04.06.2008 Black Mountain / Green Hour

In terms of Vancouver and psychedelic rock, there really is no one better than Black Mountain and their collective offshoot bands. Headed up by guitarist Stephen McBean, the Vancouver 5 piece normally has the vocal duties split between the aforementioned McBean and Amber Webber. Interestingly enough, 3 of the members work for Insite, an organization that aids the less fortunate residents of the Downtown Eastside. Tonight was the second night of back to back Vancouver shows; they played the Commodore the night before. Despite being an all ages show, the crowd was made up of mostly university aged kids and older.

The first act of the night was actually Black Mountain's merch guy (I forgot his name). Playing in front of a handful of attendees, he played with just a guitar and his voice. Even with the limited crowd you got the sense that he was pretty talented. At times his singing reminded of Mikael Åkerfeldt of Opeth, during the quieter songs. After 3 songs he left.



Vancouver's own Green Hour played next. Musically, they were quite proficient. Their vocals were didn't seem to fit to well with the music however. Their stage attire, 1960's hippie(?), was a little grating. I'm not even sure what to think of the psychedelic visuals they were using. Personally, I was never a big fan of the whole 1960-70's revival. It was almost pretentious.

Black Mountain ended the night. They began the set with the demure 'Night Walks' from their latest effort In the Future. Then quickly jump started the set with their single 'Stormy High'. The set was drew almost equally from their two releases. For the most part, the band was quite enthusiastic. Even having to replace their snare drum in between a song did not seem to phase them. Some songs such as 'No Hits' were drawn out, showcasing some of their more experimental side. A two song encore ended the night; 'No Satisfaction' and 'Don't Run'. Not a mind blowing performance, but very good by most standards.

Setlist
Night Walks
Stormy High
Angles
Wucan
Queens
Druganaut
13 Walls
Evil Ways
Tyrants
No Hits
=======
No Satisfaction
Don't Run our Hearts around

$15/$20