Subtract the Ursidae
Last night I caught a show at the Fillmore. Minus the Bear from Seattle was rounding up the Planet of Ice Tour 2007 to promote the new album. They had been on tour for a while with openers Grand Archives and the Helio Sequence. First impressions are mostly of the "Meh" flavor. The theater was crowded with sixteen year old scene kids. One of them so drunk halfway through the show passed out on the beer covered wood floor and had to be dragged out by a friend. The opening band was actually really entertaining. They used a lot of loops and pre-recorded music to bolster to the two man act. The bear, although didn't come through as great as I had hoped live. Even with six members on stage, I couldn't really figure out where the I was getting out off. Sometimes I felt the back up vocals were not even in harmony with the leads. Dissonance can be a good musical tool, much like color contrast, but this was just lame. I think I even heard the drummer screw up a few times. When you've been around for years, put out a bunch of albums, you should be able to handle a two hour set and not blow it. But that's just me. I hope Minus the Bear finds the way, they have a good sound, but sometimes I hear the same beats and clicks. They need to branch out and experiment more. Isn't that what you're supposed to do when you live in Seattle and jam all time anyway?