Kevin Bronson on June 26th, 2015

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Algiers’ show Thursday night at the Echo was not for the faint of heart — intense from the very beginning and at times explosive. The Atlanta four-piece was finishing up a U.S. tour behind its debut LP (out last month on Matador), a sociopolitical volley of punk/gospel full of hymns of rebellion. (Think TV on the Radio meets Young Fathers.) The Echo show was nothing if not imposing. Guitarist Lee Tesche and bassist Ryan Mahan started the proceedings by simply staring down the (tragically light) crowd, before being joined by Franklin James Fisher. And the fireworks began, Algiers hitting the album’s highlights, such as “Irony. Utility. Pretext.,” “Remains,” “And When You Fall,” “Blood,” “Old Girl” and “Games” — not to mention the furious “Black Eunuch.” Fisher was in the crowd by show’s end, with Tesche and Mahan playing their instruments overhead and on their heads. Opening the show in typically experimental, intoxicating fashion was Liphemra, the L.A. quartet fronted by Liv Marsico.

Photos by Carl Pocket, courtesy of the Echo