Live Review

Barn Owl – Captain’s Rest, Glasgow

• 1st May 2011

I don’t know much about drone music, I’ll confess. So I was interested to go along to this gig to find out just what Barn Owl, a drone duo from San Francisco, could do live. My conclusion? While there were elements of the headliners’ performance that I enjoyed, drone music isn’t for me.

The night began just after the doors opened when the first act, going by the name of Hiiver, walked unannounced onto the stage clutching a guitar. He fired up his synth, recorded one note and played it back on repeat, occasionally changing the volume and adding echo or other effects. Ten minutes in he played a few chords. And ten minutes after that the music stopped abruptly. It felt to me like a long intro to a song that never arrived.

Heather Leigh Murray looked for all the world like a country singer with her long blonde hair and flowing top. But when she sat down at her pedal steel guitar and began to play that image was dispelled immediately. Rather than the normal sweet tone of the instrument she conjured up a brutal distorted sound that was menacing and nasty. A long a capello section demonstrated that Murray has a powerful voice that reaches the high notes effortlessly, but then it was back to the distorted guitar.

The third act was Jefre Cantu-Ledesma. The multi instrumentalist from San Francisco sat to the rear of the stage clutching a guitar, with an array of electronic technology in front of him. He created an ambient noise that rose and fell, creating an atmosphere that almost obscured the occasional chants of his female vocal partner, before the volume rose to create almost a white noise effect. This resolved into a repeated drum beat with a gentle guitar echoing over it.

Barn Owl features Evan Caminiti on guitar and occasional vocals and Jon Porras on guitar, backed by a pre-programmed synth beat. Their set was played out on an almost dark stage, the lighting dim even by the usual poor standards of this venue.

Several things separated Barn Owl from the previous acts: the high quality of the guitar work for a start. And the way the two musicians worked together gave a real sense of purpose, of a co-ordinated approach to making music. There was also a great deal of variety in the performance as the guitars moved from subtle and gentle to strident and dominating.

The backing track was always an accompaniment to the guitars, rather than being the man focus of the music. Drone may mean repetitive but it doesn’t have to be boring. In closing the set, the distortion was turned up high as the twin guitars roared to one last crescendo of noise before the abrupt ending and understated finale that were typical of the night.

Barn Owl’s music may not be to my particular tastes but there is no doubting the quality of their musicianship. And the crowd certainly enjoyed their performance.