Swans - Hamburg 15/08/1987

Live at Knopf's Music Hall, Hamburg, Germany 15/08/1987 (partial)
1:Beautiful Child
2:Like A Drug
1,2:from 5th album "Children of God" ('87)
Michael Gira:Vocals
Jarboe:Keyboards
Norman Westberg:Guitar
Algis Kizys:Bass
Ted Parsons:Drums
*uploaded from official video tape
(tag):Swans, Michael Gira, Jarboe, Norman Westberg, Algis Kizys, Ted Parsons, Knopf's Music Hall, Children of God, young god records, post punk rock, official video tape, live video, music video

[@daroachdoggjr7497]

the only man with a bowl cut to ever intimidate me

[@MrEaglehawk1000]

hey you commented on the black midi/black country new road vid

[@Laevateinn98]

hey you commented on my mothers funeral

[@youtubeuserdan4017]

What about Anton Chiguhr?

[@ionlyusepics]

what about joe m. or untitled kirk

[@73685]

Roach Dogg comments on everything amazing because he is roach dogg

[@TristanSmith]

"Telecasters are too twangy for loud music." Norman: "hold this soul crushing, deafening tone"

[@cranklabexplosion-labcentr8245]

And he still uses the same guitar to this day

[@merdefilms3837]

micheal gira is litterly tweriking at 9:37

[@argeniside1015]

Many say Gira was ahead of his time

[@saraivatoledo1842]

Ted Parsons drumming in this is the heaviest , most savage pounding you can listen to in any band ... all eras , all styles .

[@matthewsamboy2792]

You should have heard my mom pound my daddie'$ Fork when they made ME.....that was heavy ....

[@VonBeardo-wj6kr]

He is such an underrated drummer. :( SO HEAVY!

[@doctorphibes601]

Swans delivered the most intense performances ever around this time..i wonder if things ever will become more more expressive and dangerous

[@thestraydog]

This sounds like a fucking challenge.

[@jefwhitehead7243]

All these woke egg shells to walk on when making musick/art now… They’d be canceled quick. This is guerrilla aural violence… SWANS in the 1980’s= no one will truly touch what they did

[@personwhoexists8684]

@@jefwhitehead7243 ????i mean not really….. no not even not really, actually, i meant this is just straight up untrue…. look at the lyrics to many, many mainstream and very much well liked songs by rappers…. many of those songs,many have lyrics involving violent crimes and shit like committing armed robberies, or witnessing murders, or etc etc….. and yet, those rap artists arent being “cancelled” by some imaginary group of “woke ists” (or whatever the hell youre thinking of here)…… so

[@jefwhitehead7243]

@@personwhoexists8684 sorry No shit-hop rapper can/has/will come near to Swans in the 80’s. Someone bragging about “ho’s and dollar bills on par with Gira? No And rappers don’t get canceled for hurting the feelers of todays “music enthusiast” that needs everything in life massaged into them.

[@jefwhitehead7243]

@@personwhoexists8684 so you saw SWANS live around mid early 80’s?

[@wispycirrus9907]

Holy shit, just when you thought the studio version of Like a Drug was intense, there's this version. Absolutely crushing

[@harrisonwintergreen1147]

Years ago I knew a guitarist obsessed w/figuring out how Westberg got that sound out of a Telecaster

[@rzufig961]

Did he figure it out?

[@koollegged5739]

I'm another one of those guitarists.

[@CharlieMessing]

@Pason Jayne I think he did many things to get that sound, or should I say those sounds. The Tele through the giant Marshall, with two heads working, is one, strumming up instead of down in spots, and at some points you can see he has a giant feedback sound, because when he wants it to stop he has to muffle the strings immediately after the "hit". Lots of great technique...

[@meade5837]

wow didnt know we knew eachother

[@in3rcia218]

@@meade5837 I hate you

[@avant0065]

I was at this concert. One of the most beautiful ever seen. With Butthole Surfers, Nick Cave, The Fall, Crime & The City Solution, Die Haut ...

[@martinmoore6168]

in a way this is the only music from that era that still makes sense to me

[@koollegged5739]

This was the first show of the Children Of God tour. Apparently there was a riot going on outside due to the promoter overselling the show, so a lot of angry ticket holders couldn't get in.

[@wanneske1969]

I discovered them in 1989, saw them live for the first time in 1995.

[@deathmetaldouglas69]

I saw them on that tour in Atlanta. Two years later I saw them play their very last concert at the same venue. Last concert until their reunion.

[@copetill7896]

@@deathmetaldouglas69 I was in Atlanta for 92, 95 and unfortunately in L.A. for the 97 tour. The tech issues w/the sound lasted for the better half of the show, but it was still incredible. I heard that the final Atlanta show was amazing.

[@deathmetaldouglas69]

@@copetill7896 The final show was killer but not that much better than the '95 show because that was my first live experience with them so both shows kinda special.

[@tomauberwenig2116]

I had the chance to discover Swans with this video, a few decades ago. Enslaved, immediately. And starting with 2 tracks from Children of God is a good starting point^^!

[@derwarter2776]

Intense as possible. German Televisions back then must´ve been exploded due to Giras sacrificial performance. Can anyone confirm that this was shown in Tele 5´s "Off Beat" ?

[@soleillnoir]

i was doing laundry and washing dishes to this

[@simonh9987]

there use to be an old upload of this where someone kept commenting about how michael was comfortable farting on stage because of the volume, and that he secretly did this during this show. i think about that a lot

[@supplechap5429]

I mean I'm sure every artist does at some point during a show.

[@koollegged5739]

Well, most average shows are loud enough for a person to fart at. I have. Numerous times.

[@designate_om]

@@koollegged5739 i mean i don't even fart UNLESS i'm at a show, so these last few months have been especially difficult

[@damienf.7543]

I've wanted to fart onstage since I was 10. I will do it.

[@nofrbls3640]

@@damienf.7543we believe in you

[@NOCHEBOHEMIA88]

This was 3 days from the day I was delivered. So glad to have been born in the same timeline as Swans. I’ve seen them half a dozen times live and they never disappoint!

[@apothecurio]

scariest bowl cut in the world.

[@WDeeGee1]

I remember those huge toms on the drumset and Kizis' huge wristband.

[@johnjellison6446]

Robin Williams wasn't too shabby filling in on vocals here.

[@paulsenkans3401]

The Incredible Swans Band! Indeed!

[@Mitchery]

So this is where Godflesh took influence from.

[@timscache6280]

Took their drummer as well

[@karson0000]

9:04 is zesty asf

[@mando2054]

He was so hot in this era

[@cmac3500]

F..king amazing. Thanks for the upload.

[@darylcumming7119]

The flipside of the eighties dark and menacing Swans.

[@Digitalstone]

Does anyone know if there's a full version anywhere?

[@perks6292]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/jarFpIqMmtp0aNE

[@austintexas9848]

this night show is lit af boi./

[@szarzyniecszczurzynski1902]

Huge show!

[@xoen6]

Thank YOU!

[@simonmooijman5928]

I Saw swans in den haag. Best show ever i did saw

[@terriblecanyonsofstatic]

weird to think that this was in the same time period as nirvana and some other bands. even crazier to think that kurt cobain actually took inspiration from swans too lol

[@damienf.7543]

"I am not a dangerous man, I love a child" Ok, you can babysit for $20/hr "Listen to him cry, I could kill the child" This guy no longer can babysit my little Jimmy.

[@baileygraeber7008]

Anybody know what kit the Drummer is using here. MONSTROUS sound and playing. Absolutely love it!

[@jefwhitehead7243]

A lot has to do with the sound. German’s have quite a fondness for SWANS and it looks like this is at least a ball room . Might’ve brought their own sound guy along with the horde

[@baileygraeber7008]

@@jefwhitehead7243 yeah that is true. The Germans know how to attain a top sound too. Just seems that the Drum dimensions are massive. Not sure if it may be along the lines of a TAMA or something. Artstar II is on my eye at the moment

[@tomaszkolodziejski4509]

Looks like a Sonor kit to me. Most likely a Sonor Phonic or a Sonor Signature. Probably the latter judging by the size of the rack toms.

[@junkreep]

So fucking intense

[@GhettoJanitor]

Anyone know what keyboard Jarboe’s using?

[@nathanwilliams3049]

Ensoniq I had to enlarge a photo to read the logo on an old photo She also talks about using an ensoniq at the time..one of the early sampler/keyboards

[@johnbullabaugh8898]

Truly astonishing. I think its more appropriate and amazing because its a bit blurry. Not sure why Jarboe was even there for this bit though.

[@munyansebastien7127]

10:34

[@svyatoslavponomarevpurba730]

super

[@joesmith9216]

is that ted parsons??? if so, GOD.

[@yeedeedeezeeghee8065]

Light design: confused

[@WASMITAUGEN]

oh war das geil

[@martinmoore5758]

This was the eighties for me . Not Rik Astley or George Michael

[@deathmetaldouglas69]

Al playing an Aria Pro?

[@sira.scottascot8865]

I think it's a Westbury Track bass.

[@ambientnoiseaddict]

It looks a lot like an Aria cardinal bass, But yeah it's a Westbury Track 4. I've seen people on some of the other live vids also mistake it for a Westone too. Makes a lot of sense though as all three brands came from the Matsumoku factory.

[@deathmetaldouglas69]

Never heard of these Westbury Track basses. Thanks for the tip. I first learned bass on Westone that a friend lent me back in 1984. It had a detachable neck on it.

[@gekinatracksuit9710]

I like to imagine that billionairs sing this at Bohemiand Grove

[@joaosimoes8743]

🤌 sick ⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️🎧

[@luisvalenzuela578]

Tool intro

[@szarzyniecszczurzynski1902]

Swans intro

[@gangsterdelbosco]

Tool has been very influenced by Swans

[@danialsanchez672]

9:30 Micheal freaky ahh 💀💀😈

[@maxxowt]

lol bassist's wig falls off@ 11:46

[@Skeebins]

Algis Kizys still has that full head of hair..its not a wig just a hairflip

[@vincentmarcus2179]

@@Skeebins its a wig. he confirmed recently in an interview,

[@geenvideomaker]

Source?

[@vincentmarcus2179]

@@geenvideomaker it was in an interview

[@klingklang846]

Ha ha, that's his face. It's just that the bad quality of the video make it look like that.

[@Jil8840]

Swans were so boring!!!!! No Trend were so much better. God Bullies were ten times better!!!!! The Pain Teens ten times better than the Swans!!!!!

[@zoranoran]

You’re so boring with your comment..

[@Jil8840]

@@zoranoran they were playing the same chord for five minutes, in every song!!!!! There is nothing more boring than that.

[@yaboi2500]

I'm sorry that they're better than your favorite bands.

[@zoranoran]

@@Jil8840 I like it

[@damienf.7543]

God Bullies are crushed beneath Swans. No Trend is good but not hypnotic. I guess hypnosis is boring if you're not immersed in it