Gig Review - Hunting Bears
Tuesday 18th June 2009 @ The Croft, Bristol
With Support From: In Your Honour, Different Breed
One wouldn’t expect too much from a Tuesday night gig at The Croft but it was a pleasant surprise to see the venue filled with young students all waiting for the appearance of In Your Honour. This group of extremely young musicians (three of the members ageing 16!) took to the stage with surprising confidence and let loose an energetic frenzy of catchy lyrics and original guitar riffs. It was clear that they are in the early stages of their musical development but with the charisma and talent that they showed tonight, I am certain that they will leave their footprint.
The sense of euphoria somewhat left the room as Different Breed started their set with a painfully long delay. Sadly the word “different” certainly wasn’t the case with these guys; heavy Rage Against The Machine like riffs (perhaps too alike for my liking) were followed by snippets of Green Day which didn’t go down too well with the, by now, heavily depleted crowd. There were some great instrumental solos by the extremely lively lead guitarist though, even at one point he looked like he was contemplating a stage dive – much to the horror of the young females at the front. Not the best of gigs by these guys.
I was shocked as a huge crowd of energetic youths materialised from the gloom to watch the headlining band Hunting Bears. Being a Tuesday night, you are never going to be disappointed for a ticket but this young trio had mustered a wild fan base and it wasn’t until they started playing that I realised why. The very simplistic guitar melody opened the set into a captivating swing of powerful tunes and the unique nature of the music left it hard to place into a genre. There was a definite trace of jazz and the well co-ordinated drum fills and guitar riffs gave this very thin looking trio a great, full sound. There was a strong atmosphere in the room as they wove a psychedelic skin around their audience. For old and young alike, this band are an absolute must see.
Thomas Dunn
Copyright © 2008
August 19th, 2009 at 9:36 pm
The kind of response I’d expect from a breast feeding teenager like yourself! To be honest, how biased a review can you get when your in a bristol based band, and probably good friends with the bands you ‘review’.
Anyway thanks for the open can of worms, I agree, In your honour, and hunting bears were fantastic. Both on and off the stage. I can take criticism, and use it to better myself, but your criticism is worthy only for wiping my ass with after a particularly lairy curry. It is interesting to see that you like to stick your tongue up the rectums of your peers. I notice you didn’t send us an invite to see this review on our myspace, but hey, that’s just cowards way I suppose.
August 20th, 2009 at 3:50 pm
I am sorry you were unhappy with the review. Everyone is entitled to
their opnion. At least the reviewer didn’t get personal. Insults
are the very last form of an arguement surely?
August 20th, 2009 at 9:23 pm
I’ll openly admit, I was mad! wrote a response that wasn’t well thought out. I shouldn’t have gone personal, I’ve apologized to Tom. Fair play to him for responding to the messages left to him, that takes a lot of balls. It was a massive shock to us all, this was our 3rd ever gig, and to get a review as dire as that as a first review was infuriating. Especially as it was done by a member of a Bristol based band, who was asked to review it by one of the acts of the night. It all seemed a little biased, and to some extent still does. But in his defence, he is as entitled to his view as anyone else, hats off for his honesty. If anything, after a sober think about it, I will see it as a challenge to make sure Tom doesn’t hold us in bad light in future. We will up our game, re-shuffle, and make sure we blow him away next time.
My pride was bruised, and I blew it out of proportion.
After having words with Tom, I fully revoke my previous response, and look forward to making sure he’s entertained next time round.
Oh, And Violence is the last form of an argument
Big Love and Chocolate Truffles
August 21st, 2009 at 11:55 am
Brilliant stuff……. better than being ambivalent anyway….. and at the very least it has encouraged the team to come and see you in order to gauge for ourselves, that would never happen with an average review…..
Looking forward to being entertained…
I never resort to violence, i dont want to get hurt! I am a wimp x