[ATTENDED: December 6, 2018] Heron Oblivion
I had tickets to a different show this evening, but when I saw that Heron Oblivion, whom I’d assumed was no more, were playing a show in Jersey City, I gave up on the other show and headed to JC.
I liked the Heron Oblivion album a lot–screaming guitars, catchy melodies–although I realized I didn’t know what any of the band looked like. So during the opening bands, when a guy excused himself as he snuck by me to put some devices on the stage (Recording? I assume. He took them away for his set), I had no idea he was the bassist for Heron Oblivion.
Heron Oblivion is considered a supergroup, although I didn’t know any of the bands that the musicians came from. I just knew that I loved the record–the washes of feedback and guitars, the great basswork and the way the band scaled down to let the vocals shine through. I also hadn’t heard the term psychrock specifically before, but the band perfectly encapsulates it.
Heron Oblivion has released one album and has a new one coming out in 2019. They played a few new songs which were great, but man was I excited that they opened with “Oriar” that screaming guitar intro–which sounding perfect. It was awesome being that close to guitarist Noel Von Harmonson as he wrenched those sounds from his gear.
I also enjoyed watching drummer Meg Baird who had a simple kit, but could turn from quiet thumping to glorious cymbal crashing and back.
As I noted, I was surprised when the guy with the beard and leather jacket turned out to be Ethan Miller on bass. But holy cow was I thrilled with the sound he got. There’s a few different sonic styles t hat I love to hear from a bass, and he picked the best one. Low and fuzzy but clear enough that you could hear all of the great bass fills he would play.
He had some perfectly placed low rumbles, but also some amazing high notes–where he bent the strings like he was doing a guitar solo. (Miller is a guitarist first). The fact that I was right in front of his amp certainly helped me appreciate his sound, but he was just awesome all night.
I believe this was the band’s first show in quite a while (possibly two years?), but they were really on fire.
They also had a lot of fun during the set too. I enjoyed when Noel was looking for a capo (this is the second show I’ve been at where a guitarist didn’t have a capo–maybe I need to start carrying mine with me) and I believe it was Ethan who called it a “hippie clamp.”
On the other side of the stage was guitarist Charlie Saufley who was a lot of fun to watch. In addition to playing some great solos, he was also very animated. The Monty Hall stage is small and he was all over it. But he also made some really fun noises from his guitar, by crushing it on his amp or leaving it on the floor. And then just having a freakout. It was fantastic seeing the band get this into a gig for a fairly small crowd (Monty Hall is tiny).
They wound up playing four songs from their album–” and five new songs. They did an encore of a song that’s on their live release and when they started it the guy behind me was really excited. Rightfully so.
I’m not sure what technically makes up psychrock, but I feel like this clip exemplifies it. Baird’s crashing continual cymbal, the two wild guitars soloing at the same time and getting all kinds of feedback going and the great bass ringing out over the cacaphony and then falling back into rhythmic place.
The whole evening’s bill was fantastic.
SETLIST
- Oriar
- F-Mac
- Melodic
- Cha-Cha
- Newport
- Sudden Lament
- Maggot
- Faro
- Rama
- encore
- Crossroads
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