For a while now, I have gone to a number of concerts such as Saul Williams, Nico Vega, and various others. They were all pretty decent and I was glad to finally hear something new and that might be on to something. Their performances were more human than human and you could tell that they give 100% in their music. Although I enjoyed their concerts, there was just something missing. I think what I was looking for was something heavy, more guitar and bass driven. Something that tortured my ears yet caressed them at the same time. I thought maybe I was asking for something unreal, only until Tuesday when I went to the Pelican concert at The Earl.

Pelican is a Chicago based band made up of two brothers, Bryan Herweg (Bass), Larry Herweg (drums), and Trevor de Brauw (guitar), Laurent Schroeder-Lebec (guitar). They are an instrumental band that draws on a number of influences such as metal, stoner rock, a little jazz, even dance music. They blend all of these genres while sprinkling nice melodies in between. They were playing at The Earl in support of their newest album What We All Come to Need, which was released October 27. I got to hear a few cuts from their newest album and I knew I had to make it to this concert. I was already a fan of Pelican after receiving one of their dvds’ and downloading some of their songs. What I like about their music is that it can lull you into a lullaby or toss you around in its rushing waves. They are definitely a band that I can see lasting for a long time as they can switch up their style anytime from playing groovy jazz rhythms to hard driven metal riffs, which reminds me of this band called Opeth because they would start a song nice and slow and then explode into raging chaos. Pelican is different because they are masters of their instruments where each tone and note is perfectly played. If they ever wanted to, I can see them doing musical compositions for movies!

As I watched them play, I felt all of the energy that they put into their set. They weren’t your typical “stand still and play instruments” band. They moved to every rhythm they created with much enthusiasm. I remember seeing Trevor as he was playing the bass (him and Bryan switched guitars) and as he played he was swinging and lurching his body forward as he played the bass notes in the song. The whole set was so energized and the music was reminiscent to big movements from classical music. It was the kind of music that you felt and even made me throw up the rock and roll hand sign once or twice. This was the concert that I had been waiting for and I’m glad Pelican flew down and delivered.

Later Days…

Pelican – City of Echoes

Pelican playing “Sirius” live