So, Boris came to melt my face with experimental rock this weekend. I’ve been begging and pleading my friends to come watch the show, and it most certainly did not let down.

First, Russian Circles opened. The Chicago trio’s latest CD leaves me in a bit of an identity crisis. I like their mellow stuff, and then the heavy metal kicks in, and that’s not really my cup of tea but oh well.

I seriously liked their drummer. I’m a fan of drummers, and this one was a little ball of energy.

The crowd for Russian Circles was a little different than the crowd for Boris. For one, it was mostly dudes. I’d look around and see the occasional girlfriend that had been dragged out to the show, smiling whenever the boyfriend turned around and gave them the “Isn’t this AMAZING?! IS THIS BLOWING YOUR MIND?!!” look.

Russian Circles, you have some serious fans. Serious, headbanging fans. As in: fans who will boldly pronounce their love (“You guys f*@kin’ rock!”) during the quietest moments of the evening. It was as though a pack of wolves came out, and were all barking (and salivating) at their leaders. These fans sure were enthusiastic. I half expected them to throw themselves onstage at the end of the set, begging the band to stay.

Here’s what they opened with:

Then Boris came out in all their Japanese glory and I became a salivating fan as well.

The last time Boris came out to Lawrence I skipped it. Big mistake. The show was off the wall, according to those who went. What I was really sad to miss out on was the drummer, who arrived in some sort of white speedsuit (think Freddie Mercury) and made hilarious “Yeah, let’s rock!” gestures all night.

Last night, he did not let down. He arrived onstage in some sort of sparkly, sequined vest (without a shirt) and enthusiastically yelled “Whoo!!” throughout nearly every song.

Check him and his gong out, starting off the set:

What I liked about Boris were all the “toys” they brought onstage. They completely immersed you in a wall of sound (and fog, apparently) thanks to all their fancy pedals.

There’s a woman in the band named Wata. I like this woman because she looks unbelievably bored when she plays, but completely rocks it.

At one point during the night, I noticed that everyone was taking pictures of the main guy’s feet. I thought “What’s the big deal?” and then noticed that there was a frog just sitting next to him onstage for most of a song. When it hopped away, some people in the crowd cheered. Nobody in the band noticed it except for Michio Kurihara (who we were very excited to see joining the band for this tour).

Boris is very good at bringing something for everyone. Punk, rock, experimental, you name it. You could also tell by the crowd they brought out. I saw people of all ages standing in awe.

My Summer had passed me by extra fast this year. I think it’s because we were all hiding from the heat for most of it. Then, before I knew it, kickball was coming to an end and the students moved back into Lawrence. But on Sunday, the weather cooled off (quite a bit), and Boris brought an escape from the busy town. They’ve been around forever, and I hope they’ll come back again to fill our world with noise, sparkly vests and woodland creatures onstage.