The Whole Bear Hunters Concert At The Rednecks Saloon Last Month!!

Remember how local death metal standouts The Bear Hunters attempted a live internet stream of their July 25th headlining concert at The Rednecks Saloon? Well, it was a success, and the videos from the stream are still online to be checked out! Apologies for the wait on this, other stories and finding out late about the permanent video copies pushed it back. Courtesy of The Bear Hunters' Ustream channel, the guys had cameras rolling for not just their entire set at the former Nicolet Tavern, but also the opening sets from Jack Spades & Redundant, so let's take a look at all of the videos!

Starting with The Bear Hunters, who welcomed back rhythm guitarist in absentia Josh Stephney for the first time this year, their set included (in order) their originals "Dominate", "Casualties of War", "Deception", "Condemned", "Succumb To Eternity", "Bloodthirst", "Overthrown", and "Karma", then their cover of lead guitarist Mitch Sirie's solo favourite "Squirrel Buddy", their original "Collapse the Sun", their cover of Amon Amarth's "Guardians of Asgaard", and closing with their songs "Servitude", "I Fear No God", and "Render This Void". Notably absent were newer tracks like "Transcend Judgement" and "The Void", but maybe that was a conscious decision, as Josh may not have as firm of a grasp on them due to his move. The 80 minute video is solidly recorded with few hiccups, though the camera angle can be too tight to the band (in particular, Johnny Belanger was almost invisible early on.) Musically though, the guys were on form, the added guitar was a welcome change from other 2014 shows, and their brutal originals fit right in as usual! Check out the full set below, and keep an eye out for a mid-set Slayer jam!

Second on July 25th were local punk trio Redundant in their Rednecks Saloon debut, and they put on an entertaining 45 minute set in their own right! Not counting instrumental jams, Redundant played (in order) their covers of Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues", Green Day's "Who Wrote Holden Caulfield?", NOFX's "Bob", Eminem's "Without Me", Rise Against's "Swing Life Away" (with guest vocals from The Bear Hunters' Nik Deubel), Operation Ivy's "Knowledge", Weezer's "El Scorcho" (with TLC interlude), and John Denver's "Leaving On A Jet Plane", followed by their original "That December", and then their renditions of The Ramones' "Blitzkrieg Bop" (with Jack Spades' J.D. Pearce on guest vocals), part of Adam Sandler's "Somebody Kill Me", and The Scary Uncles' "Labatt 50", so give each a look below too! A fun and loose set that delivers the goods for fans of Redundant's punk sound, the quality's good, but some of the in-shot fans yelling and moving the camera can get in the way. The angle works better though, as no one's squeezed out of frame. Check out Redundant's set below, and watch afterward for The Bear Hunters setting up!

And opening this show was local punk/metal quintet Jack Spades (also new to the venue), whose set included (in order) their originals "They Live", "Rise", and "Breakneck Speed", followed by a cover of The Misfits' "Helena", their songs "Crossroads", "Frederick", and "Motorwolf", covers of SNFU's "Drunk on a Bike", Pennywise's "Bro Hymn" (likely featuring Redundant's Justin Langlois on guest vocals), and The Ripcordz' "X", their song "To The Left", and a song whose name I can't place off hand (the title sounds similar to "Two to Four". As well, this separate video of Jack Spades covering "Drunk on a Bike" was also uploaded as a pre-show test, presumably to make sure the video stream was working right. Like above, the video quality is a steady and entertaining constant (especially with less fan disruptions), but J.D. Pearce is generally not seen in frame, which is another problem with how tight the camera angle was to the stage. If The Bear Hunters stream another Rednecks show, they should move the camera back and/or more central. Solid punk & metal action, so give Jack Spades' opening set (with Redundant setup) a look below!

That's all for this special showcase post, and it's very cool to see a full concert shot and streamed like this! I regrettably had to miss this show due to commitments with a garage sale the next morning, but saving the stream allowed me and other fans who couldn't make it to see the whole thing! Hopefully The Bear Hunters (or Mitch's other bands) do this again, perhaps at other venues too, and we'll let you guys know if a similar stream occurs (perhaps at tonight's Archspire show?) I hope to see you guys there! Thanks everyone!