Sleepy Sun + The Asteroid #4 + Elephant Stone + Crawlin’ Hands @ The Oobleck, Birmingham, 28th September 2014
Psychedelic rock was at the heart of The Oobleck last night in Birmingham and I did not know what to expect because I haven’t really listened to that much psychedelic music before, so I went to this gig with a bit of an open mind.
Local three-piece Crawlin’ Hands (ex-Grand Union) had some technical issues with the guitar cutting out but ploughed through admirably and their bluesy, garage rock went down well with the growing crowd. By the end of the night, all they promo CDs had been snapped up too.
Elephant Stone are a quartet from Montreal and I was genuinely surprised by their music because they infuse traditional Indian themes and culture into it which made it very unique and different, as frontman Rishi Dhir played the sitar. Their set was very worldly and their sounds go from delicate, calm and tranquil to intense gritty rock. They are a band that are reminiscent of the counterculture era as well as providing stunning music that feels very mind altering, which after all is the power of psychedelic music.
The band that played just before Sleepy Sun were Northern Californian rockers The Asteroid #4, and their genre had tones of classic country mixed with psychedelic rock. Their music went from slow and trippy to a surge of thunderous drumming combined with rustic guitar melodies, in which the music exploded into a huge climax that had a lot of raw Americana present in their songs.
After much anticipation and waiting Sleepy Sun came on and played their set. If I am honest, I have a mixed opinion about their performance. A lot of their songs were really long and drawn out and incredibly haunting; they can go from climatic to calm and loud to tranquil and, in comparison to Elephant Stone and The Asteroid #4, they had more influence of a folk genre. At times throughout the set I found it quite hard to keep my focus on the band because the music seemed to be really intense and complex, often with long periods of eloquent guitar solos. This seemed to make you lose focus but then Bret Constantino’s powerful vocals would capture your attention again.
The gig not only showed me what psychedelic rock is all about but also that it can blend in many different types of cultures that balance out the genre, which not only makes it unique, but also really authentic and natural.
Review – Katie Grimason
Photos – Steve Gerrard