This evening, after a long absence, the herald descends upon 648 Kingsway, where a selection of three offerings await consumption. Yet another day spent basking in the sun’s summer rays has the herald anticipating the darkened interior of 648 with glee.
By chance, the herald arrives early for once, giving him time to prepare himself for his divine mission. A small crowd mills outside as he weaves towards the narrow entrance, anticipating offerings that will provide Him what He demands.
KAMA SUTRA MURDER
This is the first offering from this quartet, who dosed out thick and explosive jams in hard rock with a stoner edge. Crunchy and dense, this great set had a whole whack of killer jams.
It’s been a while since I’ve been to 648, and kudos to them for upping their sound game. I could hear everyone clearly; nothing got lost in the noise, a theme that continued throughout the whole night.
As KSM grooved through their set, they fucked around with syncopation, especially the drummer, giving their sound a woven adventurous creative vibe that I fucking loved. Full of stops, starts, and time changes, catching me off guard more than a few times, I had a blast grooving to this one.
The drums were an absolute killer. A thick, smashing connection with a creative bass making full use of that neck laid down a wondrous foundation for the flailing. The two guitars layered their distorted noise overtop, completing the thick blanket of sound embracing me.
Great lead vocals, with a strong delivery, allow them to peek out from that blanket carrying a lot of power and emotion, only adding to the already massive sound.
While the crowd was small to start the night, being Sunday, a handful of folks were still grooving to this one.
CHEAP FLAVOR
Next was a repeat offering from Vancouver’s premier psycho blues band, this time riding as a duo with their bassist out sick. While they were definitely missed, the guitarist and drummer gave it their all, still producing all that incredible energy I have come to expect from them.
Bounce-around jams played at breakneck speeds; there was nary a moment of respite other than the brief in-betweens when they decided which song to play next. The organic feel of the set list just thrown together on the spot shows their comfort level.
As they do, the guitarist occasionally entered the crowd, even sitting in front for a particular part, constantly engaging and interacting.
Playing at breakneck speeds, they were both dripping sweat by the end, never not giving it all at every moment. Their energy is so infectious I found myself spinning and flailing with abandon the entire set.
The crowd got more lively with this offering -how could they not?- and I was accompanied by several folks bouncing and dancing to this great set.
EACH OTHERS MOTHERS
This is the first offering from this quintet, which closed the night with some upbeat and quirky jams that were hard to pin down in one genre. Some were groovy smooth, others bounce around flail. Their specific sound carried throughout as they weaved through the set.
Featured a saxophone up front, adding that always-welcome sound in a sea of guitars. They hopped on vocals for a song and even jumped into the crowd to fire folks up.
The lead singer was rocking the dual mics, and someone smarter than me told me one had a very compressed vocal and the other natural. They would jump back and forth between them during songs to a very cool effect.
There was some really sexy guitar work all around, with delicious tones tickling the earholes. One of the guitarists would also rock the keys, expanding their sound even more.
They had vocal harmonies that worked well, especially high harmonies in a specific song. Unfortunately, the harmonies were too quiet in the space, probably the only thing on the whole night that didn’t come through clearly.
They had great energy up there, animated and clearly enjoying themselves, and that seeped down into the few remaining folks bouncing around on that floor.
He was pleased with tonight’s offerings.
wgheiv