Cuneiform Artists SONAR and ZEVIOUS - Baltimore, October 12

[Steve F.]

Saturday, October 12

Orion Studios
2903 Whittington Ave, #C
Baltimore, MD, 21230

8:00

$15.00

Orion Live Music Showcases presents:

ZEVIOUS

SONAR

EXPANDING MAN

ZEVIOUS
Zevious split the difference between the Tony Williams Lifetime and the 80s Downtown scene...[they make] algebraic music feel wholly organic , almost swinging." – Jazz Times

"...Zevious is for anyone who loves aggressive, rock-oriented improv with grooves and some semblance of a song...these guys put their music degrees to work...letting us know that being intense doesn't mean you can't have arrangements and following a script doesn't mean you can't let your hair down." – DownBeat

Zevious are a trio—guitarist Mike Eber, drummer Jeff Eber (cousins, not brothers), and bassist Johnny DeBlase. They started out as jazzbos in 2006, but they got over it; they "went electric," as the old folks say, with DeBlase putting down his upright bass and Mike Eber picking up the Telecaster that gives his tightly knotted lines their sting. The music they wrote shifted from jazz chords and head-nodding swing to tumbling, noisy rock that recalls instrumental-skronk powerhouses like Don Caballero, the Nels Cline Singers, early John McLaughlin, electric Miles Davis, Tony Williams Lifetime, Dysrhythmia (for whom Jeff also plays), Behold The Arctopus, Hyrrokkin, King Crimson (circa 1974-75), James “Blood” Ulmer/Music Revelation Ensemble, and more.

Zevious are celebrating the release of their unbelievable third album, Passing Through The Wall, at Orion!

Zevious do this:




SONAR
Sonar - an instrumental dual guitar, bass & drums quartet from Switzerland will be releasing their second album (their first Cuneiform release) in January, 2014.

Loosely aligned with the trance/hypnotic scene in Switzerland, best exemplified by Nik Bärtsch's ensemble, Sonar work in a somewhat similar terrain, but they are all-rock!

"Experimental, minimalist, instrumental post/math rock. Simply hypnotic. Specially tuned guitars produce an unusal harmonic sound. Pretty awesome actually" - progarchy.com

Sonar do this:



EXPANDING MAN

Carlos Guillen's project THE EXPANDING MAN is instrumental soundtrack music which combines free improvisation with composed material.


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Da Rulz:

· All-ages show

· BYOB, coolers welcome

· SMALL folding chairs welcome - no canvas yard yachts please!

· Cover is $15


Driving Directions
Take I-95 to exit 50A - Caton Ave. North. Note that approaching from the south there is NO MERGE AREA getting onto southbound Caton Avenue - so be very careful! Take Caton Ave south to the third traffic signal and turn left onto Washington Blvd. Take Washington about ¼ mile until you see a large "U-Haul" sign on your right. Turn right just before the sign onto Inverness Ave. Take Inverness to its end and turn left onto Whittington Ave. Take Whittington Ave to its end and turn right, into our parking lot. Enter through door "B" in the building on your right as you enter the lot.

[battema]

Really looking forward to this show.

[battema]

Okay, so....I saw Sonar last night here in DC, as part of Sonic Circuits. HOLY GOD. These guys are fantastic, tight as hell. The show this weekend is not to be missed, IMHO...

[Steve F.]

THANKS for the bump, John.

Sonar also do this:

[markwoll]

Hope to be there. Sounds like a great Orion show.

mark

[battema]

It really will be a fantastic night

[Facelift]

I'm planning on seeing them in NYC the night before.

The venue website (Shapeshifter Lab) wasn't clear about how the pricing is structured. Is it two shows @$8 each, or is the $8 the whole cover price? I'm going in either event, but I was just wondering.

[battema]

Minor bump for a kickass show tonight

[NogbadTheBad]

Love the Sonar samples, looking forward to the January release, have fun at the gig guys.

[Steve F.]

S H A Z A H M !


that sure was a fun show!

[NogbadTheBad]

Need to point these bands in Michel's direction.

[Facelift]

I was at the 10/11 show in Brooklyn. I enjoyed both bands, although - given the homogeneity of their respective sounds - the set lengths for each were just about perfect. Thanks for the heads-up, Steve!

I'm going to see Zevious again in a couple of weeks when they open up for a band with Nels Cline and Elliott Sharp in it.

[Pook1973]

What a terrific night at Orion!! I think I spent the entire show on my feet...! WOW!!



Debi

[battema]

Yes you did, Deb

It was an awesome show, loads of fun. Sonar and Zevious were fantastic.

[Pr33t]

I was at the 10/11 show in Brooklyn. I enjoyed both bands, although - given the homogeneity of their respective sounds - the set lengths for each were just about perfect. Thanks for the heads-up, Steve!

Same here, it was a really great show. I hadn't heard either band before, but left a fan of each, especially Sonar. The 'hypnotic' description was pretty spot on as their set was basically over before I noticed it.

I did appreciate the shorter sets, as Friday is still a work night for me, and I was flagging towards the end. It's a great space too (not just because it's a 15 min walk from my apartment ), and they've expanded it since I saw Janel and Anthony there last year. I hope they host more Cuneiform and related acts in the future.

[Facelift]

I hope they host more Cuneiform and related acts in the future.

I do too, although the turnout - most of which appeared to be friends and family - probably wasn't all that encouraging. I threw a lot of money into beverages, though, and that's where all the profits are, so keep hosting Cuneiform acts and I'll keep drinking heavily at your establishment, Shapeshifter Lab people!

[NogbadTheBad]

NJ Proghouse Weekend probably didn't help.

[battema]

There were also back-to-back Genesis Revisited Part Deux shows in Philly on Friday and Saturday nights. I think that siphoned off a fair number of possible folks.

[Facelift]

NJ Proghouse Weekend probably didn't help.

There were also back-to-back Genesis Revisited Part Deux shows in Philly on Friday and Saturday nights. I think that siphoned off a fair number of possible folks.

I guess it's possible, but I went to a multi-act show last year in NYC (in Manhattan, not Brooklyn) in a similar kind of performance space that involved MoeTar and MiRthkon - both bands probably somewhat better-known among prog-heads than Sonar or Zevious - and there were only a couple of dozen people there. Do people really travel to Philly from NYC to see Steve Hackett play Genesis songs? And even if so, would more than a couple of these people also be interested in either Sonar or Zevious? I wonder. It's pretty tough going out there for experimental bands that weren't part of the '70s scene, it seems.

[Pr33t]

I guess it's possible, but I went to a multi-act show last year in NYC (in Manhattan, not Brooklyn) in a similar kind of performance space that involved MoeTar and MiRthkon - both bands probably somewhat better-known among prog-heads than Sonar or Zevious - and there were only a couple of dozen people there. Do people really travel to Philly from NYC to see Steve Hackett play Genesis songs? And even if so, would more than a couple of these people also be interested in either Sonar or Zevious? I wonder. It's pretty tough going out there for experimental bands that weren't part of the '70s scene, it seems.

I was hoping for a better turnout as well. I went to see Fred Frith play Gravity at a venue not too far from this on a Friday night last month, and there had to be close to 150+ in that audience. It seems like the closing of all the well established experimental venues that were part of that original scene has cut attendance down a bit. Maybe people were more apt to go to the Knitting Factory or Tonic a decade ago because they'd been going there for other shows. Bands like Sleepytime Gorilla Museum would draw 50+ on their first few shows in NYC, with a similar notoriety to say Zevious.