Boris & Planning For Burial @ Gorilla, Manchester 14th October 2026
The opportunity to cross a band off my ‘must-see’ list is something that I’d never turn down, so a drive up to Manchester on a Wednesday evening was laced with excitement. The downside to living an hour or so outside the city is that when one of the football teams are playing at home, as Cheats FC were, it makes getting to the venue an arduous journey at times.
It also meant that I walked into a packed Gorilla and missed several of the songs from solo support act Thom Wasluck, aka Planning For Burial. He has an array of sound boards at his feet that he uses extremely well to create a plethora of beats and rhythms, and with Fresh Flowers For All Time ringing out, he’s enjoyable to listen to.
He moves serenely into Threadbare, which has a slower, more ambient relevance to the music as he goes down to his knees to twiddle with his FX pedals. He follows this with You Think which is where he fully detonates an explosion of slow and heavy noises, albeit with sinister undertones, before lots of feedback signals the final track, Somewhere In The Evening, which made me think of mist dispersing on a cold autumnal morning.
In 2005, Japanese band Boris released an album that blended sludge, shoegaze and stoner rock that made me go ‘WOW’. Sadly, it’s taken me this long to see them live, but on their Pink 20th Anniversary Tour, the much-revered trio are ready to tear the place apart. I wasn’t fully prepared for what I saw over the next seventy-five minutes, but suffice to say, it was like a spiritual experience.
The seemingly overfilled venue (yes, it was rammed, uncomfortably so in both mine and The Shamen’s opinion) stood in anticipation as the trio individually walk onto the stage. Drummer Atsuo is smothered in smoke as he faces the crowd, before hitting the gong behind him as the slow and purposeful Blackout signals the start of the show. A rumbling, meaningful presence fills the room as we stand mouths open, watching in awe, then BOOM, we are hit by the mighty force that is Pink.
The crowd go berserk as Takeshi and Wata, who simply look serene all night, explode into action. The drums are thumping, and as appropriately pink lights flood the stage, Takeshi switches effortlessly on his double-neck bass and guitar combo, as if he has two sets of hands playing simultaneously. Atsuo wants more from the crowd, and he gets it during Woman On The Screen as the energy levels go up a few notches, matching that on the stage. The noise coming from the PA is immense, and more than once I stood there a bit open-mouthed, as I wasn’t expecting this passion and fervour.
They certainly don’t hang about either, racing through the heavy bass lines of Nothing Special followed by the fierce Ibitsu. It can only be described as controlled chaos, with all three of them playing their individual roles, yet collectively, they are mesmerising. Electric was, well, electric to say the least, and we get a ‘thank you for being here Manchester’ from Takeshi before Atsuo tells us that ‘the next song is A Bao A Qu, which totally transforms the night. The calm and tranquil nature at the start of the composition sees all eyes firmly fixed forward, before they build up the soundscape.
It’s a moving track, slow and heavy which leads into the droning power of The Evilone Which Sobs. The gong gets a battering, as Atsuo disappears again into the smoke, whilst the moody and peaceful percussion feels like you are part of a religious retreat, all praying at the church of Boris. It’s long and ethereal, elegant and beautiful, juxtaposed against the previous rebellious noise, and it only further enhances their reputation as a truly marvellous entity. Akuma No Uta is summoned by repetitive hits on the gong, as the weighty riffs return in earnest, and the crowd comes alive again.
It’s difficult to pick out a song of the night, but the volatility that surrounds Just Abandoned Myself edges it top of the list. With the first crowd surfer going from front to back, the assembled masses match the manic and excitable nature of the band, as the riffs flow superbly and leave you wanting more. As the stage goes dark, Atsuo is standing, playing some electric gadget that emits all sorts of weirdness before he says, ‘Last song for you guys’ and the moody blue lights beckon the atmospheric Farewell.
They are expressive, consistent and generate immense power that I can finally cross them off my ‘must-see’ list and what a pleasure it was to be in their presence.
Boris
Planning For Burial
Scribed by: Matthew Williams
Photos by: Lee Edwards
