Concert Recap: Wovenhand, The Church, and Grayceon

Quite a range of shows over the past three weeks...some outside the "metal" spectrum but still a lot of fun. Just some brief notes (no full reviews):
WOVENHAND. My favorite psychadelic fundamentalist neo bluegrass metal headbanger David Eugene Edwards graced Bottom of the Hill in SF with his odd presence. Scary intense strange presence. Basically a man who looks like a far more insane Tom Petty. Odd quirky ticks and head movements. Weird Indian chants thrown in which do not look hokey or cheesy in any way because he MEANS it. Electric guitars, mandolin, processed vocals....amazing show. David was helped out by an absolutely intense bass player who just stood like a rock and set an incredible bottom line to the music. Can't forget the drummer, either. Amazing rhythm section! Eeery, scary music that sounds like nothing else out there, in my humble ranting opinion.More after the jump.




Wovenhand was a PLANNED concert. The Church came about because of a quick glance in the SF Chron's entertainment section. Luckily, my freind Dave and I snagged tickets (the show sold out). This was Australian Prog Rocker's The Church's 30 year anniversary. They played one entire album from each decade....Untitled 23, Priest=Aura, and Starfish. Simply awe inspiring. Steve Kilbey is 56 years old and he hopped around the stage like a teenager for 3 1/2 hours. The Church are the DEFINITION of tight. The highlights for me are still the pop-prog from Starfish (what a stunning album) but I enjoyed every part of the show. Bravo!

Finally, back to "metal" with a twist. San Francisco trio Grayceon brought their incredibly heavy cello and death metal guitar sound to Bottom of the Hill (what a great venue...cheap tickets, good beer, decent bar food, and plentiful parking without having to negotiate a phalanx of strung out heroin addicts). This may be better music as recorded...a little more intellectual than "fun" but they were amazingly loud and hard rocking. I love the quirkyness of jackie as well...and that GLASS electric cello is pretty bad ass!

Had to actually use ear plugs at this show!

Except for the very annoying overmiking of the bass (to the point of blaring feedback) the second opening trio, Worm Ourorboros, were a major discovery of the night as well. Plus, I scored the new Grayceon CD for free!

Worm Ouroboros from last year in SF. I will definitely go see them again!



Grayceon from last summer.



And Grayceon from a few years ago...This video has extremely good sound and it does capture the character of the band...