I have been a fan of the instrumental art rock/metal band Pelican for YEARS and haven’t been able to catch them live. So you can image how excited I was to finally see them live last Thursday at the Casbah.
The experimental metal band Tombs opened as I patiently waited for Pelican to set up their instruments and perform a sound check. Finally they took the stage, ready to gam, and it was on. They brought it. From the opening riff of “Dead Between the Walls“, I knew it was going to be a non-stop heavy hitting show that won’t disappoint. The pacing of the setlist was a great mix of songs from the albums: City of Echoes, What We All Come to Need, and Forever Becoming, the latter making up the majority of the list.
Pelican effortlessly moved from mellow, down-tempo riffs to hard heavy hitting measures completing a well balanced aural experience. They brought a visual assistant on this tour, which was a great addition to the overall mood and feeling of what was going on as the band played. In the end Pelican delivered a mesmerizing performance that displays how instrumental rock bands deliver just as big of a sonic punch as any other.
By: Matt Dominguez