BLACK MOUNTAIN + Bon Iver @ La Sala Rossa

By K-Man - 02/29/2008

I have to say that when I got my tickets to this show I was all like, this should be a mellow one, considering their style; I didn't expect there to even be a lot of people. Well...there were. In fact, the place was sold right the hell out. I'm so not into a super packed atmosphere, but these guys throw down a really mellow vibe. Pretty subdued crowd -- a new pattern/disease of today’s youth I guess!

Cutting a slice of life from Montreal early in there North American tour, British Columbia's Black Mountain set their gear up quickly after the opening bands. Got right down to business they did. Playing the first three songs from their latest album, In The Future -- "Stormy High," “Angels" and "Tyrants," followed by "Wucan," "Queens Will Play," and "Bright Lights." These guys have their work cut out for them. I checked out their tour schedule and these freaks are playing like thirteen shows in a row at one point. Gotta like the work ethic!

I finally caved and bought their latest album last month. You've probably heard me play it these last 3 weeks or so on BTG3. I have to say, these guys/girl bring a tight little package of juicy little nuggets of style that time is not so much forgetting...but avoiding. It's nice to see a bunch of kids groovin' on songs where moods are inspired by the likes of Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd...and I mean this in a good way, 'cause we've got enough of the straight up rip-off bands out there (snap!). Black Mountain’s not particularly derivative, but have a real knack for throwing down similar vibes.

Take the first song off their new album and set last night; "Stormy High" sounded like a Fu Manchu song. "Angels" could have been a Neil Young song (it had that chillin'-on-the-porch kind of vibe, you know?). "Queens Will Play" had this eerie Pink Floyd’s Umma Gumma/Jean Michel Jarre quality to it. "Evil Ways", heavy with the keyboards (and the coolest guitar solo of the night), had a Deep Purple thing going on, predominantly because the guy on keys had his rig sounding like it was going through classic Leslie speakers -- you know, the ones that have the spinning cones at the bottom -- same as their song "Bright Lights," which also had a very Zeppelin-esque stomp to it.

They got into their less recent repertoire later on in the evening, playing a few from their 2005 s/t release. A couple of rockers, and the end of the night, the band brought on their 2004 effort, "Druganaut." Like I said -- a mellow vibe, nothing to get too excited about, but a tight set that tweaked your musical feelers in a "I'll take 'Songs That Sound Like Other Songs’ for $400, Alex " kind of way.

Bon Iver…well, let's just say that when me and my mates walked in at the end of their set, they were sitting down, presumably for the duration of their set, and any band that has to sit down to get their groove on, well...that says it all about this "band."

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