GY!BE, Low’s Alan Sparhawk, Marina Herlop & Maria BC played Knockdown Center’s Outline series (pics, review)

Saturday was the winter edition of Knockdown’s quarterly Outline series, and while most people were there to take in the post-rock majesty that is Godspeed You! Black Emperor (pics, setlist and audio here), the rest of the lineup was, as usual, diverse and excellent, and the room was pretty full right from the start.

Alan Sparhawk, formerly of Low, made his NYC solo debut at the show and was backed by his and his late wife/bandmate Mimi Parker’s two kids, son Cyrus on bass and daughter Hollis on drums, with Shahzad Ismaily adding atmosphere on a Moog on his lap. The set opened with a slow, funky cover of Roy Ayers’ “Liquid Love,” and the rest of the set was new material, including the jazzy/groovy “Get High” and “Impossible Day” which were released last August under the name DERECHO Rhythm Section. “Get High” featured backing vocals by Hollis, who sounds a lot like her mother. The other material fell closer to Low territory, and Alan ran his vocals through pitch-shifter/auto-tune effects on a couple songs. Nice to have him back.

The rest of the bill included Catalan artist Marina Herlop, whose powerful, acrobatic voice was center stage, multiplied by loop pedals and glitchy, at times industrial, percussion. (She gets compared to Bjork, and you can see why, but she has her own unique sound). The night began with Maria BC, whose ghostly folk filled Knockdown Center, which was already pretty full at 7:30 with a pin-drop-hushed crowd.

This was my first time at Knockdown Center since they installed their new sound system back in August and I was really impressed with how great everyone sounded; a diverse bill like this was a nice showcase for it.

Check out photos from the whole night by Ben Stas, along with setlists for Alan Sparhawk, Marnia Herlop, and Maria, below.

Listen to the three new songs GY!BE played and a recap of their Outline set here.

Maria BC (photo by Ben Stas)

Marina Herlop (photo by Ben Stas)

Alan Sparhawk (photo by Ben Stas)

Godspeed You! Black Emperor at Knockdown Center

Godspeed You! Black Emperor (photo by Ben Stas)

SETLIST: Alan Sparhawk @ Knockdown Center 2/24/2024
Liquid Love (Roy Ayers)
Screaming Song
JCMF
Torn and in Ashes
Get High
Princess Road Surgery
Stranger
Get Still
Impossible Day
Heaven

SETLIST: Marina Herlop @ Knockdown Center 2/24/2024
Busa
lyssof
miu
Cosset
Doiloi
abans abans
shaolin mantis
La Alhambra
ubuntu
Reina Mora

SETLIST: Maria BC @ Knockdown Center 2/24/2024
Good Before
Devil’s Rain
Tire Iron
Daydrinker
Haruspex
Amber
The Only Thing