On a wet and windy Tuesday night things were about to heat up as Elder, Slomosa and Steak were playing at The Fleece in Bristol. Being that it was a gig in my city, words can’t describe how excited I was for the night. I knew that a lot of my friends would be going to experience this also and it’s safe to say that we didn’t go home disappointed.
Steak (8) kicked the night off in the ideal way of providing the crowd with heavy driving grooves. I hadn’t heard of Steak before this gig so I was looking to be surprised and there was no doubt that I was. They presented a sound that was very reminiscent of Kyuss but took it to some very interesting places, in turn always keeping the crowd guessing. Their songs had a lot of calmness at first, building to the point where giant riffs hit you, combined with these unexpectedly strange detours within time signature changes. Typically, this would be too much of a change, but the band did so much to make them feel seamless, this made for a very hypnotic listen.
Slomosa (10) were next and they are one of my favourite Stoner Rock bands. I love their debut album and I’ve been lucky enough to have seen them live before where they killed it at Crofters Rights the previous year so I was without a doubt the most hyped for them. Throughout their set they made me jump for joy and sing along to every song of theirs. Two highlights this time were during their songs Horses and There Is Nothing New Under The Sun where they played them effortlessly, putting their souls into every note. My favourite moment though was witnessing them play In My Mind’s Desert again which to me is their best song and just a masterpiece. The live performance personified that as I screamed along to every word and couldn’t stop myself from playing air guitar. Slomosa caught me in a trance during their set and it defined why I love them so much.
Last but not least was Elder (9) and I was so pumped to see them. I had heard quite a lot of good things about them from friends and their set here really did meet those expectations. They had these long multi-part epics which felt like witnessing an artist paint on a blank canvas. It amazed me how in sync they were as a band, it felt like a complete puzzle and it showed me how they were all masters of their craft. I didn’t even know which guitarist was the lead at first, that’s how good they were and the rhythm section was outstanding, providing so much groove. The guy who was playing the synthesizer also had a massive presence and was a fascinating counterpoint to the guitars, sometimes even taking the lead within the melody. I would say that Elder are the Led Zeppelin of Stoner Rock in terms of how progressive they are.
Overall it was a night where incredibly high standards of musicianship were on display, it made it to a point where anyone on the night could have headlined the gig. I will never forget about it.
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