kraken STHLM Stockholm, Sweden #
Apr 14 Atlas Aarhus, Denmark#
Apr 15 Pumpehuset Copenhagen West, Denmark#
Apr 16 Cafe Glocksee Hanover, Germany#
Apr 18 Underground Koln, Germany#
Apr 19 Musik & Frieden Berlin, Germany
Apr 20 Doom over Leipzig Leipzig, Germany
Apr 21 Rote fabrik Zurich, Switzerland
Apr 22 Dudefest Karlsruhe, Germany
Apr 23 Roadburn Tilburg, Netherlands
# w/ Pinkish Black
