As Tall As Lions

Stop everything.

What the hell are you doing reading this blog?

You should, no, you NEED to be checking out As Tall As Lions at this link. Now.

For those of you who need a little more convincing, let me tell you that (as you may be able to tell) this was one of the greatest shows I’ve been to this year. I’d checked out a song or so from the group when I heard they were coming with Minus the Bear, but nothing could prepare me for how perfect these guys were.

The band from Long Island, New York, has a sound very similar to Minus the Bear’s, which you’d think would be logical for an opener, but sadly, is not always the case. I was much more impressed with the vocal ability of these guys over Minus the Bear’s however, and the group put some builds into their songs that made you break out in goosebumps.

I was honestly surprised at how calm much of the crowd seemed during the band’s set. They did happen to be the only opener, which was slightly odd, and I think that may have thrown the audience off a little bit; the crap everyone was used to having to sit through wasn’t there.

Though their set was somewhat short, I know that some fans were made by the end of it all. I found myself shouting for an encore with a couple other people when they left…I don’t think I’ve ever done that for an opening act.

For those of you in Salt Lake, the band will be coming through on a second tour of their own in April of next year, and for everybody else….

LISTEN! NOW!

Minus The Bear

These guys just win. That’s the best way I can describe how they do their thing.

Seattle ambience/progressive/soft rockers Minus the Bear have slowly become known as one of the most professional bands on the indie music scene. For example, exhibit A: You see that picture up above? Yeah, that’s guitarist Dave Knudson playing his pedal board. These guys don’t mess around.

As professional as they are however, I was slightly underwhelmed at the start of the show. The group opened with their widely popular song “Knights” off of their 2007 album Planet of Ice, which has this really cool, effected guitar loop…that was just played through a laptop.

As much of a turn-off as this was, however, the show really picked up once they got into their material off of their as-yet-untitled album set for release in 2010. These songs really have to be some of their best material, and after seeing them live, I can confidently say that that’s going to be their best record yet. Those songs just shook the house.

And this was while the group was under a handicap of sorts as well; as you can see in the pic up above, their bassist Cory Murchy had to sit for the entire show due to spinal problems he’d been having since the beginning of the band’s Fall tour. There’s been no report of what these problems might be, but that ended up mattering very little when it came down to the group’s performance— they needed no standing of any kind to pull of their trademark musical acrobatics.

I’ve gotta say before I finish this however (and I’ll make this quick), I really can’t understand the multitude of drunken idiots that showed up for the concert. I mean, really, can you honestly appreciate this kind of music when your completely out of your mind trashed? And what’s more, that whole appreciation gets a lot harder for all the sober people in the house when you’re thrashing your drunken ass around running into everybody within a few feet of you. Really, just stay in the bar, please. Asshats.

…Ok, I’m done, I promise. It really was a great show, that just bugged me. A lot.

But anyways, here’s the band’s setlist for the night. I highly recommend, once again, checking out the group’s new album once it drops. That’s going to level mountains, without a doubt.

• Knights
• Dr. L’ling
• Memphis & 53rd
• Throwin’ Shapes
• Into the Mirror
• White Mystery
• Monkey!! Knife!! Fight!!
• Ice Monster
• Broken China
• Clowns
• New Song
• The Fix

Encore:

• Absinthe Party at the Fly Honey Warehouse