As I chose sensory ethnography as my topic of choice for my essay, I decided to reflect on a performance of Lightning Bolt I attended a few years ago. I wanted to explore how the sensory aspects of the show affect my own perspective as well as my friends and family members who attended the gig, gathering their responses on how they physically and emotionally responded to the environment around them.
I first interviewed my brother Elvin, who like me spent the majority of his time in the mosh pit. I asked him how the intensity and volume of the sound makes you physically feel. He described it as a very cathartic experience, I felt as if I had to prepare myself for each song as if it was going to me my last. I completely related to this. The visceral noise felt was so overwhelming that it felt as if I was being engulfed, especially while also being combined in the claustrophobic energy of the mosh pit.
Elvin also spoke about how the mask that the drummer/singer wears (Brian Chippendale) intensify the experience with his eerie looking mask. He said it made the performance feel “unsettling” and like “something from a horror film.” Especially as Chippendale was pounding the drums with explosive force, in addition to the strobing lights, felt like he had a surreal animated presence on stage.
My dad who also attended the gig spoke about how the unpredictability of the lights and noise made everything feel dramatic and over the top yet in a way that went hand in hand with Lighting Bolts performance.
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