I've known this band what for what seems like ages now but in reality it's only just a few months. I saw them when they supported I Was A Cub Scout - and to be honest they were far the best band on nthe night. When they supported Make Good Your Escape they were brilliant but when supporting Troubles I thought they were a bit lightweight and seemed nervous or ill at ease with themselves and it effected their performance which seemed very tense. They supported the brilliant Battles recently as well and were A-OK on a night when every band would come in second best.
So, I've seen them four times supporting other bands but tonight was the first time I've seen them as headliner. In between they have played the Glastonbury festival and this must have helped because they presented themselves with a lot more confidence than I have noticed before.
I now realise that this is a band that gives an awful lot in their playing and that the on stage TENSION I've noticed is the lifeblood of their performance. Harnessed properley and it's great for the show because it suits some of their music - if it gets out of hand then it's not so great. That's the way I see it anyway.
Other than their music the band do not engage the audience in anyway whatsoever. There's none of this - "we have a CD for sale" bollocks or "our next number was written by our guitarist" crap. In fact I don't recall them every saying anuthing on stage and I find their silence actually endearing.
If you don't already know, Laymar play post rock. Or do they? For most people the definition of post rock means a band copying Explosions in the Sky, Mogwai or God Speed but this is not the case with Laymar. And it's hard to tell where their post rock roots and influences come from - I suspect from outside the genre. I have a collection of about 30 post rock CDs by about 20 different artists and to me everyone of them has their own distinctive sound. I would add Laymar to that list if they had a release for sale which rather suprisingly they don't.
Tonight their melodic, soundscapes didn't seem to me to be as dark as they usually do, and perhaps that's a good thing because they seemed to connect with more of the audience than in the past.
When I think of all the excellent bands I love to watch playing festivals this summer up and down the UK I can't help wonder why Laymar are not among them.
I've just upgraded my DIS rating to 10 because I'm their new top fan. Recommended.