The Bowery Presents

Music Hall of Williamsburg upcoming shows

Priestess

The Giraffes / Bison / Naam

Venue:
Music Hall of Williamsburg
Date:
Sat 3/13
Notes:
18+
Doors: 8:00 PM / Show: 9:00 PM
$12 advance / $14 day of show
Tickets
Priestess
myspace
While the rest of the world were keeping their sites on the “Montreal Music Explosion” in the winter of 2003, a band of merry miscreants brazenly turned a blind eye to their poppy surroundings and just hunkered down in their dank rehearsal space, wood shedding on what would become their blazing debut record.

After much industry ballyhoo garnered from their intense live set Priestess finally signed a deal with Indica Records in 2004 and released what is widely regarded as one of Canada’s greatest hard rock debuts ever Hello Master. Unlike most hard rock/metal bands that relied solely on ballast and blast to sear their message into gray matter Priestess had a special trick up their sleeve – they could actually write a song that could walk the rope between being infectious just downright viscous. Armed with far more hooks than your average metal band their unique style of pop driven melody with metal muscle and Marshall stack attack quickly earned them a die hard fan base weary of death metal grunts and other metal cliches. It seems not only was the metal/hard rock underground listening but also shortly after its release major label RCA would perk up some ears and quickly inked a deal with the band, re-releasing the debut and only increasing Preistess’ global grasp. With major label muscle now behind them the band was able to pick up momentum the way REAL bands have been doing it for years – hitting the road hard. Their incessant touring included sharing the stage with such heavy hitters as Black Label Society, Converge, Mastodon, Motorhead, Gwar and others with their sound equally comfortable sharing a stage with Iron Maiden as it was with Dinosaur Jr.

2007 was a watershed year for the band with even more touring including a support slot for Megadeth in the U.K. and reaching even more fans when their song “Lay Down” was featured in the video game Guitar Hero III; Legends of Rock

After numerous false starts that were beyond the band’s control they would finally spend the fall of 2008 in Los Angeles under the watchful guise of producer David Schiffman (System of a Down, Mars Volta, Nine Inch Nails) recording their crowning achievement Prior to the Fire. If their calling card Hello Master was considered lethal this sophomore effort easily trumps it with a devastating display of heaving heaviosity and a newfound sense of innovation that will have other so called metal bands nipping at their heels. On every track the band remains hungry, fierce and focused throughout with their signature melodic elements still in check but this time around they also scale to new lofty heights and let their progressive rock and hard psych tendencies add to the dynamics, density and drama.

Prior to the Fire will be dropping in February 2010, the band will hit the road harder than ever before with 2010 already shaping up to be their biggest year yet.

“It wasn’t exactly the easiest record to make,” says singer/guitarist Mikey Hepner “but the hard work definitely paid off and we’re really, really proud of the end result. We’ve done so much touring and seen so much since our first record that it only galvanized our feelings of what the band is and what the band is definitely not. When we were writing the songs that would make up Prior to the Fire we really meant for them to be heard live. We just can’t wait to finally get on tour again and really do them justice – which is playing them live.”

By Dale Nixon
The Giraffes
official website
myspace
The Giraffes were formed in 1996 by guitarist Damien Paris, drummer Andrew Totolos and former bassist Tim Kent. They quickly gained a reputation apart from the rest of the soon to be burgeoning Williamsburg rock scene. Combining their self taught virtuosity with a playful sense of what constitutes rock and heavy music The Giraffes were a near instant sensation. Most of their following consisted of other bands and their members, forming an educated fan nucleus that encouraged The Giraffes to take chances with their song-writing as well as their live performances. Aaron Lazar joined them as a lead vocalist late in 2000 changing the nature of The Giraffes sound and opening the band up to a wider audience. With the addition of John Rosenthal as Bassist after Tim Kent left the band to pursue a painting career, the current iteration of the Giraffes was complete. Upon the release of their first full-length album "Helping You Help Yourself" in 2002 The Giraffes began touring nationally and receiving label attention. Their follow up EP "A Gentleman Never Tells" cemented them a record contract with Razor and Tie records who released The Giraffes self titled label debut in 2005. Critical praise of the record was extensive, however differences between the band and Razor and Tie lead to The Giraffes opting out of their 3 album contract in 2006. Wasting little time The Giraffes immediately went into the studio and recorded a second EP "Pretty in Puke" in three days squeezed in between touring with acts like Eagles of Death Metal, Local H, Skeleton Key and more. In 2007 The Giraffes recorded their fourth full length at Rancho de la Luna studios in Joshua Tree California, home of the famed "Desert Sessions" and epicenter for the desert rock phenomena. Produced by Dave Catching (Queens of the Stone Age) and tentatively titled "Prime Motivator" the record was mixed at Studio G (Unsane, Elvis Costello) in Brooklyn by Joel Hamilton and is due to be released in the spring of 2008.
Bison
myspace
On BISON b.c.’s latest slab, Dark Ages, relentless touring - with the likes of Priestess, Baroness, 3 Inches Of Blood, and more - has fine tuned the band’s dedication to the riff to metallic perfection. Dark Ages breathes like a rabid animal that you’d find tied up in WINO’s backyard. It’s Flying V’s, analog perfection, loud & sludgy, played by hairy dudes in dirty denim jackets.

A bison is "a big, hairy, strong animal," says James Farwell, who plays guitar and sings for Bison b.c. That could as just as well describe the band, which rose from the ass-end of the continent in Vancouver, Canada, to utter its doomed, plaintive call, and tramples through the constellations on its four shaggy limbs (James, Dan And, Masa Anzai, and Brad Mackinnon). Ghostly, windswept prairies, the mythical haunts of native lore: it is all there. Self-described “Canadian dirtbags” and veterans of Vancouver's deep thrash and indie scenes, they are hitting their stride and offering up a new soundtrack for our last party before certain extinction. There is illness, abuse, apocalypse, and French horn.

Their first Metal Blade release, Quiet Earth, showed what that earth's last sound might be like. It was heavy, sick, and crazy; stomping and banging, elegiac with cello. Just beneath the rock they described a bad trip through a devastated world where resigned dignity and camaraderie with the friends that remain are the only consolations.

This mixture of rowdiness and gentleness is very much of their hard-living, hard-loving hometown: fucked-up modernity's last outpost on the rim of a vast, menacing wilderness. In their new release, James sings, “Vancouver's an empty bottle, our dying thirst causing problems. Stand at dawn, the beginning of something heartfelt and replaceable.” No matter where we are, this is what it has come to in this age. So let’s listen to these gentlemen and rock out together.
Naam
official website
myspace
Beyond the conceptual language structure created by mankind, the definition of the name lies in internal rhythm, the internal sound that a man experiences. Those who embrace Naam have the key to the door of mysteries and miracles, as Naam exists in the Divine plane and shines through to the Physical plane, bringing healing and self-renewal.

Disgusted by the lack of heavy, psychedelic rock and roll, We deliver our deafening sermon to bring a new dawn for all civilization. The vast seas cannot drown Us, the darkest caverns cannot conceal Us, We will conquer insurmountable foes. We are war, We are peace, We are time and space, We are infinite, We are Naam.

Naam s/t full length out October 20th on Teepee Records!
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