Don’t let another Wednesday pass you by. Come celebrate the middle of the week with the one and only Bear’s Den at First Avenue on Wednesday, May 29th!
All bands must evolve to survive. For Bear’s Den, however – their name inspired by Maurice Sendak’s 1963 children’s classic Where The Wild Things Are – coming of age hasn’t been without growing pains. “It’s been an amazing three years,” explains singer-guitarist Andrew Davie (known as Davie), looking back over a hectic schedule which has seen the band take their evocative, passionate music to audiences across the UK, Europe, America, Canada and Australia. “But being on the road so much pushes friendships to the limit, and really affects your relationships outside of it. You get extreme highs and lows.”
However, it’s how these experiences – both the ups and the downs – have affected them which inform their extraordinary second album, Red Earth & Pouring Rain. Inspired by – among other things – the paintings of Edward Hopper, the short stories of Raymond Carver, and film director Robert Altman’s Short Cuts – it is both erudite and intensely personal, defying trends and easy labelling. Musically, it also sees a startling progression. Following the amicable departure of guitarist Joey Haynes they are now a six piece touring unit built around a nucleus of Davie and multi-instrumentalist Kev Jones.
While the band’s folk roots are still evident, they now come cloaked in the lush alchemy of ‘70’s and ‘80’s FM rock: Fleetwood Mac, The Eagles, and in particular, the nocturnal ambience of Bruce Springsteen’s Darkness On The Edge Of Town, alongside more contemporary artists such as The National and Sufjan Stevens. “We spent a lot of time on the road and that music really fitted our head space,” says Davie. “It felt like the natural musical progression.” “We wanted to make a great album for driving at night,” adds Kev. “There’s a technical level to that – matching the sounds to Davie’s lyrics – but thematically, a good metaphor for the mood is the idea of driving forwards while looking in the rear view mirror. A sense of contrary motion.”
The beautiful Vera Sola will be getting the night started. A family of spiritualists, writers and performers generations deep; a home haunted by legends of literature and music; personal upheaval and a sense of being unseated in time: these are the origins of singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Vera Sola. With an ethereal voice providing the foundation for a haunting body of song, her timeless sound and enthralling stage presence draws an unlikely connection between Vera Lynn and Vera Hall; the grande dame of British music hall and the Depression-era Alabamian singer of work-songs and spirituals.
Tickets are available HERE!
Remaining Tour Dates:
May 15 — Pittsburgh, PA — Mr. Smalls Theatre
May 17 — Philadelphia, PA — Underground Arts
May 18 — New York, NY — Irving Plaza
May 20 — Cambridge, MA — The Sinclair
May 21 — Montreal, QC — L’Astral
May 22 — Ottawa, ON — The 27 Club
May 24 — Toronto, ON — Phoenix
May 25 — Grand Rapids, MI — Pyramid Scheme
May 27 — Chicago, IL — Thalia Hall
May 28 — Chicago, IL — Thalia Hall
May 29 — Minneapolis, MN — First Avenue
May 31 — Denver, CO — Globe Hall
June 1 — Salt Lake City, UT — The State Room
June 3 — Missoula, MT — Top Hat Lounge
June 6 — Vancouver, BC — The Commodore Ballroom
June 7 — Seattle, WA — Neumos
June 8 — Portland, OR — Aladdin Theatre
June 10 — San Francisco, CA — August Hall
June 11 — Los Angeles, CA — The Fonda Theatre
