Believe it or not, this was Garden of Bedlam's first show EVER at The Rockstar Bar, and my first concert there in ten months! Since then, the stage recieved a new red carpet and accent lighting, which helped the concert atmosphere, and I liked the giant screen they have in there now too! The turnout was great, it was easily one of the most packed shows I've been to at The Rockstar Bar! Garden of Bedlam were making their first live appearance in three months since supporting Kiss, and in that time, they lost absolutely nothing musically! I have to be honest, if you asked me to criticize their performance by itself, I'd be hard pressed to find something negative to say. They were absolutely on fire last night, and delivered in every respect! Buzz's voice was as strong as it's ever been, with any issues from his vocal illnesses of the summer completely gone! Great screams and range displayed last night, he's absolutely back on form! Josh Belleau's guitar work was also great, with his solos and riffs melting faces left and right! Evan Belleau's bass work was great too, his lines filled the sound nicely and he seemed into every note, and Derek Turner was consistently good all night on drums! I honestly can't complain about their abilities and performance last night!
What I will complain about is some unfortunate speaker issues that put their set to a halt 3 songs in. No one went into specifics last night, but the speakers near Evan were dying or blown or something, and you could smell smoke from them! The band and Rockstar Bar staffers spent about 40 minutes trying to fix the situation, and thankfully the problem was resolved, and the show did go on with new speakers. However, it did result in a setlist adjustment and a bit of lost momentum, though the band brought it all back when the set resumed! I was telling people that they were so heavy, they blew the speaker out, and I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case! Their setlist was made up of a mix of songs from their E.P. like "Shallow", songs from their upcoming debut like "New Rain", familiar covers like Tool's "Aenima", and a few surprises! It was awesome to hear a Volbeat cover, and they played some new original material as well! They had a great cross-section of stuff last night, and the crowd ate it up!Overall, it was one hell of a return show, only hampered by the 40 minute speaker failure delay. I can't wait to see them again, as their hard hitting metal style will be more than welcome back anywhere soon! As always, I do have photos from the show, so click here to check them out, or visit our Facebook page! And I got a video, and this is a nice snag, as it's one of Garden of Bedlam's brand new songs, first played live last night! Good song too, here's their new original "With A Spark"!
Finally today, we have a new band to add to our listings on the SMS! They're not really a "new" band, but after months of waiting, this is their first internet page of any kind. They are The Bear Hunters, the local death/thrash metal band featuring alumni of local bands like Caveman Morrison, Lorax, and Devastation of the Heavens! I've posted videos of some of their jam sessions on here in the past, and you'll remember that they were supposed to debut at the aborted Pauline's Place benefit show in August. Their MySpace page was just launched yesterday, and it shows a nice sense of humour with the band embracing their name in their bio and influences. A lot of confidence is shown when they say they sound like "your favorite melodic death metal band except better." We'll have to see how that stacks up! There isn't much there yet, but there are two interesting notes to share. Firstly, their page confirms that former D.O.T.H. frontman Mike Vincent has joined the band on guitar, replacing Andres Duchesne, who moved to Trenton a few months ago. Last names aren't given on the band's page, but Mike's personal Facebook page confirms his involvement. Mike joins his former D.O.T.H. bandmates Justin Lam & Johnny Belanger in The Bear Hunters, alongside singer Nik Deubel and guitarist Mitch Sirie. Sounds like a good addition, hopefully Mike works well with the band!The other new note is a new jam session video! This was uploaded onto bassist Justin Lam's YouTube channel yesterday, and it's from the same jam session of their past two videos, from when Andres Duchesne was still in the band. Like the past two, Nik Deubel was absent when this was recorded. The song being played is an original named "Condemned", and it has a nice low and heavy tone. Justin's bass work is great and melodic, and the riffing is catchy, but the bass is very high in the mix. It could also use a solo, but it sounds good! Check out "Condemned" below, and more on The Bear Hunters at the above links!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more local metal news and updates very soon, including our Grady concert preview (and a related contest) and more! Thanks everyone!
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