Thursday night. The Exchange. A venue that has hosted varying types of band and musical genres, but one that you would normally associate with “rock” band gigs. And here we are gathered for one the leading “post rock” icons, They Are Gutting a Body of Water (or TAGABOW as they seem to be known, possibly more than we thought) from Philadelphia.
For those that are unfamiliar, we aren’t too far away from a shoegaze, heavy guitar sound. There’s musical atmosphere in bundles as the guitars swoop and glide; sure, there is a rip and a roar but in between, melodies swirl and quietness is perfectly timed. The vocals, and there aren’t many, are buried deep and low in the mix, and at times barely audible. We can’t think of better present day exponent of this style or approach than TAGABOW. The 2025 album ‘Lotto’ is a nailed on classic and was released in October, and we’ve been playing tracks by them on Dandelion Radio for a number of months.
Observant audience members may have noticed that the vocalist, Douglas, is set up on the floor, in with the crowd, facing the stage and seems perfectly happy in that place. The other band members turn in to face each other thereby creating a crude circle. Douglas suggests we focus on the band rather than him as vocalist. On the whole, the audience nod their heads and don’t look at anyone. Douglas says he asked a Bristolian about trip hop before the gig and was given instructions to a chip shop.
One Big House 