On Thursday, March 13th, I finally had the opportunity to see The Sword live. The Sword are definitely a band that has been on my concert “bucket list” for a quite while and have passed through Salt Lake City a couple times since I have been listening to them. However, for one reason or another I have not yet made it to a show. I guess it just wasn’t in the cards till now. Needless to say, when I heard about this show I was determined to to go. I made sure that B.G.M co-founder Jon was on board even though I knew full well that The Sword’s brand of “Stoner Metal” wasn’t really his cup of tea. He’s drug me out to more than a few shows that I really didn’t want to go to, plus I knew that I wouldn’t have to twist his arm too hard when I told him that one of our favorite bands, O’Brother was one of the openers. I also, had a feeling that he would become a converted follower once he saw The Sword perform live. Along with O’Brother, The Sword also brought Seattle’s sludge/metal three-piece Big Business, who I admittedly wasn’t super familiar with prior to the night of the show.
As Jon and I arrived to Urban Lounge, we were both a little nervous as this night’s show had been advertised as “SOLD OUT”. Urban Lounge is a medium size club in SLC and is a pretty great venue. However, it is not the most fun place to be when there is a sell-out crowd. Once a certain capacity is reached sound in the room is muffled and it becomes difficult too get from one side of the room to the other. Also, don’t even get me started on the bathrooms in the joint. We this night however, everything worked out great and we managed to avoid all of the venue’s shortcomings.
Walking up to the venue there was a line out the door with people asking to buy tickets, not a great sign to start; but once we were inside the vibe was completely different all together. Even though it was busy, it never became too over-crowded. I have a feeling that unlike many of the shows where Urban patrons pay their entrance fee at the door, there may have been a good number of people who bought tickets and never showed up . But hey, this night I was not complaining.
Within 10 minutes of our arrival the ever-talented O’Brother took to a very moody stage in which they had brought their own fog machines and spotlights. The band greeted the audience and jumped right into “Perilous Love” from their Disillusion LP. Flawless! If you haven’t ever seen O’Brother live I suggest you go out and do so in a hurry. It’s like going to church, these dudes are seriously just too badass. And if you are reading this or have been following B.G.M, and somehow you have never heard O’Brother you need to stop and familiarize yourself with the band by reading the interview I did with them last year. In the opening statement, I call the band “sonic geniuses” and I still think that is true in every sense of the words. O’Brother played songs plucked from their two LP’s including “Lay Down”, “Lo” and the title track to their latest “Disillusion”. As O’Brother closed their set with a very powerful and drawn out “Machines Part II” it was apparent the crowd was into what they were hearing, at one point I heard someone say to the person standing next to him “These guys are super eclectic.” Yet you could tell he meant that in the best way possible. I have seen O’Brother a couple times now, in a couple different venues, but of everyplace in SLC that I have seen them play this venue has suited them the most.
By the time Big Business came to the stage I again have to be honest, I wasn’t prepared to give them a fair chance from the get go. I had pretty much just watched my favorite band and was getting ready to see one of my most anticipated live shows from The Sword. Not to mention I hadn’t really listened to them before. Don’t get me wrong, Big Business performed pretty solid, and loud. There was just a set of circumstances that did not let me really get into their set. Take this for example, just after I pulled out my camera to record a video for this article (yes, I was that guy) I realized that The Sword’s guitarist Kyle Shutt had walked up to watch the band just behind me! Holy shit, I felt like a super douche. The video turned out great though and since the show I have actually come to really enjoy Big Business’ latest record Battlefields Forever quite a bit! The songs “Chump Chance,” “Battlefields,” and “Lonely Lyle” are super killer and super heavy tracks!
Then it was time for The Sword! The “doom” metal band from Austin, Texas has been around for over a decade and have had the chance to tour with bands such as Clutch, Lamb Of God, and even world-wide dates with Metallica. From the moment they strapped on their gear and walked up to the mic’s, it was clear that they were very comfortable and confident. The stage was black-lit, and the band’s iconic logo glowed eerily from behind them. Right from the get go, it was a non-stop riff fest. It’s really, really hard to not draw comparisons to Black Sabbath when you are talking about The Sword, but they have that vibe. It’s definitely a good thing. Singer/guitarist J.D. Cronise didn’t really talk much and opted instead to just move the band from song to song with Ozzy Osbourne-ish inspired vocals. The Sword’s guitar skills / shredding skills are definitely something to witness, it is effortless and clean as both Cronise and Shutt swapped lead responsibilities. The rhythm section was flawless and well executed by bassist Bryan Richie and drummer Jimmy Vela. The Sword played an assortment of songs from their entire repertoire, including “Arcane Montane,” “Cloak and Feathers,” “Barael’s Blade,” and “Tres Brujas” just to name a few. By the end of the show as I predicted Jon had converted to an avid fan of The Sword.
What did I come away with from one of my “bucket list” concerts? Well, I learned that The Sword put on a killer show and that it is always a pleasure to see O’Brother’s dynamic live performances. I also learned that Big Business’ is band I need to catch in concert again, because I am really enjoying the bands latest LP. These dudes really are big business indeed! As a matter of fact, I learned that I am already looking forward to catching all of these bands in concert again, hopefully in the very near future.
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