PRESS
Live Review: Michael Gira and Kristof Hahn at Heimathafen Neukölln, Berlin – 27 April 2025
Text by John Wohlmacher.
For a man that so many of his fans still claim to be intimidated by, Michael Gira in the flesh sure comes across as… somewhat of a goofball. “If you think he’s sexy now”, he expands on his collaborator Kristof Hahn, “you should see him after the show!” Moments later, he puts a finger on his backside: “TSSSSSSSS!” Possibly, his good mood is sparked by the fact that the show in Berlin marks the finale of his widely celebrated tour with Hahn – or because the two musicians are at this point so in tune, their dynamic interplay resembles telepathic communication.
Opening with a great performance by soloist Joanna Gemma Auguri, whose tender accordion led songs create an intimate atmosphere that perfectly captures the charms of Neukölln’s Heimathafen, the evening continues with Hahn performing a lengthy improvisation. His lap-steel guitar conjures ever shifting textures, sharp as concrete one moment, before diving into wild psychedelia – moving from ambient tapestries that would fit on Brian Eno’s On Land to No-Wave adjacent noise. Hahn is often held up as one of Gira’s most valuable soldiers, and his performance showcases a generational mastery that is mind blowing. As heavy noise bursts in and out, Gira walks to his chair next to Hahn, the two smiling at each other over the alteration between silence and cacophony. High art can be fun without reeking of irony!
From there, the two dive into a selection of new songs off the upcoming SWANS album, Birthing! Hahn’s lap-steel creates powerful waves of cosmic harmonies, while Gira’s repetitive guitar strumming adds a lasting rhythm, over which his voice rises rich in expression – mocking, jesting, pained, angry. “The Healers” is hypnotic and forceful, while “I Am a Tower” allows Gira to loudly exclaim the arrogance of a megalomaniac protagonist (who may or may not be Donald Trump, judging from recent interview excerpts). However, where the song usually enters a blistering, euphoric Rock climax, Hahn abandons the lap-steel, and Gira enters a state of blissful calm, suddenly calming down. It’s one of the many goosebump moments of this evening. As Gira announces to the crowd: these are protest songs. But they also take the form of lyrical sound-narratives that function beyond the surreal imagery of their text (“I am a kitten!” remains one of Gira’s most oddly compelling choices). In this simplistic live figuration, freed from their ensemblic weight, they are rousing and somewhat sacral. As “Guardian Spirit”, the third new song of the set, opens, most of the audience sways in a trance-like bliss, nodding to a hidden voice inside of them, which manifests throughout the room, through Gira’s organ.
That might sound pretentious, but especially during these performances, Hahn and Gira manage to distill something transcendental, and everyone in the room seems caught within it. Between tracks, the two laugh, at one point there’s a brief chat between them, seemingly centred on a specific musical dialogue of the preceding song, that has both grin like school boys. They, too, seem to be aware that they touched upon something magical. Lost in the music, Gira closes his eyes often, swaying as if the rhythm of his guitar is fully removed from the movement of his hands.
The second half of the set consists of older material – something SWANS won’t dare touch in their shows, as Gira has repeatedly explained his dislike for nostalgia. “It’s Coming, It’s Real” (the most recent tune of the selection) collects shades of a tuneful Folk track, radiating an aura of optimism and confidence. The atmosphere shifts to melancholia, as Hahn takes a break for “God Damn the Sun”, which Gira plays especially slow and weighty, briefly chuckling as a teenage fan is headbanging heavily in the first row, gesturing jokingly at him to slow it down after the first verse. As mentioned earlier: for a man that has often been described as “intimidating”, Gira expresses an incredible warmth this night! As the song ends, Hahn blows his nose – for the moment, it seems a genuine expression of grief.
The only moment of sinister transgression comes when the duo play “You Will Pay”, an unrecorded track that has become a staple of Gira’s solo sets. Heavy and forceful, it’s a highlight of the set! In the second half, both musicians abandon their instruments, as Gira delves into a lengthy, aggressively intoned spoken word passage. It is here where Gira’s eyes scan the audience, and finally find a lone smart-phone recording. His middle finger shoots up, as his voice continues to growl the lines, and stays up for a good while, only disappearing after, in a short break between verses, Gira shoots an especially grim expression. For those unfamiliar, these moments are a recurring occurrence during Gira’s performances – and for those worried, the audience member quickly removed his phone and had a pleasant conversation with Gira after the set (a blessing that Reddit can now provide the closure which, in the past, was left to speculative mysticism). The song ultimately benefits from the short moment, adding even more gravitas to Gira’s expression of confrontational anger and defiance. Possibly, “You Will Pay” has not been put on tape because, in its stark brutality, it demands a physical presence that turns paralysed in recording.
Before Gira closes out the evening with a few lines of well spoken German (oh!), the set concludes with an especially moving highlight: “Failure”! One of Swans’ most legendary tracks, the song is driven by Gira’s pained howls, as Hahn finds sharp, angular notes to accompany the journey. After a host of songs whose rousing, optimistic or gentle tones and nuances dominated the night, this bleak, iconic performance is an especially haunting coda, with Gira finally screaming into the microphone, the final transmissions of a dying soul. Powerful and agonising, “Failure” quite possibly never sounded as poignant – or, let’s say it, better – than on this night.
I have remarked before, in my review of The Beggar, that Gira is the ultimate contradiction – a man who can, seemingly effortlessly or without warning, transform from gentle to brutal, from imposing to funny. This night, he is incredibly warm, funny, jovial, passionate and gifted with an aura of deep, uniquely grave artistry. Every note, every musical dialogue with the exceptional Hahn, every sung line, every emotional movement seems in tune with a deep, truthful, cosmic power that evades criticism. Was it loud? Yes, but not painfully so. Was it transcendental? Yes, but never overbearing. If you are awarded with a chance of seeing Gira and Hahn play – you must take it! It is a transformative, unique experience. And in Berlin, the two might just have performed one of the best nights in their artistic journey!