Nothing (Photo: Nicole L. Browner)

Whirr and Nothing‘s month-long tour of North America swung through town on Wednesday night, bringing a singular, serene shot of shoegaze noise to the hallowed halls of Bottom of the Hill. Despite hailing from Oakland and Philly, respectively, the two acts have apparently become quite chummy since they kicked things off in Phoenix at the end of July — Nothing frontman Dominic Palermo joined Whirr onstage to provide vocals on one track and, for the night’s best trick, the bands actually linked their two sets together with a cloud of feedback and distortion. The bridge between the two sets worked perfectly, as both bands supplied a healthy dose of ambient shoegaze punctuated by killer rhythm sections, swirling guitars, and a wall of noise that successfully hypnotized the audience. Oakland’s Lycus opened the night with a set consisting of three lengthy tracks of standard doom metal fare that contrasted heavily with the bill’s other two acts.