CONCERT REVIEW: ALCEST AT THE NATIONAL 2025
I remember sitting down sometime in December of 2021 to give Alcest a first listen. Three albums later, I was in love. They’ve been on my to-see list since the day I heard them, but—as you might imagine—an entire Atlantic Ocean separating us does complicate things. With Les Chants de L’Aurore being one of my albums of the year in 2024 and the announcement of a US tour, I knew I’d be there.
The Richmond show on February 22nd consisted of three courses, the salad of which was Kælan Mikla. Although the Icelandic trio describe themselves as a post-punk band—and not to mansplain their own music to them—but I’d disagree. I described them to the friend I went with as “dungeon dance,” while he in turn referred to them as “goth trance.” Whatever they were, they were killer. Nature-y in lyrical content, witchy in appearance, and enchanting in their stage presence, their set sounded like if Strawberry Switchblade and Heilung decided to team up and host a rave. I’ve had Undir Köldum Norðurljósum on repeat for the last few days, so if any of that sounds like your thing, hop on in.
Kӕlan Mikla
For the soup, the Japanese instrumental post-rock band MONO. The 4-piece conjures up massive yet ethereal sounds à la Explosions in the Sky, washing the venue up in a cooling sonic wave. Their crowd work was pretty light, as is common for bands whose first language isn’t English, but felt very sincere. I’ll always remember one of their guitarists ending the set with the short but sweet words “This is our last song for tonight. Thank you for sharing with us.” I think the highlight of their set for me (other than the beautiful red 1966 Gibson EB-3 Kunishi was playing, for which I’d have kissed the drunk guy outside on the mouth) was their second to last song, “Ashes in the Snow,” a 13-minute piece that ebbs and flows, eventually ending in a giant wave of washed-out guitar goodness. I’m not super well-versed in post-rock, but as a fan of Explosions in the Sky and Godspeed You! Black Emperor, I’ll definitely be doing a dive through MONO’s material at some point soon.
MONO
As for the main course, Alcest’s set was immaculate. Not only was the stage simply beautiful, but the mix was possibly one of the best I’ve ever heard. I’m not sure I’ve ever experienced a live show that sounded so much like the album recordings. The band’s set practically spanned their entire discography, with Shelter being their only LP they didn’t play at least one song from. After making their way through the first three tracks of their newest record, they made a detour for a few fan favorites (most notably “Sapphire”) before returning to Les Chants de L’Aurore with “Flamme Jumelle.” The last third or so of the set was largely comprised of tracks from their older albums, much to the crowd’s approval.
Alcest
Even when I know it’s what’s happening, I’m always so down for the fake set ending. You know, when the band says “This is our last song for the night,” and then walks off the stage but leaves the amps on and the guitars plugged in? Even when you know it’s not the end, I still think it’s so satisfying to be a part of the crowd cheering them back onto the stage. I had a feeling when Neige said goodnight to the crowd that there was an encore coming. After leaving the stage for a minute or so, the band walked back out. Neige went up to the microphone, clearly a little amused with himself, and half-chuckled, half-spoke the words “That was not our last song.” After a beautiful performance of “Autre Temps,” Alcest closed their set with “L’Adieu,” a very fitting end to any set. Neige guided the crowd in singing a call-and-response with some of the vocals on the end of the track, thanked the audience, took a picture with everyone, and finally bid us all a genuine goodnight.
Photograph by Liam Stewart
Oh, and I guess dessert was me showing my friend Big Black’s Atomizer on the way home.
Header image by Liam Stewart.
