By Andrew Bansal
July 11th 2014, The Wiltern, Los Angeles CA: San Francisco Bay Area based rock/metal trio Black Map recently concluded an 8-show US West Coast touring run as main support to Chevelle, including a gig at a packed Wiltern Theatre in downtown Los Angeles on Friday July 11th. This was the first ever tour for the new band comprising of Mark Engles (Dredg) on guitar, Chris Robyn (Far) on drums and Ben Flanagan (Dredg) on vocals and bass, and their dynamic musicianship had the potential to garner a new set of fans amongst those in attendance primarily here for Chevelle.
They hit the stage at 8:50 and presenting material from their 4-track debut EP ‘Driver’which was released earlier this year and is streaming on their bandcamp page (link below), along with a few other tunes to fill out a sizable set. The concert theatre in the venue was completely occupied by ticket holders by the time Black Map took the stage, and their performance seemed to draw a positive response from the majority. Their music displayed traits of hard rock, prog, alternative metal and stoner pop, all delivered with clean vocals on top, and owing to their simple, tight-knit 3-pronged setup on stage, theirs was a very free-flowing set. All four of the Driver tunes came across excellent, with ‘Head For The Hills’ and ‘Gold’ standing out as the highlights, the main guitar riff of ‘Gold’ extremely catchy and long-lasting in particular. It’s clear that the three members have greatly utilized the experience they’ve gained playing in other bands and combined it well to create a compelling triumvirate in Black Map. When they departed the stage, the crowd was left wanting more, the truest sign of a successful gig, specially for a support act.
Black Map have been playing shows on a consistent basis and picking the right bands to play with. Their next LA show is at Loaded Hollywood on August 15th, and they’ll most certainly get more touring opportunities in the foreseeable future. Hard rock/alternative fans are suggested to check them out.
Black Map links:
facebook.com/BlackMapMusic
twitter.com/BlackMapMusic
instagram.com/BlackMapMusic
BlackMapmusic.bandcamp.com
Wiltern links:
Wiltern.com
facebook.com/Wiltern
twitter.com/Wiltern
instagram.com/theWiltern