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Concert Photo and Video Recap: Wolves in the Throne Room, Zebulon Pike, Krallice, Empires @ Triple Rock Social Club

Posted in Concert Reviews with tags black metal, doom metal, empires, krallice, minneapolis, minnesota, pyschedelic, stoner, triple rock social club, wolves in the throne room, zebulon pike on Thursday, May 21, 2009 by Ryan Buege

Truth be told, May has been a month where Minneapolis has already hosted an almost excessive amount of the unbelievable shows from psychedelically minded metalheads and rockers — the must-see Mastodon/Kylesa/Intronaut bill that ended last month, a stellar Mogwai performance at First Avenue, Thrones desecrating the Triple Rock, and even the expansive progressive death metal of Gojira at Station 4. And now Wolves in the Throne Room and Krallice come to the city for a gig with local favorites Zebulon Pike and Empires? Really, someone needs to thank some booking agents.

Still, even with such a crazy amount of awesome shows going on, the crowds were still strong last Friday (May 15, 2009) for a night of all types of psych-metal (with a heavy emphasis on the black metal). The performances that night were spotless and were definitely just as mind-blowing as I expected they might be, each band immersing the crowd beneath their own monstrous demonstration of ear-splitting blackened, progressive waves of noise. If that sounds enticing, then you really should’ve been there.

Anyway, the Triple Rock was surprisingly pretty packed, so I wasn’t moving around much once I took my spot, but I tried to capture some photos and videos when I could — something rather difficult for a dude with a point-n-shoot and a flash and plumes of fog billowing from the stage throughout Wolves in the Throne Room’s entire otherworldly set.. Either way, enjoy.

VIDEO: Wolves in the Throne Room, Live at the Triple Rock Social Club, 5/15/09

(Wolves in the Throne Room)

VIDEO: Zebulon Pike, Live at Triple Rock Social Club, 5/15/09

(Zebulon Pike)

(Krallice)

(Empires)

More blackened photos for you after the jump… Continue reading →

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Concert Photo & Video Recap: Gojira, The Chariot, Car Bomb @ Station 4

Posted in Concert Reviews with tags concert review, death metal, gojira, live, minnesota, photographs, photography, photos, pictures, progressive metal, show, st. paul, Video on Friday, May 15, 2009 by Ryan Buege

Gojira live at Station 4

Normally I would write a review for every show that I attend, but this week I’m just too jam-packed with finals and post-final celebrations to get my head right and properly give praise to the un-fucking-believable Gojira show (w/ The Chariot and Car Bomb) that I saw on Monday. However, for any doubters, I just want to set one thing straight – Gojira fucking rules. Period.

The band is on fire, playing a first-ever headlining tour in North America that finally brings their entire exceptional back catalog to virgin ears in the U.S., and they couldn’t have been playing in finer form then they were this week. If you have been waiting to see Gojira, now’s the time.

Enjoy the photos and videos that I captured throughout the night! I’m seriously surprised I thought to capture anything worthwhile – I’m not gonna lie; I was enthusiastically going apeshit like my 14 year old self at my first Spineshank show the whole time..

VIDEO: Gojira, “Flying Whales (excerpt)” (live at Station 4, 05/11/09)

Gojira live at Station 4 (Gojira)

VIDEO: The Chariot, live at Station 4, 05/11/09

Gojira live at Station 4 (The Chariot)

The Chariot live at Station 4 (The Chariot)

Car Bomb live at Station 4 (Car Bomb)

Like usual, I highly recommend that our main page readers click the “read more” link to view the rest of the media from the show. I’ve posted many more photos and a video of “The Art of Dying” that I think captures the power of the night pretty well. Enjoy! Continue reading →

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Concert Review: Mogwai, Women @ First Avenue

Posted in Concert Reviews with tags concert, concert review, First Avenue, Indie, live, minneapolis, minnesota, mogwai, post-rock, Review, women on Tuesday, May 12, 2009 by Ryan Buege

Mogwai live at First Avenue
Famed Scottish post-rock quintet Mogwai were in Minneapolis to play First Avenue this Sunday, May 10th, and we were there to witness the maddening bliss. Though the band were kind enough to devote ample time to songs from each phase of their illustrious career, they focused on their recent album The Hawk Is Howling, injecting each song they touched with live intensity and jazz-like freeform emotional energy that no other post-rock band can match so confidently.

Not surprisingly, the performance was a vocally quiet one, with Barry only stepping out from behind the keyboards for unaffected vocals on one song and little on stage banter other than a ‘thank you’ here and there. Instead, ‘Gwai played to their strengths by delivering a set that boldly emphasized the aural extremes at which they excel. For me, the most engrossing moments of the set were both the most reserved and the most bombastic. Whether it was the reserved cadence of “I’m Jim Morrison, I’m Dead”, the epic buildup of “Killing All the Flies”, or the oppressive heaviness of “We’re No Here”, each song was alive with an other-worldly, surging energy that true musicians live to create, and the crowd was receptively feeding off it every second of the night.

Additionally, it was Stuart’s birthday that night, and the band was in notably high spirits throughout their performance; sometimes maybe even a little bit too much so, as there were some miscommunications that resulted in a light-hearted, alcohol induced fumble or two (namely when they veered off the planned setlist without letting Dominic know what key they were changing into). Nevertheless, the crowd was in such good of a mood to finally see the band after their late cancellation last September that any mishaps were quickly forgiven. In fact, the adoring applause enticed the band to return to the stage for two whole encores before Stuart received a ceremonial birthday pranking and the lights came on to send us on our way back out for a post-concert brew.

The fuzzy, lo-fi psychedelic Canadian indie rockers in Women did an excellent job building anticipation for the headliners. Never having seen them before, I was very impressed with the way in which they were able to transform a simple little ditty into an explosive psychedelic brain melter within a matter of seconds. With their jagged rhythms and pounding beats, they inject something very fresh and different into the lo-fi sound that I’ve been hearing proliferate through the indie scene in the last two years. Truth-be-told, the only band that I’ve seen capable of similar feats is our local boys in Vampire Hands, and from my point of view a comparison to Vampire Hands is just about the best compliment you can give to a modern experimental indie rock band.

As always, we were fortunate to capture a slew of exclusive Mind Inversion media at the show. Among the goodies we collected are 3 live videos from Mogwai’s set, 1 live video of Women, and too many photos to count right now. It’s all below!

VIDEO: Mogwai, “We’re No Here” (live at First Avenue, 05/10/09)

Mogwai live at First Avenue (Mogwai)

VIDEO: Women, Live at First Avenue in Minneapolis, MN, 05/10/09

Women live at First Avenue (Women)

VIDEO: Mogwai, “I Know You Are But What Am I?” (live at First Avenue, 05/10/09)

Epic a/v content after the jump! I’ve still got another video excerpt of “Like Herod” from the first encore (which I’ll give a C on visuals, but a B+ on audio) and tons of photos… Continue reading →

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Sunday Metal Video: The Chariot, “Daggers”

Posted in Sunday Metalhead Minute with tags car bomb, daggers, gojira, hardcore, live, Metal, minnesota, st. paul, technical, the chariot, wars and rumours of wars on Sunday, May 10, 2009 by Ryan Buege

The Chariot is a band that seems to have gotten the short end of the stick during the last few years. Mostly because he left Norma Jean right before they really started to go downhill, I don’t think Josh Scogin’s The Chariot has ever really gotten the kudos they deserve for the freeform, peerless, raucous punk-n-metal noise that they create. Somehow the crappiness of latter NJ releases unfortunately tended to overshadow the consistenly awesome output that Scogin’s new band contrbuted to the music world, but hopefully some of that will start to change. Landing on the music map somewhere among an array of bands such as Converge, Lightning Bolt, Meshuggah, Sonic Youth, and Drive Like Jehu, I believe The Chariot are a band who have earned the right to be mentioned among the hardcore genre’s modern luminaries for their commitment to purely original and exciting underground punk rock.

The band just released their new album Wars and Rumors of Wars, and I’m hoping that this will finally be the one to grant them their justified notoriety as one of hardcore and metals most independently minded collectives. For a preview, watch their visually stunning new video for “Daggers” below and get a sense of the controlled, epic, experimental chaos that the The Chariot creates. …And local residents take note: tomorrow they’ll be in St. Paul for a show with equally exceptional modern tech/death metal bands Gojira and Car Bomb; don’t miss it!

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Northern Outpost begins second season with Halloween, Alaska as debut guest

Posted in Video with tags alaska, ambient, bad plus, halloween, halloween alaska, happy apple, Indie, minneapolis, minnesota, northern outpost, owl recording studio, uptown, Video on Saturday, May 9, 2009 by Ryan Buege

Back after only a month-long absence, Northern Outpost has now uploaded the first episode of their summer season online, and for this week’s episode they’re visited by the renowned local indie/ambient/post-whatever troupe Halloween, Alaska at the Owl Recording Studio in Uptown. Still, change is noticeable, with their snowy winter lake intros now replaced by a much more inviting image of our fair city of Minneapolis in the springtime. I don’t think they have done a better job with their choice to kick things off. Halloween, Alaska just released some fantastic songs of jazzy, ambient indie rock via their new album Champagne Downtown, and the intimate confines of the Owl Recoridng Studio are the perfect place to witness the chemistry of the band. After a short interview where they discuss their new album, the originality of the local music scene, and the dedicated people that support the scene, the band gets into a moving rendition of one of the most somber and reflective pieces from the new release, “Be A Man”. It’s a great demonstration of the interesting minds and enormous talent that are just brimming out of this city, and it’s an episode that you don’t want to miss. ..makes me proud to be Minnesotan!

Look forward to the future, as well. In two weeks, the next episode will be added and will feature beloved singer-songer Lucy Michele with the Velvet Lapelles as the profiled band!

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Disembodied concert photos via Degross Punk Photography

Posted in Art with tags degross punk photography, hardcore, minneapolis, minnesota, photography, photos, punk, ska, st. paul, twin cities on Friday, May 8, 2009 by Ryan Buege

(Disembodied @ Triple Rock)

I just stumbled upon the page of Degross Punk Photography, a supreme quality photographer based in my own Minneapolis who seems to share a taste for some of the most revered and respectable names in hardcore and punk; I thought it was important to pass along my new knowledge to everyone else, hence this post. Recently, Degross shot at shows for HR (solo show from frontman of Bad Brains) and Destruction/Krisiun at Station 4 (that I also attended), as well as local sets from Agonstic Front, Have Heart, Suicidal Tendencies, The Bronx, Trash Talk, and the brilliant show that a rejuvenated Disembodied put on at the Triple Rock Social Club on Cedar a couple weeks ago. Click the link to go to his blog, and book mark his RSS or something. I’m certain his page will be updated quite frequently as the spring/summer heats up with the future ENR showcases and all other types of madness. Stay tuned!

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Sonic Youth performs “Teenage Riot” live on Jools Holland

Posted in Video with tags First Avenue, Jools Holland, live, minneapolis, minnesota, sonic youth, the eternal on Wednesday, May 6, 2009 by Ryan Buege

Sonic Youth graced Jools Holland’s stage last week for a performance of “What We Know” from their new album The Eternal, but what we didn’t know was that they also recorded a performance of “Teenage Riot” for the show that day. Watch above to see the band dominate through their classic in ways that I didn’t know possible anymore!

If this is any clue, the band look like they’ll be playing their old songs with a renewed fervor on their world tour this spring – I hope we can expect them to embrace all their classics as beautifully as this revamped “Teenage Riot” sounds to my ears. Don’t forget, we’ll be getting our own Sonic Youth performance at First Avenue in June. Tickets are available now.
VIDEO: Sonic Youth, “Teenage Riot” (Live on Jools Holland)

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Concert Recap & Video: Mastodon, Kylesa, Intronaut @ the Fine Line Music Cafe

Posted in Concert Reviews with tags concert review, culture bully, fine line, fine line music cafe, intronaut, kylesa, live, mastodon, minneapolis, minnesota on Thursday, April 30, 2009 by Ryan Buege

Mastodon live at the Fine Line

Last night, April 29, 2009, the the conceptual prog/thrash/stoner metal masters in Mastodon came to the Fine Line Music Cafe in the heart of downtown Minneapolis’s club district to support of their brilliant new album Crack the Skye, and they put together a gripping set that had the MN crowd salivating for more. It’s one thing to make every one of your albums into a separate concept piece, but it’s an entirely different story when you are able to execute that concept, front-to-back, in front of the live audience. However, Mastodon did just that by dedicating the entire first half of their set to the new release, and it didn’t end there they treated each of their releases with the same type of reverence, playing back through their career with mini-conceptual sets devoted to Blood Mountain, Leviathan, and Remission.

Crack the Skye was played in order, and it couldn’t have sounded better than it did at the Fine Line on Wednesday. The guitars were thick, loud, and crunching over the insane drum textures of Brann Dailor, sounding heavy as hell at times and lush and beautiful at others. Mastodon has the unique ability to play heavy rock that tends to get tripped out never loses sight of the fact that it’s main purpose is to fuckin’ rock! Fine Line’s sold out crowd certainly appreciated the heaviness throughout the night, and the moshing only subdued a few times during some of the most Pink Floydian moments.

However, things really kicked into high gear when the band stepped back onto stage for their second set of the night. As the band roared into the first notes of the psychonaut thrasher “Bladecatcher” from Blood Mountain, a renewed fervor hit the pit that didn’t let up until the end. Fans seemed to celebrate each time a new song began, a sure sign that of the future trouble the band might have in putting together albums that can stack up against their back catalog. Nevermind that though, because tonight the band has a more control of their sound and their crowd than any other band I’ve seen all year. The show was an ambitious one, but in the end it brought things full circle, beautifully introducing fans of the old the the new and vice versa.

Not to be outdone, the underground pyschedelic sludge metal vets Kylesa is came into town supporting their new album Static Tensions and played a set that left most of the crowd taking serious note of who was on stage in front of them. To anyone in metal band, Kylesa’s dirty headbanging psychedelics sonic presence is quite enviable, and the fact that they’re the direct support to Mastodon’s sold out tour is probably even more enviable. To sum it up succinctly, this is a “band’s band”, if you know what I mean; everybody sings, they’ve got two drummers, males, females, and they play some very, very, very sick metal.

The underground prog/sludge heavyweights in Intronaut started things off right with their poly-rhythmic doom metal. Most of the set was focused around Prehistoricisms and The Challenger EP, with only a single song taken from earlier material. All around, the band sounded extremely tight and super heavy last night, and for as technical as their music is, they still came across as a pretty carefree group of musicians. If I would’ve found them in the venue, I would’ve gladly offered to roll one up with the dudes (but I might have had to make that conditional on a personal request for “Fragments of Character” next time they’re in MN – it’s a song that brings back great personal memories!).

And now on to the media presentation! We owe a big thank you to Chris, Erik, and the guys at CultureBully.com for the spontaneous “partnership” that spawned the vimeo hosted video in this post (and they were nice enough to include some of the shots that I took with their own, much better and more detailed writeup of the show)! Check out all the great photos of Mastodon, Kylesa, and Intronaut and FIVE videos of Intronaut and Mastodon. Happy viewing!

VIDEO: Mastodon, “Oblivion” (live at the Fine Line, 04/29/2009)

Mastodon live at the Fine Line (Mastodon)

Kylesa live at the Fine Line (Kylesa)

VIDEO: Intronaut live at the Fine Line Music Cafe, 04/29/2009

Intronaut live at the Fine Line (Intronaut)

VIDEO: Mastodon, “Bladecatcher” (live at the Fine Line, 04/29/2009)

The recap (and more videos) are posted for you after the jump! Enjoy… Continue reading →

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Concert Recap: Blue Ox, Tonnage, Fatty Acid @ the Hexagon

Posted in Concert Reviews with tags blue ox, doom, fatty acid, hexagon, Metal, minneapolis, minnesota, punk, Rock, stoner, tonnage on Tuesday, April 28, 2009 by Ryan Buege

Blue Ox live @ the Hexagon

Blue Ox, Tonnage, and Fatty Acid came together for a local show of every kind of fucked up stoner metal imaginable on Thursday night. From purely mammoth doom metal riffs, to stonerized rock, punk, hardcore, and death metal – and everything in between. If you enjoy metal, like to drink on Thursday’s, and live in the Metro, this show was the place to be. Video and photo coverage of the show continues below.

VIDEO: Blue Ox, “2cBent” (live at the Hexagon, 04/23/09)

Blue Ox live @ the Hexagon
(Blue Ox)

Blue Ox live @ the Hexagon (Blue Ox)

Tonnage live @ the Hexagon (Tonnage)

Fatty Acid live @ the Hexagon (Fatty Acid)

Follow our link; there’s more sweet pictures of this excellent local metal show at the Hexagon after the jump… Continue reading →

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Concert Photo Recap: Andrew Broder, Frail By Design @ the Whole

Posted in Concert Reviews with tags andrew broder, experimental, frail by design, live, madison, minneapolis, minnesota, Music, post-rock, university of minnesota, Wisconsin on Friday, April 24, 2009 by Ryan Buege

Andrew Broder live at the Whole

Last night, I stopped by the Whole at U of M’s Coffman Union to catch free sets of experimental music from local musician Andrew Broder (of Fog) and Madison-based Frail By Design as part of Spring Jam week. Photo coverage from the performances continues below.

Andrew Broder live at the Whole (Andrew Broder)