Minus the Bear
House of Blues, Cleveland OH
By Rob McCune
The Bear is back, and as fierce as ever.
Seven years after their Farewell Tour, Minus the Bear is adding an asterix to their rockography with a reunion tour to mark the 20th anniversary of their second album, “Menos el Oso.”
The Seattle-born indie, math, experimental rock band that formed in 2001 released six studio records and twice as many EPs in the 17 years before they disbanded, playing what was billed as their final performance at The Showbox in their hometown where it all started.
Fans who weren’t so fond about that farewell snatched up tickets for shows on this tour, many of which sold out quickly, including the stop at the House of Blues in Cleveland, where wiggle room was bare and grooving was mostly of the vertical variety (jumping).
Warming up the crowd first was opener Into It. Over It., an emo-indie rock band out of Chicago that has released six studio albums since forming in 2007. Frontman, guitarist/vocalist Evan Weiss—with Matt Frank on bass guitar, Joe George on lead guitar, and Adam Beck on drums—got into it with a 10-song set that featured the live debut of a new song, “Hypermobilisation,” that blends power chords and an aggressive beat with otherworldly geometry. The group mixed in more grounded tracks like the misery-with-company “Upstate Blues” off their 2013 album “Intersections” and the poppy solarplexus “A Trip Around the Sun,” off a compilation album, “Interesting Decisions.”
For their set, Minus the Bear reminded us what we all already knew, opening with “The Game Needed Me,” and then playing the full “Menos el Oso” record in tracklist order. Songs like “Pachuca Sunrise” added both pep and poignancy, putting “this night to tune” and making the crowd move to the rich vocals of lead Jake Snider, while others like “Fulfill the Dream, with its rapid-fire riffs were a playground for Dave Knudson on lead guitar and Cory Murchy on bass. Alex Rose, meanwhile, worked the synthesizer like a seahorse on speed, providing the electronica underpinning essential to almost every piece.
The second part of this headline set featured a selection from the band’s other five albums, with playfully tongue-in-cheek tracks including “Let’s Play Clowns,” “Get Me Naked 2: Electric Boogaloo” and “Lemurs, Man, Lemurs.” For the requisite encore, the Bear looked “Into the Mirror” and finished with the landmark “Absinthe Party at the Fly Honey Warehouse,” off their 2002 debut, “Highly Refined Pirates.”
Could this tour be yet another farewell from the arithmetical ursine poets? We can hope not, but even if it is, there are at least four more 20-year album anniversaries right around the corner.
Add those to the calendar.
Rob McCune is Every_Thing_After_Photo on Instagram, where he shares his concert photography and reviews, as well as clips from his “Every.Thing.After” podcast, with interviews with musicians and bands.
