Black Mountain, photo by SIAB Camera
Black Mountain, photo by SIAB Camera
Bon Iver, photo by SIAB Camera
Deep Purple is the new Black Sabbath; come to think of it, some might say that Vancouver-based Black Mountain are the new Deep Purple... albeit, with a darker sheen, and a brighter outlook when it comes to the here and now of what's happening in music--for this decade at least. At last night's sold-out show at Johnny Brenda's the band made a second coveted Philadelphia appearance at the club, and wooed the crowd with their brilliantly orchestrated songs, playing newer material taken from their latest album, In The Future (Jagjaguwar). Embracing 70s chic in her floral patterned dress over jeans and boots; singer Amber Webber sipped her wine, and closed her eyes to groove while slowly delivering the audience through her liquid, and bent-note moaning style of singing. Like a flower under black light, Black Mountain played their songs hard; giving breath and insight into the dark image that their name projects. Lead singer Stephen McBean (also heading up the equally brilliant side-project Pink Mountaintops) held court, while heavy lead double-organs fused the ebb and flow of each song together, punctuated by a powerful rhythm section--pounding and booming with each beat. Their latest logo, a 3D image of a cube (lit up in green on the front of the band's bass drum) is the perfect image to describe Black Mountain's multi-dimensional sound.
On tour with their label-mates; Wisconsin's talented Bon Iver "(pronounced: bohn eevair; French for "good winter" and spelled wrong on purpose)" opened the night, leaving the crowd no less enthusiastic than Justin Vernon's previous turn opening for Elvis Perkins in Dearland no more than a few months ago. There's something fantastic about a band that can move their audience so completely (as on the song "Wolves (Act 1 and II)" from the new album For Emma, Forever Ago), that the people who sang along in practice only moments before forget to accompany the band during the chorus they sang imperfectly to while the intended song is actually being played. The crowd got a little lost in the music; which is definitely a great compliment. Good sport as always, talented lead-singer Justin Vernon made light of the lack of participation by smiling amid laughter, as he goofed, "Thank you to everyone for singing along". Appearing spiritually young and alive on stage, and playing as a three-piece for this tour, Bon Iver (although equally known for Justin's enchanting solo performances as well) showcased brilliant timing on the instrumentation of their songs as a threesome, with accompanying second guitarist Mike Noyce occasionally using a small wooden harp and a mallet to beat on an extra floor tom near him, while drummer Sean Carey provided the perfect back-beat. Crowd response is always different, but for Bon Iver, the highlight of their sets of late, seems to be when the memorable song "Skinny Love" is played, and last night was no exception to this rule.
Check out these great photos and more, in our Girl About Town photo album section. See the rest by linking here. Special thanks to Spaghetti In A Box Camera for the great photos!
Bon Iver - band site / jagjaguwar / myspace
Black Mountain - band site / jagjaguwar / myspace
Thanks for the review. As a Bon Iver fan who could not be there good folks like you are the next best thing. One minor correction on a wee understandable error. Matt & Mark played with Justin Vernon at CMJ in NYC last fall but he has a new drummer and guitar player as the other guys have other commitments the new guitar player is Mike Noyce and the drummer is Sean Carey.
Posted by: LaVelle | February 21, 2008 at 09:00 PM
You know, I spent the better part of last night and the morning looking this information up because the introductions went by in the blink of an eye last night. Thanks so much for reading and writing in with that info, LaVelle! Much appreciated!
Posted by: Carly | February 21, 2008 at 09:22 PM