Wire are one of the most consistently-satisfying live bands of the old guard. Still making things new, their sets are controlled, fierce blasts, peppered with wry sarcasm and reworkings of past masters alongside their always-evolving new material. Four or more years ago Wire were playing intense and brutal versions of material from Send, this then developed into a hazy, psychedelic-leaning set as Object 47 and Red Barked Tree came out. And last time we saw them, at London’s XOYO last December, it seemed that more and more electronic sounds were coming into the set. Therefore a live recording of Wire is a snapshot of a moment in time before they move on to different things. We’re very pleased to be able to present to you two such documents. Firstly, there’s the Black Session, a live performance recorded in front of an invited audience in Paris on May 10th 2011. This features late-period Wire material including Quietus motivational anthem ‘Comet’, ‘Red Barked Tree’ and ‘Smash’ alongside older tracks stretching back over the past three decades, including ‘Adapt’, ‘Map Ref 41°N 93°W’ and ‘Pink Flag’. You can buy a physical version of this release over at the Wire website. Below the Black Session Soundcloud, you can watch the aforementioned XOYO gig. Look! Graham Lewis has an excellent hat!
Watch Wire and other great gigs on Moshcam.
