Drifting from the echo chambers of subculture, from the clamor of underground venues, from the barely lit, beer-stained corners of alternative music where intensity and volume intertwine, emerges Miracle Blood. This Boston-based noise–rock outfit has sculpted a sound uniquely their own, a tempestuous symphony of unrelenting noise with tendrils reaching into the histories of Jesus Lizard, McLusky, and Melvins.
Their debut full-length album, ‘Melter‘, was an introduction, a testament of their arrival on the scene. Now, they are set to embark on a Northeastern United States tour this July, their sonic chaos captured and loosed upon an unsuspecting summer.
In the context of their forthcoming tour, Andrew Wong from Miracle Blood is here to peel back the layers of noise-rock and guide us through its pulsating heart. He presents his personally curated selection of the top noise-rock performances, a voyage into the genre’s visceral and immersive live essence.
His commentary is not just an examination of the genre’s prowess, but an exploration of the band’s influences and a lens into the past, present, and future of noise-rock. The challenge: to distil the raw energy and cacophony of a live performance into the two-dimensionality of a YouTube video, a paradox not lost on this noise-rock maestro. Check out his outcome below.
In the hands of Miracle Blood, noise becomes narrative, a dialogue between the artist and the audience. Be part of this dialogue; witness their testament of noise this summer as they take their dissonance on the road. Perhaps someday, this American tour will echo across the Atlantic to European shores. Until then, we have their recorded history and Andrew Wong’s insightful homage to the genre they carry forward. This is Miracle Blood, coming to a city near you. And remember, as you step into their realm, brace yourself: you’re about to get melted.
Top noise rock live performances, as seen by MIRACLE BLOOD:
Lightning Bolt – 2014 Taico Club Festival, Nagano, Japan
Just look at the people in the front of the crowd, or I guess I mean, closest to the band. You can see, even feel, their strain as you watch them with their arms locked struggling to hold the throng behind them back, yet loving every second. You almost expect these brave but tired souls to collapse, allowing the ocean of people behind them to swallow up the two-piece, never to be seen or heard again. This goes beyond a top performance to just a full-blown, swirling spectacle.
The Jesus Lizard – 1992 CBGB’s, New York, USA
There are a lot of incredible Jesus Lizard performances on YouTube. How do you pick the “top”? Easy, the one where David Yow is visibly the sweatiest. In this one, the energy and sweat from both the band and audience just spills out of the screen. Sorry to whoever had to clean up afterwards.
Daughters – 2019 Brooklyn, USA
So, I decided not to put the clip with the… uh, “nudity” in it. Don’t worry it’s there for you, if you want to find it. Alexis Marshall is known for his spontaneity during shows. It’s been told his crew scopes out the venue beforehand and gives him the heads up on where he probably can and probably shouldn’t wander during the set. This K! Pit clip captures the wandering, the unhinged audience interaction, and just an amazing set from the band.
Swans – 2014 – 2015
There is some incredible live footage of the reboot of Swans easily findable on YouTube. The builds in these songs are absolutely overwhelming live, especially in the last song, “The Glowing Man.” If you have 25 minutes to dedicate to just one song, it’s pretty worth it.
The Birthday Party – 1992 Manchester, UK
It’s wild to watch live footage of this band today and see how early they set the tone for the genre. It’s all basically there: pounding drums, sharp dissonant chords, irreverent lyrics, Nick Cave’s blood curdling shrieks. This band broke up in 1983, but so much of their legacy lives on in the music of so many noise-rock all timers from the 80s through now.
Future of the Left – 2015 Nuits Sonores Lyon, France
Andrew Falkous and crew cram so gosh darn much about what makes this band great into this 44 minute festival set, showing off a range that you don’t always get in the genre. They even include some Mclusky classics for the “Mclusky is better” crowd. So glad this one got uploaded.
Melvins – Berlin, 2013
How do you even pick the songs for your set at this point, if you are a Melvin? With over 40 million albums and 2 trillion songs, there must be some kind of system, right? With so many amazing live videos of them on YouTube, how do I pick one? Maybe I just pick the one of them playing through their most iconic album, Houdini, except with two drummers? I dunno…
Melt Banana
Melt Banana started touring as a two-piece in 2013-ish and I still recommend catching them any chance you get, but, there was something pretty special about their full band shows. Good thing this video exists.
Sonic Youth – Lisboa, 1993
This was another band that was difficult to pick a video for. In the end, this one had the performance and quality of footage. The set features mostly songs from their album “Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star” with some older material, “Dirty” tracks, and deeper cuts sprinkled in.
That’s all I got for now. There are so many other bands that could have been included on this list, but I couldn’t find anything on YouTube that I felt did their live performances justice. Noise rock can be an elusive genre like that. Many of the bands on this list have dismissed the label publicly. Some would deny that it exists at all. That being said, it is certainly not an extinct genre and you can still always go hunting for it out in the wild. As I am writing this, Caterwaul Festival is happening in Minneapolis with performances from both veteran classics like Flipper and Cherubs alongside relatively newer notables like Chat Pile, Djunah and Never. Other bands you can catch on tour in 2023 include Deaf Club, Gilla Band (formerly Girl Band) and Tunic.
MIRACLE BLOOD upcoming tour dates:
7/19 – Providence, RI – Dusk
7/20 – Troy, NY – Troy Speakeasy
7/21 – Rochester, NY – Rosen Krown
7/22 – Buffalo, NY – Stamps
7/23 – Kent, OH – Zephyr Pub
7/25 – Columbus, OH – Dirty Dungarees
7/26 – Pittsburgh, PA – The Government Center
7/27 – Philadelphia, PA – Century Bar
7/28 – Olyphant, PA – Keystone Stage
7/29 – Somerville, MA – The Jungle
