Godspeed You! Black Emperor with Tashi Dorji

Godspeed You! Black Emperor began in Montreal in the early 1990s, and during five years they swelled from a bedroom trio to an earth-rattling, wall-of-sound experience with as many as 14 live musicians. The band’s first batch of records before a nine-year hiatus included 2000’s Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven, which is hailed as a modern post-rock classic. Their newest, Luciferian Towers, offers a transcendent, melodic maturity even as it rumbles through an apocalyptic contemporary landscape.

Tashi Dorji grew up in Bhutan, on the eastern side of the Himalayas. Residing in Asheville since 2000 and soaking up a vast array of music. Along the way, Dorji developed a playing style unbound by tradition, yet with a direct line to intuitive artistry. His recordings feature improvisations that spasmodically grow along tangential, surprising paths. All references break loose during a composition, as Dorji keys into his own inner world. His compositions drag the listener into a labyrinth of warbling tones, where each sound seems to jump out and replace the eerie silence that would otherwise occupy the atmosphere. The textures remain sustained in the reverberation as the vibration of the strings dwindle and ascend. After a handful of releases on various labels since 2009, Dorji presented his debut LP on Hermit Hut, the label created by Ben Chasny (Six Organs of Admittance) in 2014. And since Tashi has released music both as a soloist, and with duo projects, notably with percussionist Tyler Damon and MANAS (w/ Thom Nguyen) on labels like Bathetic Records, Cabin Floor Esoterica, Blue Tapes, Marmara Records, Feeding Tube, UNROCK, VDSQ, MIE, Ultra Violet Light, Family Vineyard, and Astral Spirits.

What to expect
General admission standing room only. The preferred ticket area is located at the front of the venue. A full bar serves Bright Idea Brewing beers and Berkshire Mountain Distillery spirits.

Planning on dinner before the show? Our museum café, Lickety Split, rolls out a special menu that includes grass-fed beef burgers, paninis, flatbreads, fresh field greens salads, and homemade quiche.

Photo by Yannick Grandmont