Apr 4 2014 – Make no mistake, these are the good ol’ days. Right now. These are the days you’ll look back at later and remember that show at the Horseshoe in March of 2014 with Biblical and Public Animal. This was definitely the show of the young year and the best in recent memory. Ian Blurton was on fire and played as if possessed by a demon. Biblical caused goosebumps with their psychedelic eeriness and extended jams. Back in November we saw Public Animal open for another band, who we love btw, but sorry to say, who failed to measure up to their powerhouse openers. But if anyone could follow Public Animal, it’s Biblical. The bands have a lot of similar traits. Both are wickedly heavy and intense. Public Animal’s songs are generally shorter, mostly up tempo while Biblical’s are longer and mellower with a heavy groove. From both you get a powerful feeling of depth to their music, of importance, that it matters. These two bands together on the same bill is as good as it gets and that’s exactly why the fans crammed into the Horseshoe.
Public Animal
This was probably a little longer than than the average Public Animal set. Blurton used that extra time to prove why he is without doubt the greatest guitarist in the country with his usual frenetic playing, his fingers flying all over the fretboard at lightning speed. The band stretched out the now familiar riffs with lengthy extended Hendrixian solos punctuated by harmonics and feedback. So lost in soloing that at one point Blurton even quipped he forgot where they were in the song. We are anxiously waiting for the release of Public Animal’s debut album. The last few songs are being mixed so it should be out very soon.
In the meantime, Public Animal’s song One Way Ticket is on a new compilation album called House of Burners, an awesome selection of heavy Canadian psychedelia with bands from every corner of the country. Have a listen here. In particular, check out the instrumental Taylor St. Champagne Room by Shooting Guns.
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Biblical
This was Biblical’s album release show for Monsoon Season and they opened with the spacey Second Sight with its echoes and thick atmospheric reverb. We were blown away by the mesmerizing and trippy title track of Monsoon Season at Biblical’s New Year’s Eve show at the Bovine Sex Club and it became a mission to get it on video. Like many Biblical songs, it’s a long song, at nearly 16 minutes. It pulses and drones with an infectious hypnotic groove that builds into huge crescendos. This song is easily worth the cover charge all on its own so effectively the rest of the show is free! That’s a great deal. No video of any band will ever really capture the vibe of being in the room, but if you play it loud enough it gets reasonably close, hopefully your computer has some good speakers. Sorry it goes out of focus a few times. Note, if you want good video, don’t buy a Nikon.
Biblical can also be found on a new compilation album Oh! Canada 24 where their song Second Sight appears.
Biblical has just released their first video for All Justice No Peace.
Biblical – “All Justice No Peace” from Eva Michon on Vimeo.
Two of our top 10 from last year staked a claim to this year’s list but if you missed it, never fear, part two will happen on Saturday, May 10th when these bands will again play on the same bill as part of Canadian Music Week at the Mod Club.
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Review and photos by Steve Mallinson
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