Ladyhawk and Black Mountain - March 29, 2008

This morning I was reflecting with my significant other on the show last night and we were talking about "prog rock." Last night I left before Black Mountain completed its show because I find that there is only "so much" prog rock that I can listen to. So my sig-oth said to me this morning, "Fine then... just give them a bad review on your blog." So to be sure, I want all of you to know that this is not a bad review of the show.

The show started out with Nordic Nomadic playing a couple of tunes to warm up the crowd. His electric folk set was really good and got the crowd in the mood for some upcoming awesome guitar magic.

I have seen Ladyhawk several times in the last couple of years. The first time I saw them, a friend of mine who used to live in Vancouver dragged me out to the show and we stood at the front with about 8 other people. I was hooked. I bought their self-titled album and listened to it obsessively for a while... and still sometimes do. The last few times I've seen them, they have gotten a good crowd. However, last night Amigo's was packed. At 9:30, the sign on the door said, "Sorry, this show is sold out." Always a good sign for this band. Lucky for me, I've had my ticket for a few weeks now.

Ladyhawk's set was awesome. Seriously. So awesome. Such pure, head-banging rock and roll. Awesome lyrics, long hair swung around, jumping off of the bass drum, killer guitar solos, facial hair, and a guitar held together by duct tape. These are just a few of the levels of the show. It was a seriously rocking out set with a good mix of older and new songs off of their latest album "Shots." I talked to the drummer while Black Mountain was playing and I asked him how the tour was going and he said, "It's so awesome. I mean, how could it not... I get to listen to my favorite band every night!" This is exactly why this band is awesome - because they love music, they love performing, and they do it well.

Black Mountain. Woah, what a band. More than a band, it is an ambiance... a feeling. Everyone could feel it as the lights went down and all you see was the green light behind the drum kit and smoke from their smoke machine. We all tingled in anticipation of the greatness that was about to take stage. And then it did. And it was. The haunting female vocals, the intense keyboards, the heart-pumping bass lines, and stellar guitar solos. I had no idea before this show that there were so many buttons and pedals involved in prog rock. I couldn't help but wonder how they remembered what button/pedal made what sound. I'm sure they have that worked out, though... it just was a thought that went through my head before the show.

The reason why I left early was because I was tired and I was not consuming any mind-altering substances, which probably would have made the whole experience even more intense. Black Mountain's show is kind of a mind-altering experience in itself, but it altered my mind to relaxing so much that I wanted to close my eyes and yawn. Overall, a very satisfying experience.

Crystal's rating: 7.5/10