Colin Stetson at Bohemian National Cemetery

This has to be one of the top five shows in my life.

The man was layering so many instruments at once: circular breathing to play the saxophone continuously through every song, microphones one the keys of the instrument so he can play them like percussion, a microphone taped to his throat to capture his singing while playing the sax. It was an inhuman performance; terrifying to see realized inside a crematorium, on a cemetery no less!

There was a space in the second song, with red light flooding the stage and his bass saxophone booming and his voice howling that I thought: this is the closest I’ll ever get to seeing the gates of hell open up through the floor.

He paused to address to the small audience seated in pews and talked about how the rotund space allowed him to swim around in the music and I was there with him.

The opener was Moon Bros. and they were a set and a half as well: seated on stage playing a twelve-string guitar round and round through backcountry folk melodies and when they spoke they sounded like they wanted to eat someone from the audience.