A Celebration of the Life and Art of Caleb Scofield Tickets
Family Bonds: Notes from the Celebration of the Life and Art of Caleb Scofield
The early on passing of artists tends to foster an interesting (and occasionally uncomfortable) combination of reactions, especially in the age of social media. On ane hand, you will run across devoted fans writing their ain eulogies, attempting to encapsulate what the artist meant within the prism of their ain experiences. You volition also, unfortunately, notice your share of naysayers who can't expect to seize the moment to impart their own self-fashioned wisdom well-nigh how overrated the creative person in question was, or how superficial people are for mourning celebrities while and then many others suffer in anonymity. I recall getting into a heated exchange with an erstwhile friend when he posted something on Facebook disparaging fans of Chris Cornell after the star'southward passing, since it was of equal or greater importance to him that normal people die daily with no fanfare. There was a deeper context regarding addiction and the mode we view addicts, but there's no sense dredging that up. The point is that we concluded up wrestling over a expressionless man's grave, and while to this mean solar day I disagree with his sentiments, I could have also just let it become and withal mourned a homo whose piece of work I had admired since childhood without feeling compelled to get into Facebook fights over it.
The reason I mention this is because the tragic passing of Cave In bassist and vocalist Caleb Scofield on March 28th of this yr came with a especially revelatory response. Perchance it was considering Scofield wasn't a mainstream star and was more than protected within a smaller bubble, simply the outpouring of love and respect without the intrusion of negativity was specially inspiring. It was as well somewhat of an center-opener from where I stood. I grew upward with Cave In lingering around my musical tastes. I've owned Cave In albums since the dawn of this century and they've informed a lot of music that I hold dear to my eye, but they have always been more of a peripheral musical interest of mine. Information technology wasn't until Scofield's passing that I learned the true depth of his influence. One after another, friends of mine eulogized him on social media with a kind of reverence that I frankly was non enlightened he carried. Musicians, bassists and otherwise, came pouring out to talk almost how Scofield was amongst their greatest influences, a shining example of bass craftsmanship and sheer ability for seemingly an entire generation of people who now make up significant numbers in the current crop of bands ranging from hardcore to mail service-rock, indie culling to metal, and beyond.
If his presence and importance hadn't already sunk in, it did when the showtime Celebration of the Life and Art of Caleb Scofield was appear to be taking place in Boston in June with Converge, Immature Widows, Old Human being Gloom and The Cancer Conspiracy (who are local legends in my neck of the woods, Burlington, VT, from where they initially hailed) supporting Cave In. I had an within source tell me it was coming and that I should get tickets ASAP, but I figured I had a little time. When I got home from work the evening they went on sale I was startled to encounter that they had sold out in mere minutes. The Facebook event folio was flooded with messages from people looking for extra tickets. I was bummed I wouldn't exist able to make the (relatively) brusk trip down to Boston for the evidence, as this appeared to be a truly once-in-a-lifetime outcome. Until, that is, news came downwardly of a 2d show, this fourth dimension in LA, and this time featuring not only post-rock legends Pelican, but the mind-melting revelation of a ane-off reunion show for long-defunct post-metal innovators Isis (under the currently-more culturally adequate moniker Angelic). I was pretty sure I had to buy these tickets, but the responsible side of my brain warned me that it might not be prudent to buy tickets to a evidence that I would have to travel 3,000 miles for; a evidence for which I would besides take to – for reasons tied to a lack of available vacation fourth dimension – expedite the vacating of my thankless, torturous management task (talk about a blessing in disguise). I came very close to balking on the opportunity, only thanks to my soon-to-be girlfriend Laura, who urged me to end being an asshole and seize the opportunity, I decided to pull the trigger and figure information technology out after.
Related: GALLERY: A Commemoration of the Life and Art of Caleb Scofield — October 13th, 2018 @ The Wiltern, CA
Later came in the dawning hours of Fri, Oct twelfth, when Laura and I boarded a aeroplane from Burlington that would eventually lead us to Los Angeles. This was my first time existence West of Austin, and I couldn't think of many better reasons to make the pilgrimage. Our hotel was an e'er-so-slightly seedy Ramada in Koreatown, merely steps from the Wiltern Theater where the evidence would exist taking place. I believe that our hotel was thankful for the evidence as well, every bit it seemed it was primarily housing fans who had traveled untold miles from all corners of the country to commemorate the music of a human who had been a defining face up in a New England scene that had produced some of the about respected names in heavy music over the past 20+ years. Both the hotel vestibule and the surrounding surface area were awash in a sea of blackness band tees. I saw Alcest. I saw Mgla. I saw Emma Ruth Rundle. I saw Circle Takes the Square. Hell, I fifty-fifty saw a guy in a RANGES t-shirt. I knew that I had found my place even though I was so far from home. And at its core, that is what this night was all about. It was well-nigh family, by blood and by association, from near and distant locations, all together to provide a proper send off to a human that meant so much to so many.
By 6:30 pm at that place was a line outside the Wiltern that snaked downwardly and around the entire block. On the exterior, the venue looked similar it had seen improve days, but I had been to venues like this before and had a sneaking suspicion that the interior would supply a welcome surprise. It certainly did not disappoint. The Wiltern is a cute former-school theatre that sits under a towering ceiling with lovingly crafted design roofing every square inch of its walls, featuring an expansive balcony that rises high above the mezzanine and orchestra areas (the latter was in this case utilized as a standing-room section). Nosotros selected ii isolated balcony seats to the far right of the stage, and while some might assume that these were not in a prime number location I tin can assure readers that there is not a bad seat in this house, and the sound was spot on. The first band to take the stage was 27, the Cambridge, MA band fronted past Maria Christopher. The band has long held ties to Isis, contributing to some of the band's songs (including "Behave," "Weight" and "The Beginning of the Finish") and featuring appearances from multiple members of the band on their own tracks. Cave In guitarist Adam McGrath has also been playing guitar live with them for several years now. Their brand of lo-fi indie rock was exactly the kind of calm-before-the-storm that this kind of show needed prior to getting decidedly louder.
The volume increased exponentially when Old Homo Gloom striking the phase subsequently. The long-running supergroup/side project featured tracks sung by 3 dissimilar members, Nate Newton of Converge, Aaron Turner of Isis and Stephen Brodsky of Cavern In (filling in Scofield's office), a combination that really hammered abode the family vibe of the evening. Except for Pelican, every band on the bill featured at to the lowest degree 1 member that played a role with at least ane of the other bands. In addition to the crushing weight and surprising accessibility of the set itself (OMG is not a band I had ever actually actively followed prior to this event and for whatever reason I had carried a notion that their mode was difficult-to-approach sludge metal), it was so affirming to witness a grouping of musicians who had been in the game for so long continue to exude passion and love for ane another on stage.
Despite my stiff desire to see them, I must admit that Pelican felt a trivial similar the odd group out in this mix, is the only band without direct personnel ties to Cave In (although they accept had a history of in-studio collaboration with Aaron Turner). Still, I was e'er and so stoked to see them, equally my simply previous opportunity was ultimately missed. As one of the team members at douse!u.s. in 2017, one would think that I'd have had a golden opportunity to see them up shut and personal, but despite having some fourth dimension to converse with the band before and later their set, I was forced to spend their unabridged performance running around trying to tie up loose ends. So, finally, this event was my starting time opportunity to really take in an entire Pelican show. They stepped up with a operation that delivered two-fold, hitting fan favorites like "Deny the Accented" and "Immutable Sunset," but also treating fans to the live-only track "Midnight and Mescaline" as well as two new, yet untitled songs. Fifty-fifty within mail service-rock and post-metallic circles Pelican has always kind of been its own affair and maintained a sound that doesn't feel specially similar to whatever other bands in the genres, and to accept been around for 17 years on respected labels is an accomplishment that I feel they maybe don't become plenty credit for. Despite seeming slightly out of place in the context of this night they still came out and crushed, no small feat considering the insane amount of apprehension throughout the oversupply for the ring that was slated to follow them. By the fourth dimension their gear up was halfway done information technology would have been understandable if one-half of the fans' heads had already exploded with the realization of their proximity to the beginning Isis performance in almost a decade's time, but Pelican managed to keep everyone fully engaged throughout.
I have zero involvement in nether-valuing the importance of this night for Cave In and the Scofield family, but I would simply be lying if I didn't acknowledge that the highlight for many in attendance was the brief re-emergence of Isis (or Celestial, whatever you adopt to call them at this point). The Wiltern turned into a madhouse equally the post-metallic legends took the phase. At this point, I was somewhat lost in the moment, as I tend to become at shows in my old age, and so I needed to plough to friend-of-all-things-postal service and setlist savant Greg Pittz for a recap to appropriately relay what unfolded during what proved to exist a spectacularly cathartic 50 minutes for a lot of people. Greg is a massive Isis fan from Albany, NY who trekked almost the same number of miles as me, with exponentially more than headaches in the procedure; he is also a devoted Phish fan, so he's understandably finely tuned in to tracking sets, something I am absolutely terrible at. Here'south the rundown of what fans were treated to:
- Carry
- And then Did Nosotros
- In Fiction
- The Showtime and the End (w/ extended ending)
- Sgnl>01
- Celestial (an approximation of Justin Broadrick's Sgnl>05 remix, with an extended outro that timed the vocal out to well-nigh 16 minutes, similar to the version nowadays on the "Live II: 03.xix.03" album)
Thanks to Greg for helping me practise my job on this one, because without him, my cess would have been more forth the lines of "it was aweeeesssssommmme." Which, don't get me incorrect, it was. It was very awesome. It would be a shame if this was their just reunion functioning because they clearly haven't missed a vanquish. That existence said, no i in the band has hinted at annihilation other than this event being a one-off, and so for now, the people who were able to be in omnipresence can count themselves amid the very lucky few who were able to soak in the glory 1 concluding fourth dimension.
Information technology feels weird to phone call Cave In's performance an epilogue, merely that's kind of what information technology felt like, at least to begin with. It was truly heart-warming to see the band characteristic Scofield's blood brother Kyle on bass, though his contributions were all mid-menstruation Cave In tracks, which meant it was a flake of a drop in intensity from what Isis had left on phase. However, by the fourth dimension they hitting upon their cover of Neil Immature's "Harvest Moon" (a vocal they also covered in Boston, and a personal favorite of Scofield's) things started to click in. Afterward a few songs, Nate Newton returned to bass duties and the band launched into some much-anticipated renditions of their heavier material. At this betoken, the Wiltern really came live, as hundreds of people simultaneously revisited songs that were hugely inspirational during determinative moments in their lives and rallied together in dearest, support and unity. At that place were more than a few leaky optics in the house from what I could see as I surveyed the crowd. They closed out their set with favorites similar "Juggernaut," which they hadn't performed live for several years, besides as "Off to Ruin," "Trepanning," "Serpents," "Big Riff" and "Sing My Love."
This was not the finish of the dark, notwithstanding. In that location had been rumors of a special operation from Zozobra (Scofield'due south mid-2000's projection for which he was the primary songwriter), and this turned out to be the instance, acting equally an extended encore to Cave In'southward set without a break in the activeness. This free-flowing session featured Turner, McGrath, Brodsky, Newton, Aaron Harris, Santos Montano and a special appearance by Converge vocaliser Jacob Bannon, some of whom were rotating instruments song to song. I must include a disclaimer for the sake of journalistic integrity though – I was forced to receive this information second-hand, as by the stop of the Cave In performance both Laura and I were convinced our eyeballs were going to rupture from exhaustion and were forced to walk back to our hotel and induce a several-hr blackout. I knew that they were going to pull out some serious stops earlier the end and I'm bummed I missed the terminal few songs of the nighttime, but I'yard pretty sure that if I had stayed I'd be dead at present so I'grand going to try and convince myself I made the right conclusion although all evidence suggests otherwise.
What tin can one say that hasn't been said? This was a one time-in-a-lifetime kind of outcome for certain. You almost never become to witness the beloved and passion and devotion and closeness of a collection of artists from this vantage bespeak. Typically, the live setting is very segmented and rigid, which is not something I'1000 complaining about, but the fluidity we saw on stage during the Scofield tribute was something to be cherished and historic. And really, that's what this was all about – artists interim equally a collective, and the resulting performance thriving on the undying dedication of the fans. Words can merely say so much; sometimes things must be experienced, they need to exist processed viscerally and alive on through vivid memories. The Celebration of the Life and Art of Caleb Scofield was one of those things, and information technology will conduct through as an essential episode until the cease for everyone who had the opportunity to witness it.
All photos by Mark Valentino. For more from this photographer, visit their Instagram or Flickr. Photos may non exist reproduced or used in any manner outside of the above posting without the express permission of the photographer and/or Heavy Blog is Heavy.
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