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| Cynic feat. Sean Malone, Vancouver July 6th 2014 https://www.stickist.com/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=8114 |
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| Author: | Sacrosanct [ Mon Jul 07, 2014 9:30 pm ] |
| Post subject: | 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. |
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| Author: | Kenneth [ Tue Jul 08, 2014 9:03 am ] |
| Post subject: | 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. |
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| Author: | Sacrosanct [ Tue Jul 08, 2014 10:48 am ] |
| Post subject: | 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. |
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