I had the immense privilege of seeing Alan Sparhawk live in concert last Thursday 6th March. An unforgettable experience...
...which I'll come to shortly. First though, the latest example of why you should always try to get to the gig in time to catch the support act(s). Case in point: Haley Fohr aka Circuit Des Yeux.
The second gig I've been to this year and my second visit to the Beacon in Bristol. However, unlike John Grant's concert in the main hall in February, this show was in the adjacent Lantern Hall, a smaller venue which on first impression had the same vibe as the Subscription Rooms in Stroud.
Even so, the space was still sparsely occupied when Circuit Des Yeux took to the stage. I'd not heard any of Haley's music prior to seeing her check the mike, press a few buttons and wait for the sonics to bed in before adding her voice.
If you checked out Friday's post, then you'll have an inkling of what Circuit Des Yeux is about. My initial reaction to what was unfolding before me was "Tanita Tikaram meets Diamanda Galas in a post-apocalyptic scrapyard" and that's truly not meant as a negative.
It was an intense half hour, but one that increased in meaning and impact as it progressed. Haley's capacity for deep, deep notes in one breath and operatic soaring the next was astonishing. I made a similar comment about Joe Hicklin from Big Special when they supported John Grant in Bristol last month. Whereas their sound is rooted in the UK, the Midlands specifically, Circuit Des Yeux is informed and influenced by Haley's homes in Indiana and Illinois.
Yes, there's a deep, deep darkness in the aural landscape, but moments of light and beauty poke through, offering hope, a lifeline. There wasn't a great deal of audience interaction during the brief set, until the end when Haley offered thanks to the relatively few that had turned up on time. It was worth it.
It was of course a perfect primer for the main act. Last July, I posted about Can U Hear, the first indication of Alan Sparhawk's solo path, following the death of wife Mimi Parker in 2022 and the subsequent end of Low. Alan's album White Roses, My God followed in September but that one song remained the only one that I'd heard prior to standing in Lantern Hall, waiting for him to take the stage.
Much has been written about Alan's need to find expression whilst finding it impossible to hear the sound of his own voice. A chance encounter with a vocoder provided the solution, with Can U Hear, and reportedly the whole album, processing Alan's voice and words beyond recognition, over skittering beats and bass. The Beacon website listed a two hour song. What on earth were we going to experience?
Alan took the stage suddenly and without fanfare, followed by son Cyrus, who strapped on a bass and started playing over programmed beats, wrangled by Alan from a small pad on a stand, centre stage.
Not that I recognised it, of course, but the set commenced with album opener Get Still, albeit with an extended intro, stretched to the point that you may have been forgiven for thinking that this was an instrumental. Alan's frentic dancing around the stage only added to this strange sense that this aimed more at a club than a concert hall.
Yet, after a few minutes, Alan raised the mike to his mouth and filtered, processed vocals emerged from the PA. The breaths between corresponded with the bodily movements on stage, connecting the strange, alien sounds with the human who was making them.
It was an astonishing start to the show, and set the tone for the next half hour. Alan played seven of the eleven songs from White Roses, My God in non-sequential order. About half way through, Alan started removing his sweatshirt, revealing his trademark dungarees over otherwise topless body underneath. At least two songs were performed in a mid-state of undress, the sweatshirt becoming an ad-hoc poncho. None of this seemed strange.
Cyrus Sparhawk's bass playing provided a weight and heft to the otherwise synthesised sounds coming out, groovy where it needed to be, solid and dependable throughout. It provided an anchor, a consistency to Alan's more unpredictable behaviour, whether whipping the mike lead like a skipping rope, bouncing around like a featherweight boxer or reaching out, beyond the audience, to something that was present but not visible.
Even having heard just the one song prior to experiencing this all first hand, White Roses, My God makes perfect sense in a live setting. Yet, could Alan really keep this going for two hours?
The answer is no, that was never the intention. What was surprising and delightful though, was that the remainder of the set was a complete volte face. Alan strapped on a guitar and played with - and often to - his son. No other accompaniment than the two guitars and of course Alan's unfiltered, raw beautiful vocals.
What I hadn't expected what that of the nine songs that made up the remainder of the main set, six were new and/or unreleased. Few were introduced with titles, so I've had to rely on Setlist to reveal that these stripped down, achingly intimate songs included Screaming Song, Torn And In Ashes and set closer No More Darkness. All of which indicate the journey of healing and catharsis that Alan continues to make.
There were a few covers, mainly of Alan's other bands. The first was JCMF by Retribution Gospel Choir, which appears to have been in their live shows circa 2013, but doesn't feature on any of the albums that I own. Whereas Retribution Gospel Choir in the studio are a raucous, rocky proposition, this twin-guitar take was a deeply affecting experience.
There was also a song by Derecho Rhythm Section, a band featuring Cyrus and daughter Hollis Mae Sparhawk, who I was completely aware of until this gig. Alan and Cyrus played 2024 debut single Get High, followed by a new/unreleased song called Too High, Alan noting the irony of their side-by-side setlist placement.
The third cover was an impromptu cover of Liquid Love by Roy Ayers, who sadly passed a couple of days before. Alan introduced the song as "one of the first things we played together when Cyrus was learning to play guitar". A moment of unexpected and delightful grooviness, it was wonderful to see how in synch father and son were on stage.
After a few minutes off stage, Alan and Cyrus returned for a two song encore, and the only two songs recorded by Low. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the two picks were from what proved to be their final album, 2021's Hey What. Again, White Horses and Days Like These were presented in shortened, stripped back versions.
More than ever, the absence/presence in the room was felt, the space between the notes, both the guitar chords and Alan's aching beautiful voice, inviting the listener to fill that void in whatever way felt right.
At one point, an audience member was sufficiently moved to pronounce, "Thank you, Alan, it is such a joy to have you here", to which another replied "I'll fucking second that" and a third added, "you've got lovely arms!".
Which I think probably captures better than any of the prosaic paragraphs above just how bloody brilliant the night was for all of us in the room.
I missed my chance to see Low and I am so grateful that I took the opportunity to see Alan in this town on this night.
I usually post a Dubhed selection to accompany a gig review, attempting as far as possible to recreate the setlist. Given that nearly a third of this show featured unreleased music, that was a non-starter, so I've gone for something a little bit different.
I have included the seven songs from White Roses, My God that Alan played on the night though, apart from the first, none of them are in the order that they were performed. I've also intentionally excluded the two Low songs from Hey What that were performed as the encore.
Instead, I've pulled togther all of the Low, Retribution Gospel Choir and Alan's other collaborations and solo ventures that existed in my music collections and picked a dozen more songs.
One of them is Point Of Disgust, the song by Perfume Genius and Alan Sparhawk which featured on last year's excellent TRAИƧA compilation. Another is the first and shortest version of Sagrado Corazón De Jesú that Alan released on his 2006 album Solo Guitar.
The remaining ten songs are connected only in the sense that they increased incrementally in duration by a minute. That is, I first chose a Retribution Gospel Choir song that comes in at under a minute, and ended with a Low song (Landslide) that is just under ten minutes.
I played around with sequencing of all 19 songs, resulting in a 74-minute selection that seeks to recreate the drama and tension, conflict and harmony of Alan's work, past and present, with and without others. I think it works, but I would love to know what you think.
1) Get Still: Alan Sparhawk (2024)2) The Last Of The Blue Dream: Retribution Gospel Choir (2010)
3) Lordy: Low + Dirty Three (2001)
4) On My Own: Low (2013)
5) Station: Alan Sparhawk (2024)
6) Can U Hear: Alan Sparhawk (2024)
7) Heaven: Alan Sparhawk (2024)
8) Landslide: Low (2015)
9) I Made This Beat: Alan Sparhawk (2024)
10) Sagrado Corazón De Jesú (First Attempt): Alan Sparhawk (2006)
11) Not A Word: Low (2016)
12) Project 4 Ever: Alan Sparhawk (2024)
13) Brother: Alan Sparhawk (2024)
14) Your Poison: Low (2007)
15) Shine Eye Dub #1: Retribution Gospel Choir (2006)
16) Point Of Disgust: Perfume Genius + Alan Sparhawk (2024)
17) For Her Blood: Retribution Gospel Choir (2008)
18) Electric Guitar: Retribution Gospel Choir (2010)
19) Over The Ocean: Low (1996)
1996: The Curtain Hits The Cast: 19
2001: In The Fishtank, Volume 7 EP: 3
2006: Solo Guitar: 10
2006: Tour EP #2: 15
2007: Drums And Guns: 14
2008: Retribution Gospel Choir: 17
2010: Retribution Gospel Choir 2: 2, 18
2013: The Invisible Way: 4
2015: Ones And Sixes: 8
2016: Not A Word EP: 11
2024: TRAИƧA: 16
2024: White Roses, My God: 1, 5, 6, 7, 9, 12, 13
Do You Wanna Get Real (1:14:29) (KF) (Mega)
A note about the gorgeous photos in this post:
I only took one pic all night (sparse crowd in Lantern Hall) as I was then so immersed in the performances that I forgot to take any more.
I trawled Bluesky and discovered a series of superb shots from other dates on the tour which mirrored my own experience that night in Bristol. A huge thanks therefore to:
Gonçalo (@gonch145.bsky.social) for the headline photo of mike and leads, Alan in red and Alan playing guitar, all from the Berlin gig on 25th February.
Andrea (@parramaterial.bsky.social) for the shot of Alan and Cyrus in Manchester the night after the Bristol show.
1 Of 100 (@weare1of100.bsky.social) for the picture of Alan reaching out in Glasgow on 8th March.
