First time I've been to Brick By Brick to see a show and the lineup for the Tuesday night gig was stellar. After seeing all the shows at the Casbah, Brick By Brick feels gigantic in comparison. It was nice to have some room to roam around between sets. The downside was they opened the doors about 45 minutes late. I believe the everything did start on time however.
First up was Earthless and their broken-finger-playing guitar player. Back from a US tour (which they said was great), Earthless started off their jam in similar fashion but went into different territories afterwards. Starting with some fretboard acrobatics, they eventually went into some heavy jamming for most of the set. Definitely the heaviest set I've heard from them as it featured less guitar effects, but the excellent soloing was still intact.
Next was Danava whose first album from last year was a welcome surprise when I got it as a freebie. I loved that their bass player was out in front and playing all over the fretboard (fingerstyle!) for their seemingly brief set. My complaint about them, and perhaps this was the soundman's fault, but I couldn't hear the electronics/keyboards/synths very well. Either they really wanted them blended into the sound or something was off at the mixing board.
Saviours, the only band that I wasn't really familiar with, ripped their doom-tinged "classic" style of metal. They certainly had a nice contingent of fans for their set but I couldn't get into them. There wasn't enough uniqueness to their sound to differentiate them from the pack. It was solid metal but nothing that hasn't been done already.
The headliners for the night coming all the way from Sweden was the Black Sabbath and Pentagram influenced Witchcraft. One thing is clear right away is that they are much heavier live than on their records. Once again I loved the fact that their bass player was playing fingerstyle and all over the fretboard. It was their first showing in San Diego and the good turnout for a Tuesday night was excited they were in town. Witchcraft played a great set of tunes from their three full length releases. They seemed to be having a great time playing and hopefully they'll be back again.
Showing posts with label live. Show all posts
Showing posts with label live. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Friday, October 5, 2007
Earthless and Jesu at the Cashbah, San Diego October 4, 2007
Wolves In The Throne Room were scheduled to open up the show but apparently they broke down on the drive to the gig. While I did see them back in July, I was looking forward to hearing them again and buying their latest album. Instead of pushing up the other two bands, they stuck to the original schedule which meant more sitting around doing nothing until 10pm. Making things worse the Jesu merch table wasn't open before the show started. I was probably going to buy a couple CDs but ended up buying nothing.
Earthless went on a little after 10pm and dig right into a 50 minute jam of 'Godspeed', the first track on their new album. This was my fourth time seeing the band and they are continuing to play phenomenal sets. They did different intro than I remembered hearing the previous time and it works well.
I've enjoyed Jesu up until the last album, but being from the UK, I figured I won't have many opportunities to see them live. I wasn't sure what kind of configuration Justin Broadrick would have; turns out they are a trio with help from a laptop providing the noises and keyboards. Perhaps it was because of the location as was at, but the mix just wasn't working for me. The drums were way too loud and the guitars needed to be turned up - way up. I was expecting to bathed in washes of guitars but it was not to be. They played (from what I can tell) mostly new material including the best tracks from 'Silver'. Not sure if there was anything from the self-titled album or not. The encore song, whose name escapes me, was by far the best part of the set.
Earthless went on a little after 10pm and dig right into a 50 minute jam of 'Godspeed', the first track on their new album. This was my fourth time seeing the band and they are continuing to play phenomenal sets. They did different intro than I remembered hearing the previous time and it works well.
I've enjoyed Jesu up until the last album, but being from the UK, I figured I won't have many opportunities to see them live. I wasn't sure what kind of configuration Justin Broadrick would have; turns out they are a trio with help from a laptop providing the noises and keyboards. Perhaps it was because of the location as was at, but the mix just wasn't working for me. The drums were way too loud and the guitars needed to be turned up - way up. I was expecting to bathed in washes of guitars but it was not to be. They played (from what I can tell) mostly new material including the best tracks from 'Silver'. Not sure if there was anything from the self-titled album or not. The encore song, whose name escapes me, was by far the best part of the set.
Friday, September 21, 2007
High On Fire, Mono, Panthers, Coliseum at the Cashbah, San Diego September 20, 2007
It was a sold out show at the Casbah last night as High On Fire and company kicked off their tour. Coliseum, hailing from Kentucky, started the night playing their punk-tinged doom metal. After breaking a snare drum on the first song and dealing with other drum issues described by their singer/guitarist as their "broken drummer", they ripped their set. Not quite my type of music but it was they were a good opener. Hope their drum issues get worked out for the rest of the tour.
From Brooklyn, New York Panthers were slotted next. After a couple songs apparently the power went out on stage left and the guitarist had a broken string. Panthers have that New York garage rock sound mixed with the heaviness of Black Sabbath for a sound I haven't come across so far. Usually with their type of music the vocals are never melodic, but their singer brought a Strokes-like vibe with his delivery.
Continuing with the diverse lineup was the New York-via-Japan instrumental band Mono. This was the second time I've seen Mono and they put on a hell of show. Perhaps it was because it was my second time seeing them, but I thought their set wasn't quite as good this time around. They've been touring for a long time and starting to tire of it. Nonetheless they played some of their best tracks incorporating the quiet to loud formula to perfection.
Closing out the night was the mighty High On Fire whose fourth album came out on Tuesday. The trio is getting huge and probably could have played a much larger venue. This was my first time seeing Matt Pike and company and they sounded great with their new bass player. New songs like 'Death Is This Communion', 'Turk' and 'Rumors Of War' were highlights of the show. An interesting note is that Mike is playing a 9-string guitar on these tracks. That certainly helps fill in the gaps that a trio usually has.
From Brooklyn, New York Panthers were slotted next. After a couple songs apparently the power went out on stage left and the guitarist had a broken string. Panthers have that New York garage rock sound mixed with the heaviness of Black Sabbath for a sound I haven't come across so far. Usually with their type of music the vocals are never melodic, but their singer brought a Strokes-like vibe with his delivery.
Continuing with the diverse lineup was the New York-via-Japan instrumental band Mono. This was the second time I've seen Mono and they put on a hell of show. Perhaps it was because it was my second time seeing them, but I thought their set wasn't quite as good this time around. They've been touring for a long time and starting to tire of it. Nonetheless they played some of their best tracks incorporating the quiet to loud formula to perfection.
Closing out the night was the mighty High On Fire whose fourth album came out on Tuesday. The trio is getting huge and probably could have played a much larger venue. This was my first time seeing Matt Pike and company and they sounded great with their new bass player. New songs like 'Death Is This Communion', 'Turk' and 'Rumors Of War' were highlights of the show. An interesting note is that Mike is playing a 9-string guitar on these tracks. That certainly helps fill in the gaps that a trio usually has.
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Archons, Hostile Combover, Earthless and Om at the Casbah, San Diego February 24, 2007
Wow, back to back posts on gigs! I doubt this will happen again. Despite being located up in San Francisco, this was Om's first time playing in San Diego and I wasn't going to miss it. Going to the gig I knew nothing about Archons and Hostile Combover. I didn't want to do much research on them as to not have any bias seeing them for the first time. Turns out that both are based in San Diego along with Earthless.
First up was Archons, a trio of bass, drums and guitar. Their influences seemed to be from more traditional forms of metal along with it's subgenre of doom. They would trade doom riffs with a more fast style of riffing of traditional metal which made for some long songs that had some nice variations. Their sound reminded me of the recent High On Fire album which has a similar combination of metal influences to it.
Next was Hostile Combover, the second trio of the night. I wasn't quite sure what to expect from a band with such a name and I'm still not sure who they'd compare to. They weren't heavy but have metal-esque riffing at times. They played too slow to be either punk or speed metal. For the most part their songs were long, but they didn't have the dynamics you'd see in the post-rock influenced metal bands. Their last two songs were the best when the guitarist and bassist switched instruments which created a more driving rhythm with their very solid drummer pounding away. He reminded me a bit of Dave Grohl in his style.
When Earthless came on there was more of a buzz in the room. Seems like the audience was really into them unlike the two previous shows I saw them. The played a blistering set as always that when on for a good 30+ minutes. Despite a mic problem on one of the bass amps, this was the finest set I've seen from them. I'm much looking forward to their new albums which is due in April.
Taking their time setting up, the ex-Sleep rhythm section that forms Om finally took the stage. Idiots yelling "Sleeeeep" and "play Dragonaut" peppered their set throughout. While it seemed that everyone showed up to see Om, the audience for the most part didn't seem to be into them. The set started a bit sloppy with the mellower track from their latest album 'Conference Of The Birds'. I thought it was a great way to start the show before getting into the more heavy tunes in their catalog. The wall of amps behind the duo was the largest I've seen in person and the bass filled the room and pounded on your chest, just the way I like it. I think a bigger venue with a better PA might have suited them better. I'm not sure if it was the band not into because the crowd wasn't great or vice versa, but they didn't quite live up to my high expectations for them. Still it was a very solid set and they played all my favorite songs. It was very hypnotic at times when you just close your eyes and forget everything.
So overall it was a great night. I don't think I'll ever go to a gig where actual bands (not solo artists) are playing and have the largest ensemble being a trio.
First up was Archons, a trio of bass, drums and guitar. Their influences seemed to be from more traditional forms of metal along with it's subgenre of doom. They would trade doom riffs with a more fast style of riffing of traditional metal which made for some long songs that had some nice variations. Their sound reminded me of the recent High On Fire album which has a similar combination of metal influences to it.
Next was Hostile Combover, the second trio of the night. I wasn't quite sure what to expect from a band with such a name and I'm still not sure who they'd compare to. They weren't heavy but have metal-esque riffing at times. They played too slow to be either punk or speed metal. For the most part their songs were long, but they didn't have the dynamics you'd see in the post-rock influenced metal bands. Their last two songs were the best when the guitarist and bassist switched instruments which created a more driving rhythm with their very solid drummer pounding away. He reminded me a bit of Dave Grohl in his style.
When Earthless came on there was more of a buzz in the room. Seems like the audience was really into them unlike the two previous shows I saw them. The played a blistering set as always that when on for a good 30+ minutes. Despite a mic problem on one of the bass amps, this was the finest set I've seen from them. I'm much looking forward to their new albums which is due in April.
Taking their time setting up, the ex-Sleep rhythm section that forms Om finally took the stage. Idiots yelling "Sleeeeep" and "play Dragonaut" peppered their set throughout. While it seemed that everyone showed up to see Om, the audience for the most part didn't seem to be into them. The set started a bit sloppy with the mellower track from their latest album 'Conference Of The Birds'. I thought it was a great way to start the show before getting into the more heavy tunes in their catalog. The wall of amps behind the duo was the largest I've seen in person and the bass filled the room and pounded on your chest, just the way I like it. I think a bigger venue with a better PA might have suited them better. I'm not sure if it was the band not into because the crowd wasn't great or vice versa, but they didn't quite live up to my high expectations for them. Still it was a very solid set and they played all my favorite songs. It was very hypnotic at times when you just close your eyes and forget everything.
So overall it was a great night. I don't think I'll ever go to a gig where actual bands (not solo artists) are playing and have the largest ensemble being a trio.
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