NEWS
Michael Gira of Swans West Coast and Brooklyn Solo Concerts (All shows opened by long term Swans guitarist Norman Westberg)
Michael Gira of Swans West Coast and Brooklyn Solo Concerts (All shows opened by long term Swans guitarist Norman Westberg):
9/27/2018 Los Angeles, CA Regent Theatre (Fully Seated) (with very special guest Carla Bozulich)
9/29/2018 Berkeley, CA The UC Theatre (Partially Seated)
10/4/2018 Portland, OR The Old Church Concert Hall (Fully Seated)
10/5/2018 Seattle, WA Columbia City Theater (Partially Seated)
10/25/2018 Brooklyn, NY Warsaw (Fully Seated)
After 8 years, 4 critically acclaimed ground breaking albums and incessant touring, the most recent version of Swans came to a close with 3 sold-out (1000 capacity) shows at Brooklyn’s Warsaw venue In November of 2017. Michael Gira immediately began writing new material for the next version of Swans. He has now completed writing the songs for a new Swans album (to commence recording in March of 2019 – personnel as yet to be determined) and he’ll be performing most of this material as well as previously existing songs on the upcoming tour.
“Sitting there alone on stage with a dead piece of wood and some wires and just my voice is a challenge I set for myself a number of years ago, trying to fully inhabit the same thread that's run through the music all along, with the simplest of means. I think I've gotten pretty good at it over time. I play the guitar my own way. I've never really learned how to play it conventionally and I don't care to do so. I could just as easily be hitting two rocks together. It provides a context for the voice and words, and just as in the music of Swans, when all the elements (known and unknowable) combine, it can lead to something beyond itself, which is always the place I'd like to go: somewhere else. I hope to see you there."
- Michael Gira / Swans
Gira recently released a limited edition (2500) book of 17 new cryptic short stories, The Egg, illustrated by long-term collaborator Nicole Boitos. There’s a few remaining copies and they’ll be available at the shows…
https://younggodrecords.com/collections/frontpage/products/michael-gira-the-egg
Read a sample story from The Egg:
https://younggodrecords.com/blogs/sample-story-from-m-giras-the-egg/the-condemned-man
A limited edition (of 500) double vinyl collection, I Am Not This, comprised of Gira’s more intimate moments as a songwriter will also be available. The recordings are culled from a variety of sources, including Swans, Angels of Light, unreleased demos, and handmade fundraiser CDs.
https://younggodrecords.com/products/i-am-not-this-2lp
As part of its ongoing Swans re-issue series, Young God Records recently released (for the first time ever on vinyl) a 4 LP, sumptuously packaged, box set of Soundtracks for the Blind (1997). It’s also available as a 3xCD package, which includes the contemporaneous German language version, Die Tur Ist Zu.
https://younggodrecords.com/collections/frontpage/products/soundtracks-2018
Commemorative Swans final Brooklyn shows video by Marco Porsia (Marco is working on a Swans documentary, set for release late Fall/Winter of 2018):