Savages at Vinyl, Atlanta, October 9, 2013

Last night, London's post-punk revivalists Savages played at Vinyl, part of the Center Stage complex in Midtown Atlanta.  It's been well over a year since I've been to a show at Vinyl - the last time I was there was a March 2012 concert by Fanfarlo, another London band.

I've been on a roll with audience position lately - for both Unknown Mortal Orchestra and Junip at Terminal West and last night for Savages, I managed to get a spot right in front of center stage (the actual center of the stage, not in front of Midtown's Center Stage complex).  No one but the band in front of me, and in the case of Savages, the performers mere inches away from my face.

The four members of Savages wore all black on a dimly lit stage (white lights only over the drummer, silhouetting the rest of the band), which would have made photography difficult, had they allowed it at all. I've heard that at recent shows Savages posted signs at the entrance encouraging people not to take cellphone pictures or videos so the band could "more fully immerse" themselves in the performance.

No such signs were up last night.  "We forgot to post them," singer Jehnny Beth explained as she walked to the edge of the stage and put her hand over the cellphone of a woman standing to my right.  After having taken pictures of their setlist and pedal board before the show began, I kept my cellphone and camera holstered for the rest of their set, and allowed myself to become more fully immersed in the performance.

Johnny Hostile, the band's mentor and boyfriend of Jehnny Beth, opened with a solo set, playing bass and singing to recorded samples.  His performance, reminiscent at times of the 70s band Suicide, set a New Wave tone for the night, and reminded us of a time when experimentalism and embrace of the avant garde was more accepted. Beth sang one song with him.  Reed player Duke Garman, on the bill for the show, did not appear.

Savages' set was as feral and direct as their name implies.  Jehnny Beth menacingly prowled the edge of the stage in her red heels as she sang, often performing less than a foot away from my face.  When at the microphone stage, she would swing her arms front and back like Ian Curtis of Joy Division.  Gemma Thompson approaches the guitar in a manner similar to Gang of Four's Andy Gill, often playing it not so much as a stringed instrument but instead exploring all the possible ways of getting sound out of her machine, including tapping her fingers on the back of its neck or pounding her fist on its body. Thompson's sonic explorations left it up to Ayse Hassan to carry much of the songs with her blister-inducing  strumming on the bass.  But the real delight was watching drummer Fay Milton perform in her near choreographic manner - not only does she involve her whole body in her playing, but she seems to be dancing with the drum set as much as playing it, sometimes holding one arm up in the air as she keeps the beat with the other, only to bring the raised arm crashing down at the exact right moment.  She also makes excellent use of her cymbals.

None of this would have worked, though, if each member of the band weren't such consummate perfectionists and talented musicians, and if their songs weren't so compelling.  Their set included a cover of Suicide's Dream Baby Dream, bookending the theme started with Johnny Hostile's opening set.  Their set ended with Fuckers, a song not found on their debut album Silence Yourself, but featuring a chant of "Don't let the fuckers get you down" before dissolving into a chaotic storm of feedback and noise and the band leaving the stage. The audience began to call for an encore before realizing that Savages had already given everything they had on the stage, and there was nothing left to be said.

Silence yourself, indeed.