DJ Lanphier for AOL
John Lennon once said that rock music was all "rip off," meaning that an artist would take a little bit of inspiration from here and there, borrow from this, nick from that, push it through their own prism, then put it on spin cycle, and something new yet slightly familiar would burst forth. It's the beauty of the process. Such is the case with
Minus the Bear.
Their Saturday night (Dec. 4) show at Terminal 5 in New York City was a rapt lesson in deep, funky grooves, heady, bombastic, '70's progressive rock movements, modern and classic technology and the good old-fashioned rock n' roll guitar jam. It's an interesting approach that relies heavily upon front man
Jake Snider's fiery vocals, electric guitar-hero riffs and wild presence, drummer
Erin Tate's syncopated attack (reminiscent of
Rush's Neil Peart), bassist
Cory Murchy's deep, solid mix of funk and grunge, keyboardist
Alex Rose's classic whirling yet subtle synthesizer work and of course,
Dave Knudsen's passionate, stellar guitar pyrotechnics that make the whole thing pop and crackle like water in hot oil.
Minus the Bear turned a lot of heads in 2007, with the release of 'Planet of Ice,' an album - as the story goes - profoundly influenced by the band's first ever listening to a pair of classic progressive rock masterpieces:
King Crimson's 1969 debut classic 'In the Court of the Crimson King,' and 'Close to the Edge' by
Yes, released in 1972. Yet, when Minus the Bear perform live, their songs take on a heightened electric energy and urgency, born of their punk and post-punk roots, adding to the complex progressive movements, giving them powerful spark that gets heads banging.