Chicago-based instrumental trio Russian Circles perform with support from post-metal band Pelican at The Basement East.
Russian Circles play The Basement East on Monday, October 12, with Pelican opening. It's a double bill of instrumental post-rock, so you'll get two bands that build their sets around heavy riffs and long-form arrangements rather than singers.
Russian Circles are a Chicago trio—Brian Cook, Mike Sullivan, and Dave Turncrantz—working with drums, bass, and guitar. They describe their sound as traversing a wide topography of moods using that limited armory, and their records back it up: drone-heavy meditations, prog exercises, riff-fests, folk ballads, and noise rock all sit in the same catalog. It's music that shifts gears without warning, moving from a quiet, textural place to something loud and driving.
They're touring behind their new album, Nine, which came out August 3 via Sergeant House Records. The single "Empath" went out ahead of this 2026 run, so that's one of the newer tracks you'll hear live. Pelican joins them on the bill, and since both bands operate in the same instrumental, heavy-leaning territory, the two sets should run together without much of a jump in volume or mood between them.
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The show is at The Basement East, 917 Woodland Street in Nashville. Most nights there are 18+, and you'll need a valid government-issued ID to get in. It starts at 8 PM.
