It is currently Thu Mar 28, 2024 7:51 am




Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 3 posts ] 
 Cynic feat. Sean Malone, Vancouver July 6th 2014 
Author Message
Contributor
Contributor
User avatar

Joined: Thu Jun 19, 2014 12:00 pm
Posts: 224
Location: Vancouver, British Columbia
Post Cynic feat. Sean Malone, Vancouver July 6th 2014
So I decided to go see Cynic play here in town after seeing the tour advertised on Stick dot com. I have never really been exposed to Cynic's music before, despite being a metal fan, especially metal bands with progressive leanings. However, since there are so few opportunities to see the Stick played live, I decided to leave the safe confines of suburbia for an evening, and head to Vancouver's notorious, Downtown Eastside.

I was met there by local stick guru Jim Meyer and his friend, a local metal bassist. We weren't sure exactly what to expect, as we knew that Sean did not always tour with the band, and were told by some others that he may not play the stick live.

After taking a short break outside following opening band, Lesser Key (feat Tool's original bassist), we returned to see that, in fact, a 10 string (Grand?) Chapman Stick did grace the stage. Now, I will tell you that Sean only played stick for about one and a half songs. Both were in the two-handed bass style. While it was great to see the instrument get featured, I'll admit I was a little disappointed that the stick was not displayed in it full glory.

What did floor me, was Sean's bass playing, particularly his economy of motion. When he first started playing, during the sound check, I thought he was playing along with a pre-recorded track. The shear amount of sound coming from his fretless Soundgear 5-string seemed inconsistent with how little his hands seemed to move. And punchy, wow, someone suggested his bass might be an extra long scale. Ibanez 5-strings are usually 35" scale, if I remember correctly?

I'm curious how the band constructs their live sound? There were no amps on stage, that I could see. Each singer had a module on his mic stand for vocal f/x.

The music was intense and fairly experimental, but not cliche "metal angry guy". It seems at home with other bands like Scale the Summit or Opeth, to some degree, or more directly, like local legend Devin Townsend.

I'm glad I went. They convinced me to buy their "Kindly Bent to Free Us" CD. I almost bought a shirt too, but I'm cheap.

_________________
Alan Blackwaters

The Radnecks

http://www.theradnecks.com


Mon Jul 07, 2014 9:30 pm
Profile
User avatar

Joined: Sun Jan 26, 2014 4:49 am
Posts: 15
Post Re: Cynic feat. Sean Malone, Vancouver July 6th 2014
Good to hear you enjoyed the show! Regarding Malone's playing style, on the song Textures (which is probably the one where he only played half of the song on Stick), did he also play solely on the bass-side? I ask this since the album version of that song does have sections with both bass and treble parts at the same time.

You might enjoy Malone's project/band from a few years back, called Gordian Knot. The Stick plays a prominent role, especially on the first self-titled album.


Tue Jul 08, 2014 9:03 am
Profile
Contributor
Contributor
User avatar

Joined: Thu Jun 19, 2014 12:00 pm
Posts: 224
Location: Vancouver, British Columbia
Post Re: Cynic feat. Sean Malone, Vancouver July 6th 2014
Jim said he was more familiar with Gordian Knot, than Cynic. I've never heard of GK before, either. I'll have to look into that one.

_________________
Alan Blackwaters

The Radnecks

http://www.theradnecks.com


Tue Jul 08, 2014 10:48 am
Profile
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 3 posts ] 


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 14 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Search for:
Jump to:  

board3 Portal - based on phpBB3 Portal Powered by phpBB © phpBB Group. Designed by Vjacheslav Trushkin for Free Forums/DivisionCore.
Heavily modified by Stickist.com. Stickist.com is an authorized Chapman Stick® site. The Chapman Stick® and NS/Stick™ and their marks are federally registered trademarks exclusively licensed to Stick Enterprises, Inc., and are used on Stickist.com and NSstickist.com with SEI's permission.
Click here for more information.