The atmosphere was perfect; A nice cool late summer evening, a small aging venue, minimal lighting and a packed crowd rising and falling with the music.

I have listened to Explosions in the Sky a few times but do not own any of their records or never really got into their music. I knew they were an esoteric band that played long format songs full of ambience, noise and raw rock power but I had no idea of the pleasant surprise I was in for. I had the chance to see them live, took the opportunity and WOW, I was blown away! What a great band to see live! They are now up near the top of my ‘must see them live’ list along with Sonic Youth and The Arcade Fire as far an having a great stage presence and creating a performance that feels so organic and alive, it gives me chills.

I love the fact that their music is all instrumental leaving the feeling and interpretation completely up to the listener. In today’s pop song and short attention span world it’s wonderful to see that a band like this can sell out a show in Louisville, KY. If you have a chance to get out and see Explosions in the Sky, please do, you will not regret it! After their set there was no encore! I thought that was amazing. Everybody plays an encore these days, it’s expected, but at the end of the set they waved goodbye and then came back out 5 minutes later to inform us, yes they were really done and said something to the effect of they were drained from the performance and hope we enjoyed it, but that’s it. respect.

Explosions in the Sky performing Your Hand In Mine at Headliners in Louisville, KY on August, 31, 2010.