Concert Review: Ampevene / Horse Torso / Galene @ No Fun, 03/11/2023

By Hilary Crannage On Mar 13, 2023

If you’re searching for a new type of music to try, these three groups could be for you. Galene began the evening with mellifluous music driven by a saxophone, accompanied by guitar and powerful vocals. Horse Torso offered tunes that were similar to MC Escher’s work – confusing, yet understandable after some time. Lastly, Ampevene performed musical, atmospheric noise with a variety of instruments such as chimes, cowbells, and bongo drums. The passion in their art was easy to see and hear.

The evening began with Galene playing their slow, melodic tunes. The lead saxophone was accompanied by the guitar and powerful vocals, creating a range of diverse yet complementary sounds. These songs had the potential to surprise listeners, as the range of musical styles worked surprisingly well together.

Next up was Horse Torso, with the drummer beginning with the phrase, “I’m sorry, and you’re welcome.” This was perplexing initially, but the crowd’s confusion quickly cleared when they started playing. Listening to Horse Torso’s music is comparable to looking at MC Esher’s painting Relativity: it can be confusing and hard to comprehend at first, but gradually the pieces begin to fit together, only to be rearranged before the next song. A remarkable moment during their performance was when the drummer introduced a song with the words, “Jerry Springer, Spaniel, Dave Lewis.”

At the end of the night, Ampevene capped off the show with an impressive musical performance that included a variety of drums, guitars, and other instruments. The combination of these sounds created an atmosphere that was both musical and atmospheric. As the music progressed, different beats and instruments were incorporated into the mix, creating an ever-evolving piece.

In somewhat typical No Fun fashion. It was difficult to determine the specific genre that the three bands fell into, but it was clearly evident that they put a lot of passion into their art.