It took getting past their new EP being played, but I've decided that tonight was the best time I've seen BTBAM live. They absolutely killed it opening for Mastodon last year, but the song selection and the talent that oozed from the stage tonight easily trumped any former performance of theirs.
The EP, "The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues" (played in its entirety tonight) definitely wasn't bad live. In fact, Lunar Wilderness had some jaw-dropping parts in it. It's just that the songs hadn't matured to be fully appreciated in a live setting. Still great, but what came afterwards just blew the EP out of the water. Focusing mostly on their last two records, the snippet (by snippet I mean about 10 minutes) of Swim To The Moon and the whole Ants Of The Sky performance were definitely the highlights from BTBAM. The soundscapes they create and the pure emotion they put forward in those two songs are unmatched. Sun Of Nothing was epic with lots of crowd sing-alongs, and I was definitely happy they pulled out Fossil Genera - I had forgotten they were playing it on this tour! The band themselves were spot on, the guitar and drum solo's were really awesome, and it was just a fantastic performance. A killer rendition of Selkies ended the set, and I hope they come back soon.
But I hope they come back with a better band directly opening for them. After a few minutes of backtracking, this is the third time I've seen Job For A Cowboy (i've paid to see them five times - blech) and they have honestly gotten worse over time. They pounded out the first three or four songs with no downtime in between them and it came out as just a cacophonous jumbling of dissonant down-tuned notes with no apparent direction in mind. I would blame it on the venue for their sound, but I know better. Job For A Cowboy just prefers their music to sound like this, and it just doesn't sound good.
Opening the show was The Ocean. People were wary about what to expect, but I think they won over the crowd around the third time the vocalist dove into the crowd! I didn't know what to expect but was pleasantly surprised. I'm eager to check them out on record.
My only comment on the crowd is that I am a firm supporter of the "don't mosh during BTBAM" movement. That's all.
Specular Reflection
Augment Of Rebirth
Lunar Wilderness
Sun Of Nothing
Ants Of The Sky
Guitar Solo
Swim To The Moon (partial)
Drum Solo
Fossil Genera - A Feed From Cloud Mountain
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Selkies: The Endless Obsession
Between The Buried And Me: 9/10
Job For A Cowboy: 3/10
The Ocean: 7.5/10
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