Give it to XIU XIU to transform a tribute to David Lynch‘s almost 50-year-old debut movie into a show that makes you wonder what it would feel like to watch it on acid. While the duo made up of Jamie Stewart and Angela Seo is not new to tapping into the works of the late movie director, “Xiu Xiu plays the music of Twin Peaks” recording and related tours, anyone? — These 45-ish minutes of show are some of the weirdest, most experimental live displays we have witnessed in a long while. And we were at a SWANS concert not even two weeks ago!
While waiting in front of a pink textured still screen, with organ music playing loudly from the speakers, the Vaunusali of Korjaamo filled up very quickly, despite the Monday evening slot on December 1st, 2025. The two, dressed in suits, reminding us immediately of FBI agents, entered the stage without saying a word. They waved their hands and sat down at the big table set up with synthesizers, knobs, and all sorts of other electronic devices. They would use these gadgets to perform throughout the night. Everything can be an instrument if you know how to use it, right?
Unlike with the Twin Peaks record, here the band went into a more free-form experimental territory while still keeping things recognizable. Some messy and at times disturbing imagery playing on the big screen behind them—but never in a disgusting or upsetting way, no matter how fucked up—gave that extra Lynchian vibe mixed with the XIU XIU touch. In the visuals, there were many nods and references to the movie—including the chickens—, but of course it was far from the same experience as watching the movie itself with the actual soundtrack being performed. Like many masters of Italian horror scores have been doing in the last decade or so.
No, this was more like an art piece performed in front of a live audience, and it had all the elements of it: confusing, hypnotic, at times shocking, amusing, curious, and often plain weird, but most of all entertaining. The mastery of these artists in rendering the soundtrack of this iconic movie keeps the audience glued to the stage in silence.
Needless to say, the minimalism of the original soundtrack (by Alan Splet) fits like a glove in the realm of what XIU XIU excels at, so this was certainly a befitting choice for them to pay homage to Lynch after his passing. The noisy, industrial, unsettling atmosphere resulting from this reinterpretation even adds, if possible, to the movie itself (which was long overdue to be revisited for the occasion), expanding onto it and enriching that world with new, dark, perverse sounds and visuals. There are also distinctive moments reinterpreted but still very much recognizable, such as the music played by Henry on record, or the piece from the Lady in the Radiator crushing scene. Of course, “In Heaven” comes towards the conclusion of the set.
The performance was filled with all sorts of noises, from the iconic whooshing wind to all kinds of metallic noises, electronics, buzzes, bells, bodily sounds, chickens’ clucking, whistles, bips and bops, and whatnots. There were even some cartoonish sounds thrown in the mix. All of these were made with the most disparate range of devices at hand. But what stood out more were probably the few words spoken throughout, from Angela‘s yelling “Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!” echoing the movie’s exasperation of the baby’s mother in response to his crying, to Jaime repeatedly exclaiming “Potato!” at some other point down the line.
Eventually, as anticipated, we got him to utter those words that all “Eraserhead” fans must have been waiting for: “In Heaven, everything is fine.” Spoken almost suffering, with a tone that sounded more of desperation than hope or anything, and very fitting at that, given the dark nature of the film itself. Not long after that, he stood up for the first time in the performance, took a number of glass bottles which were set next to a nearby trash can, and threw them in, the smashing sounds echoing through the venue. That was still not enough, though, as he reached for some kind of pipe to further smash and grind those glasses into bits inside the bin. Aside from being a “how to properly recycle101” moment, this was certainly a smashing, resounding conclusion to a bloody weird Monday night gig! Check our photo gallery here…
XIU XIU
