Review: Bear vs Shark, Gatsby's American Dream, Outsmarting Simon, Jena Berlin, March 30, 2005

#12
March 30, 2005
Gatsby's American Dream
Bear vs Shark
Outsmarting Simon
Jena Berlin
The Owl Cove, Temple University
Philadelphia, PA

Much like salmon are moved by some unseen force to move upstream and swarm, I was moved to leave work at 2 and brave I95 for the scary environs of North Philly. The simple fact is that I MUST see Bear vs Shark (regardless of tolls or sleep deprivation) and since Philly was the closest show on this tour, to Philly I went. On the way home Scion-Ara hit 10,000 miles on the odometer, truly a monumental moment for us both. I honestly could not love my little pumpkin cubochka any more if I had forged the alloy steel myself (wiping away tear). We have indeed tasted wine and sweat and blood.

So anyway, I'm off to a pretty good start for 2005 - 12 shows in 12 weeks. The Owl Cove is a cafe by day and part-time punk venue by night. [I just got that, by the way, while I was looking for a parking spot...Owl Cove...heh] I thought they had a pretty decent sound system (keep reading...) and there were probably around 100 people there (most of them were apparently not Temple students).

First up: locals and show organizers, Jena Berlin. I thought they were pretty good - indie/emo rock with some clear/some screamed vocals. I didn't figure out their name until today when I went and looked up one of the other bands (all I could understand was *something* Berlin or Lind?). I have to say though, for the record...I am SO over screamo as a genre. Can we declare a moratorium or start issuing licenses or something? Seriously. There are times when screamed vocals do work (read some of my other reviews or keep reading). But then there's the rest of time...screaming the same four lines you just sang, screaming to cover the fact that you can't sing, and/or screaming because your lyrics are so lame that you don't want anyone to understand them. Ugh. I hereby issue a 'cease and desist' order to Jena Berlin. Props to their friend with the big hair and Elvis sunglasses who created a ruckus for them. I think every band needs a friend to play in a kiddie pool filled with chocolate pudding or start a mosh pit.
3.199/5

Outsmarting Simon is a 4-piece melodic emo rock band straight outta Jersey. I was actually really impressed with them and I would definitely check them out again. [I swear I am not just saying this because they've toured with Coheed. I was unaware!] Anyway you can listen to them right now on their Purevolume page and judge for yourself.
4/5

After that though, the crowd was in the best of hands with the mighty Michiganians of Bear vs Shark. I had a headache, but once they hit the stage I just stared at them deep in silent concentration and forgot all about that. I don't really know how to describe their music. Paid rock writers have called it "post-punk" but I still don't know what the hell that means. If I worked for a British magazine I would complain that the Mars Volta already did that, but I don't personally think that's true. Some of it is kind of proggy and melodic and some of it straight up RAWKS. And on stage Marc is a madman with the frenetic dancing and the screaming and the rolling on the floor. [The first time I saw them at last year's Skate and Surf fest, he got on top of the keyboard and was just rolling and thrusting himself on it and then he was on the floor and then in the crowd and it was insane and totally awesome.] Anyway, they had a few sound problems during their set: monitor issues and one of the guitars wasn't turned up and Mike? got shocked on one of the mics (sorry, I don't know from Mike/John/Derek - they're constantly switching off instruments and I haven't gotten a chance to talk to any of them). I think the technical glitches bothered them a lot more than the crowd, who were really into the set, dancing and singing right along with every familiar song and grooving to the new songs (one of which heavily features the maraca - yay!). I think BvS is just too much band for a college cafeteria. [Rant alert!] How is it that a band like Nickelback (or any such crap) has a gold album and constantly torments me via commercial radio and plays arenas and a band that is so unfreakbelievably talented and specatacular and life changing like Bear vs Shark is playing a 3rd tier college's cafe? [end rant] So anyway, I didn't take any other notes about their set (I was too busy scribbling 'Mrs. Bearvsshark' over and over), but I would recommend them highly to anyone who likes high energy rawk, prog rock, or any other kind of guitar-based music. I will continue my own frenetic dancing in anticipation of their new album due out in June.
5/5 + lifetime 'Don't stop a-rockin!' achievement award

Rounding out the night were Seattle's very own Gatsby's American Dream. I hadn't previously heard (of) them but I thought they were good. Maybe every other band was just totally smoked by Bear vs Shark...
3.643/5

And now it's time for '3 Ridiculous Questions for Marc of Bear vs Shark'
MoS: If there was a soundtrack for your life, what song would people be surprised to find listed?
MoBvS: anything from Prince's 'Purple Rain' album
after some prattle by me about seeing The Man over the summer...
MoS: Are there any special Michigan-only food products (chips, soda, etc.)?
MoBvS: Well, there's Faygo and Vernor's [both are soda/pop/soda pop/coke - in MI it's 'pop' right? I had the 'pop' ridiculed out of me by snooty New Yorkers in college and now I only say 'soda' but I might actually have to order some Red Pop which I used to drink all the time growing up. Vernor's Ginger Ale is apparently a favorite of fellow MI native Ted Nugent]
MoS: What two bands would you like to see in a steel cage match?
MoBvS: us and Fear Before the March of Flames [that would be a good one - FBtMoF may have slightly more stamina because they do their training in the mile-high city but BvS does a lot of cardio on stage]

Random stuff:
-a dude wearing a Dutchland Diesel shirt from 1995 (I asked). The last time I saw those guys was at the St. Marys Youth Center in approximately the same year.
-I can identify an Underoath hoodie (which just has a tree on one side - not the band name) at 30 feet (scary! It must be because I spent so much time hanging around the merch tables last fall...)
-I just have SO much to say to Bear vs Shark but I need to keep it to the three questions (+commentary) and slowly, incrementally bug them. Plus I don't know if I could ever adequately explain my deep love of the fact that 'blood borne pathogens' is a line in 'Broken Dog Leg' (it's very ass natural)