Home  Reviews Voyager 1/Elefant/Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Portland, OR - 03/18/06
|
|
Voyager 1/Elefant/Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Portland, OR - 03/18/06 |
|
Written by Hunter
|
|
Monday, 21 January 2008 |
As a personal introduction, this was the very first concert review I've officially written and it was done with a fiery passion within two hours of the show ending so pardon the traces of excitable fanboy evident throughout, it's all pretty priceless ;)
-Hunter
Let
me start by saying Black Rebel Motorcycle Club is one of the most
underrated bands in all the music industry. I've been following them
ever since their album Howl, which was totally different from their
first 2 albums, one of which actually earned an explicit content
rating. It's a brilliant mix of folk, blues, country and even gospel.
It was their way of paying tribute to American roots music and I can't
get enough of it.
The 2 opening acts were capable of headlining
shows all their own, both were completely different, yet brilliant. The
first band was voyager 1, a group of brits that formed in Seattle. They
kicked off with a 4 minute instrumental which was amazing. I thought
that would be their highlight of the show, like a crappy metal band
that performs a brilliant piece of instrumental in the beginning of
their album and then lays out all the crappy screaming, crying and
thrashing but NO! With every single song they played, it was
consistantly better and better. They took their sweet time, let the
music develop and gain strength, and the vocalist didn't feel the need
to rush in and flood the song at any point. If I could compare them to
any band in terms of style i would say Rush, but better than that
actually. If you ever find the chance to see these guys play, DON'T
PASS IT UP.
The second band was Elefant; these guys couldn't
have been any more laid back and chilled out. They're actually pretty
big. I loved the main singer's interaction with the band. The entire
time he chilled in his chair on the edge of the stage, swinging the
microphone around and serenading the audience. After a while he started
wiping his sweat off and throwing the towels into the audience. The
dopehead behind me got excited and screamed "GIMME SOME OF THAT
MAN-SWEAT". The singer said that was the funniest thing he had heard on
the entire tour and graciously drenched the towel and tossed it. The
guy draped it around his shoulders and was happy as a fucking clam.
Anywho,
great music to chill out and unwind to. At this point it was only 10
o'clock but I was so thrilled about both bands I could have easily
called it a night but Black Rebel still owned the fucking joint...
I'm
not gonna go into detail about the songs they played, other than the
fact that they were good to play a mix of old and new material. We both
got to chill out to some great Americana and rock out to some good ol'
fashioned rock.
First on stage were the guitarist and drummer.
The guitarist was decked out in 50's rockabilly galore with his hair
greased back, somewhat resembling the god-like Johnny Cash in his
hayday. Meanwhile the drummer supposedly reminded my sister of James
Dean with his attire so you can get an idea of what sorta theme they
were laying down for the night.
The guitarist played solo in a room of haze with a single spotlight. It was amazing to watch. The guy is amazing!
Then
the bassist came out and i can honestly say i have never seen somebody
play a bass like that guy did in my life. He actually took presidence
over the guitarist in everything he did which I have never seen or
heard of in a band. He MURDERED his bass to the point that it was
smeared with blood by the end of the show. They played for a solid 3
hours, going weeeell above and beyond the call of a headlining artist.
These guys blew my mind with their amazing energy, even in the smallest
and simplest of songs. Don't get me wrong though, they can rock harder
and heavier than most bands on the radio could ever think about doing.
I couldn't have found a better show in all of Portland.
Oh, and
btw, they're gonna be a guest on Last Call with Carson Daily or
wutever. I know I know, the guy can't host a show worth a damn but see
it for them...
|
|
