As Blood Runs Black: Pictures from Blender Theater, NYC 3-7-09 (Mediaskare)

I went to Saturday's show at Blender Theater not really knowing what to expect as I wasn't that familiar with any of the bands. I watched each of the bands looking to see whether I would hunt down their music after the show and/or see them again next time they came through.

I got to the venue a little before 8PM and Impending Doom were playing their last couple songs. Who would have thought that a concert would start on time in NYC? The songs that I heard from Impending Doom didn't strike me. It seemed a bit too stereotypical "grunt and growl". I have nothing against Christian metal but I was probably happier not knowing that the band calls its style of music "goreship". According to UrbanDictionary.com, goreship is "worshipping the god of the christian religion through the brutal music of Impending Doom." I'll pass on seeing these guys again.

I'm a fan of melodic death metal so As Blood Runs Black really caught my attention. The band's sound is comparable to At The Gates and Black Dahlia Murder and they have a strong live show that got the crowd and the pit moving. Not knowing their material, I couldn't put together a set list but I did recognize "Hester Prynne" (from As Blood Runs Black's 2006 debut CD), which got a strong reception, and a couple songs were introduced as being on the band's forthcoming second album (due out on Mediaskare later this year).

From As Blood Runs Black - Blender Theater, NYC 3-7-09

From As Blood Runs Black - Blender Theater, NYC 3-7-09

From As Blood Runs Black - Blender Theater, NYC 3-7-09

From As Blood Runs Black - Blender Theater, NYC 3-7-09

From As Blood Runs Black - Blender Theater, NYC 3-7-09

As Blood Runs Black is in the midst of a tour with Impending Doom, Arcadia Strain and Bleeding Through that runs through the end of March.

Upcoming tour dates are:

March 09, 2009 6:00PM, The Station, Portland, Maine
March 11, 2009 6:00PM, Le National, Montreal, Quebec
March 12, 2009 6:00PM, Reverb, Toronto, Ontario
March 13, 2009 6:00PM, Xtreme Wheelz, Buffalo, New York
March 14, 2009 6:00PM, Diesel, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
March 15, 2009 6:00PM, Peabody’s Downunder, Cleveland, Ohio
March 17, 2009 6:00PM, Majestic Theatre, Detroit, Michigan
March 18, 2009 6:00PM, House Of Blues, Chicago, Illinois
March 19, 2009 6:00PM, Eagles II, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
March 20, 2009 6:00PM, Station 4, St. Paul, Minnesota
March 21, 2009, 6:00PM, The Picador, Iowa City, Iowa
March 22, 2009, 6:00PM, The Marquis Theater, Denver, Colorado
March 24, 2009, 6:00PM, The Venue, Boise, Idaho
March 25, 2009, 7:00PM, Neumo’s, Seattle, Washington
March 26, 2009, 7:00PM, Hawthorne Theatre, Portland, Oregon
March 27, 2009, 7:00PM, DNA Lounge, San Francisco, California
March 28, 2009, 6:30PM, Key Club, West Hollywood, California

Links:
As Blood Runs Black's MySpace Profile

The Residents - Pictures from The Bunny Boy Tour, Blender Theater, NYC 10/11/08

Last night, I caught the last of The Residents' three night run at the Blender Theater. The band is touring behind their latest CD, The Bunny Boy.

The Bunny Boy follows a story line of a "unabomber" type loner searching for his missing brother Harvey. The live show follows the sequence of the CD as the narrator deals with obsession, insanity and the coming Apocalypse. Like most releases from The Residents, this is pretty wild stuff.

The production on this tour was a bit smaller scale than the last time that The Residents came through (DDA tour stopped at the Warsaw in 2002). The Bunny Boy tour is the equivalent of a one-room play where the narrator is the only live actor. The narrator takes the audience through the Bunny Boy story through narrative, songs and showing videos on the projection screen.

Here is an audience video from the tour premiere in Santa Cruz which will give you a sense for the stage set up:


The show was split into two parts and the pictures that follow are from the second act. The narrator performed the second act in a bunny costume (you have to see the show or buy the disc to understand the background for this). and these pictures show the narrator in his "secret room" slowing recognizing his madness.






This was an amazing show so, if you get the chance to catch one of the remaining US tour dates (below), you should go.

Oct 14 USA Detroit Royal Oak Theater
Oct 15 USA Chicago Lakeshore
Oct 16 USA Chicago Lakeshore
Oct 17 USA Chicago Lakeshore

Links:
Ralph America (The Residents' Record Label)
The Residents YouTube Channel
The Residents Website