By Andrew Bansal
November 13th 2016, Complex, Glendale CA: Salt Lake City experimental doom quintet SubRosa embarked on a week-long run of US West Coast headline dates, and visited the Los Angeles area last Sunday for a gig at Complex in Glendale, presented by Church Of The 8th Day. As the story goes, this promoter had SubRosa booked for a show at the same venue in 2013, but it was canceled last-minute because the band got robbed at a prior gig in Sacramento on that tour. Almost exactly three years later, along with local/regional support from Ides Of Gemini, Ancient Altar and Høurs, SubRosa made it well worth the wait, playing to a packed house even on a Sunday night.
Starting proceedings at 8:30 were San Diego quartet Høurs. Guitarist/vocalist Carrie Gillespie Feller performed on this stage earlier this year as part of her electronic/experimental project Hexa, which was an impressive opening act for Arabrot and Helen Money. Høurs plays a decidedly heavier style of music, blending elements of psych rock and stoner doom, and is built around the contrast between haunting clean singing and heavy instrumental passages. Thankfully the room was reasonably packed even this early in the evening, because latecomers would regret missing this incredibly captivating band. Høurs certainly picked the right show to open and it must be worth the seemingly short but often torturous drive from San Diego to Los Angeles, because they sure won over this entire crowd and undoubtedly converted them into fans. They were only the opening band in this stellar lineup, but they set the bar as high as anyone possibly could have.
Next up, LA’s own Ancient Altar took the stage for a relatively more straightforward brand of crushing heaviness, spelling doom and death with the stark bleakness of their long but expertly crafted tunes. Having started out in 2013, Ancient Altar have already released two full-length albums and have built a sizable fan-following for themselves in the metal underground, and a set such as this proves why that’s the case. Their 30 minutes on stage were gripping and intense, and their musical style may not be uncommon, but so well-executed live that it feels like being pulled very slowly and gradually into a downward spiral. A powerfully compelling set.
By the time the audience recovered from the first two bands, Ides Of Gemini were ready to begin what turned out to be the ideal precursor to the headline act, with their psychedelic doom which is now presented by a four-piece, their lineup having been revamped earlier in 2016 from its longstanding power trio setup. The band has been around for at least seven years, and has played just about every stage in the LA underground, as well as toured. This being the first time experiencing Ides Of Gemini ‘Mk II’, in comparison to past appearances, it came across as a better presentation of the band’s music, as vocalist Sera Timms, previously also the bassist, now just sings and is able to express herself to a greater extent while her band mates excel on their respective instruments to successfully hold an audience even with their simple, somewhat minimalistic song compositions. Timms was admittedly under the weather on this occasion but still delivered great vocals. LA locals can sometimes lose track of longtime hometown bands, and in case anyone forgot this band, this incarnation of Ides Of Gemini makes them worth reconnecting with.
And lastly at 11 PM, SubRosa stepped on stage to perform tunes off of their fourth full-length album and August 2016 Profound Lore release ‘For This We Fought The Battle Of Ages’, plus some older selections, completely hypnotizing this audience in the process. With two violins, one guitar and three vocalists at the forefront, SubRosa is rich in layers and massive in their live sound as a result. The mere sight of head-banging violinists shredding away on stage in a band so heavy is as magnetic as it is unconventional. The tender vocal-only segments built up immense tension inside the room, and the subsequent heavy outbursts served as quite the release. This is the most striking feature and standout trait of SubRosa’s musicianship and makes them an undeniably fantastic live band. They impressed a largely unfamiliar crowd at the Roxy opening for Cult Of Luna and Minsk in 2015, but this headline set was on an altogether different altitude. It was heartening to note that Complex had such a large turnout on a Sunday evening, an indication of the impression SubRosa’s studio albums have made, and the longlasting impact of their live show which commands every single attendee to return for the next one.
To say that Los Angeles is spoiled for shows is a huge understatement in itself, but even regular concertgoers sometimes pinch themselves when a show is so powerful from start to finish across all participating bands that it seems surreal. Thanks to SubRosa, Ides Of Gemini, Ancient Altar and Høurs, this was one such evening, and one can only feel fortunate to have been in attendance.
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Remaining Tour Dates:
11/15/2016 – Sacramento, CA @ Starlite
11/16/2016 – Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios
11/17/2016 – Vancouver, BC @ Cobalt
11/18/2016 – Seattle, WA @ Highline
11/19/2016 – Boise, ID @ Neurolux