Review: Bear vs Shark 11/27/2005

#48
November 27, 2005
Bear vs Shark
Pontiac Grille, Philadelphia
PHOTOS!!!

What I am Thankful For, by Princess Hoodie.
I am thankful for part-time jobs which allow me to purchase multiple digital cameras and travel hundreds of miles to go to shows and take pictures. I am thankful for sweaty rock boys and other hot dudes. I am thankful for sushi and beer. And I am especially thankful that Bear vs Shark played 'Broken Dog Leg' and 'Song About Old Roller Coaster'.

Do they be high? Review: Dudestorm 10 26 2005

Jacques the fur trapper f***ed your dad

#42
October 26 2005
Fear Before the March of Flames
Bear vs Shark
Since By Man
The Fall of Troy
Sonar, Baltimore
PHOTOS!!!!


What can I say about a show where I like all of the bands musically and personally and I've seen them all before?

Should I tell you to check out The Fall of Troy, another underfed band of hotties from Seattle?

Should I refer you back to one of the first posts on this illustrious and rarely-commented-on blog: my first encounter with Since By Man? Could I speculate that my facination with Sam could be just a Slavic thing? (he sure is cute though)

And what about Bear vs Shark? Does Marc look like a French-Canadian fur trapper? Doesn't John look just like Dr. Carter when he grew THE BEARD? Hmm... Why didn't I wear my 'I {heart} beards' shirt? I hope they enjoyed the sugar sharks. Oh and Mike got to go to a Georgia Bulldogs game with one of the Mastodon guys...

And of course, we can't forget Fear Before the March of Flames. The woman handing out the promotional cigarettes asked me "Do they be high when they get up and do that? Them people in the other room ain't be acting that way." I don't know if she was just shocked or also entertained (I was both). I sort-of asked Brandon about this and didn't get a straight answer. Hmm. I did tell him though that he made my 'redheaded metal man' hall of fame. I think he was shocked and entertained.

Review: Bear vs Shark 8 17 05

First check out my horoscope:
A romance could flourish nicely and so will you when your Venus ruler is in Libra, back home where she belongs. Although the goddess can increase your allure and social graces, it is expansive Jupiter in your sign that'll heighten your chance of experiencing a story-book kind of love. Since Jupiter lends considerable support to idealistic Neptune, a person or project that took center-stage in March, when they last formed a favorable trine, reclaims its prominent position. The benefits are mutual, but not long-lived. Carpe diem.

#27
August 17, 2005
Horse the Band
Curl Up and Die
Bear vs Shark
At All Cost
Look What I Did
random local bands
KC's, Fredericksburg VA
Photos!!! More Photos!!!

I guess part of this show was a Combat Records showcase in preparation for the now-defunct Hellfest (Oh well, I couldn't go anyway....)

Briefly (since it's 3:30 am and I've got to sleep and do a bunch of stuff tomorrow):

random local bands - pretty good

Look What I Did - I dozed off and woke up to find that they were all shirtless...ew. Weird men who scare me need to stay fully clothed. Musically it reminded me of Nirvana a little.

At All Cost - I thought they were great. Hard rockin, heavy shit. I'd definitely check them out again.

Bear vs Shark - Mike thought it was their worst show of the tour. They did seem a little off, but it was still enjoyable. Photos and stuff will be up soon. I am expecting the mail...

Curl Up and Die - sounds kinda like FBtMoF. Matt (hey, I remembered your name!) is hott. I got some photos of them too.

Horse the Band - unfreakinbeliveable...put Dillinger Escape Plan, Guns 'n' Roses, the singers from The Black Dahlia Murder, Bane and River City Rebels, and an old skool Nintendo or Atari in a blender - serve over ice. I don't know how to describe them *chocolate* go see them *chocolate* you won't regret it *chocolate*

Other:
-Poker
-Rifts
-Rolling a 20-sided die to see if Nickelback is Derek's Rift's character's favorite band (intentional shout-out?)
-some girl with a pierced upper arm (WTF?)
-Hot&Spicy Cheez-Its
-big ups to Ms. E and Mr. S
-Marc was homecoming king?

And now it's time for 3 Ridiculous Questions with the Bass Player. This week's guest is Derek from BvS. Post-question comments from Mike of BvS.

MoS: If you were a terrorist, what would your demands be?
DBvS: I would wish for animals to be free and for people to stop making rash judgements about terrorists.
post-commentary from Mike - that sounds good

MoS: Cookies or cupcakes?
DBvS: Cookies
post-commentary from Mike - what? that's all wrong... [I agree]

MoS: Who would you pit against Curl Up & Die in a ladder match?
DBvS: [he didn't know what a ladder match was, though] Sepultura
[Mike didn't know what a ladder match was either]

Review: Bear vs Shark 7/18/05

John (!) Bear vs Shark July 18 2005

#21
July 18, 2005
Fear Before the March of Flames
Curl Up and Die
Bear vs Shark
Fire When Ready
Fares Well Without
The Champsion Ship, Lemoyne PA
Photos!!! More Photos!!!

Once again my odd-Coheed (19) viewing is kicking my ass (or rather the car's front bumper). What did I do to deserve this anyway? Overall not too bad of a day....took the day off, picked up the new Co&Ca comic, bought my 3IoB tix, got guestlisted (thanks John!), and accomplished my dual goals of seeing Bear vs Shark and flirting with the redheaded drummer in FBtMoF (who really is even cuter than I thought he was before).

Anyway...Fares Well Without is a PA-local metal(core) band that sounds kinda like As I Lay Dying (which they curiously do not list among their 'influences'). It was pretty OK...those kids were really obnoxious though.
3/5

Fire When Ready are upstate-NY-based indie punk. I actually really enjoyed their set, even if it didn't seem to quite fit the overall theme (was there an overall theme? scream-shouted vocals maybe?). I don't know what they did to their bass and several mics, but they had a couple sound problems. Overall very good...
4/5

And of course, the mighty Bear vs Shark. Now new and improved - playing several new songs from Terrorhawk (which as you will recall I had to harrass Tower Records employees to get at 8:30 PM the day it came out because they still hadn't put out the new releases...idiots). Anyway, it was starting to get real hot in the club (though apparently not as hot as the place they played the previous day). I got some good photos this time too (possibly coming to their site in the near future). There were some other DC/Baltimore folks there - next time we've got to coordinate, people! Oh yeah, BvS rocks!
5 stars on this, my fifth viewing of BvS

Curl Up and Die - is that an imperative or a just a statement? Have I seen this band before? No idea...hardcore stuff...there were some karate moves going on in the back. So hot...sweating...ugh
4/5

Fear Before the March of Flames...hey at least this time I didn't get lost. Excellent set. Proof that Equal Vision Records inserts subliminal messages into their free compilations? I'm still not sure about that (Marc thought Coheed might do something like that, which would explain a lot actually) but FBtMoF is awesome. I got some nice photos of them too (bad-ass!). Brandon is indeed cuter than I had remembered...I think he must be quite the ladies man. I may have to actually start the 'stalker wall' to which I keep referring.
5/5

Review: Maracas of Madness: Bear vs Shark & Codeseven 5/19/05

Thursday May 19, 2004
Bear vs Shark
Codeseven
Championship
Lemoyne, PA

Traffic...wow. I have never been in traffic like that for so long. I went 11 miles in the first hour. But I really can't complain about much else because I had a good hair day, didn't have to report for jury duty, saw a plethora of sexy bearded men, and got to see two of my very favorite bands: Codeseven and Bear vs Shark. The last time I saw each of these bands I spent a long time composing really intricate reviews and while I don't claim to have said it all, I don't know if I have too much to add at this time.

Codeseven 5/5
-bad traffic mojo (that one time I completely missed them due I95 being closed for accidents)
-the promise of crazy dancing has been fulfilled!
-these guys are such sweethearts they make every other band look like a pile of puke by comparison...

BVS 5/5
-finally remembered the camera (we'll see what turns out)
-I can't wait for the new album (out June 14th - be sure to pick it up!)
-pink bass! (I don't know why I never noticed that before)
-here's a great interview I found

Random crap
-rumors of a Coheed/Codeseven/BVS tour - I would have to quit my job to follow it...
-finally saw a Scion XB Special Release 2.0 - it's yellow! and has turn signals on the side mirrors (which I desperately want for Scion Ara)
-I was in musical withdrawl, but this show marks the first of three where I will see my top 5 current American favorite bands
-FYI: that Doves show is sold-out, although I suppose rockstars don't have to worry about such things

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)