Lost, aggressive youth of NY, are you ready to let out your aggression? Then join the boys from Beartooth this Fall as the band brings the U.S. edition of “The Aggressive Tour” to North America. Special guest to help support the tour will soon be announced. The stops in 32 cities across the nation with tickets costing around $20.
The tour kicks off at the House of Blues in Chicago and wraps up in the band’s hometown of Columbus, Ohio. Beartooth has been touring in support of its second studio album Aggressive, which was released in June to many positive reviews.
Beartooth recently made a stop in upstate New York this spring at the first ever Rock N’ Derby festival in Schaghticoke in May.
Several New York venues are included on the tour. The Chance in Poughkeepsie is first up on the tour Oct. 29 followed by Irving Plaza in New York Oct. 31, and Upstate Concert Hall in Clifton Park on Nov. 4.
Beartooth Tour:
10-02 – House Of Blues – Chicago, IL
10-04 – Mill City – Minneapolis, MN
10-05 – Summit – Denver, CO
10-06 – Complex – Salt Lake City, UT
10-08 – El Corazon – Seattle, WA
10-09 – Hawthorne – Portland, OR
10-10 – Ace of Spades Sacramento, CA
10-11 – Observatory – Santa Ana, CA
10-12 – The Regent – Los Angeles, CA
10-14 – House Of Blues – San Diego, CA
10-15 – Nile – Phoenix, AZ
10-17 – Backstage – San Antonio, TX
10-18 – House Of Blues – Houston, TX
10-19 – House Of Blues – Dallas, TX
10-21 – State Theater – Tampa, FL
10-22 – Beacham – Orlando, FL
10-23 – Revolution – Fort Lauderdale, FL
10-24 – Masquerade – Atlanta, GA
10-25 – The Underground – Charlotte, NC
10-27 – Soundstage – Baltimore, MD
10-28 – TLA – Philadelphia, PA
10-29 – The Chance – Poughkeepsie, NY
10-30 – Stone Pony – Asbury Park, NJ
10-31 – Irving Plaza – New York, NY
11-02 – Palladium – Worcester, MA
11-03 – Webster – Hartford, CT
11-04 – Upstate Concert Hall – Clifton Park, NY
11-05 – Mr. Smalls – Pittsburg, PA
11-06 – Orbit Room – Grand Rapids, MI
11-08 – House Of Blues – Cleveland, OH
11-09 – The Ready Room – St. Louis, MO
11-11 – Express Live! – Columbus, OH
For a solid two hours, Etheridge presented a dynamic set (with no break) complete with both delicate moments and high-energy songs. Although the show was a solo act, her two hour set wasn’t just a singer with a guitar. Using loop effects and some percussion she backed herself up with more than just a guitar. At one time, she played a game of guitar roulette – looping a few background percussion and rhythm lines as she contemplated which of her ten guitars to pick next to play a bit of the lead part.
The venue sits on Onondaga Lake, once the most polluted lake in the country. After decades of remediation it is just now re-emerging as a viable natural resource for the city. The opening of the amphitheater is just one of the signs of the lake’s renaissance.
With enough imagination, every song seemed to have a connection to his Syracuse roots: past, present and future. Lyrics like “A statement from his former life,” “I’m going to be a genius anyway,” “He buried all his memories of home” and “Gonna give you one last chance to see, gonna shrug demands off of me” spoke directly to his mentality. Other songs like the beautifully rendered “Winterqueen,” just referenced the city known for it’s brutal winters. The bust-out of “Destiny Unbound,” played on this night with a punchy exuberance, could be in reference to Destiny USA, the mall that sat just a couple of miles down the lake shore. Or maybe, and perhaps more likely, there was no rhyme or reason to the song selection at all. We should just ask the Axis, he knows everything.
Diving back into their Chilling Thrilling material, a late-set “Martian Monster” featured some instrument-swapping by the band. Anastasio played on Fishman’s Marimba Lumina, bassist Mike Gordon picked up the guitar and McConnell grabbed the bass, in what became a rhythmic and jaunty jam. The members have pulled this stunt a few times over the summer tour already, making it perhaps the least surprising element of this full-of-surprises show, though still quintessentially quirky and exciting. Determined to get Fishman his big drum solo moment, the band did push through “Frankenstein” to close the second set, even without the signature keytar lead, with more excited exhortations from Anastasio about the drummer’s high school and hometown.
Continuing with the show, the band was unaware of his condition and wished their friend and colleague well in unison with fans.
Though the concert was the Fifth of July — not the Fourth — Schon’s tight fretwork and re-defining of the term “rock anthem” could be appreciated at anytime. Nearly 50 years into his musical career, he had not lost much in strum speed, not any in his tonal quality.