Bear’s Den’s Ferocious Folk
Bear’s Den Live @ The Crocodile
November 5, 2014
By Cody Johnson
Mistakenly touted as alt-country, London trio Bear’s Den recently roamed state-side in support of their debut album Islands. While they share some striking similarities to contemporaries like The Avett Brothers, if we’re citing sonic similarities I’d say they fall somewhere in the category between Frightened Rabbit and a poor-man’s Mumford and Sons.
On November 5 at the Crocodile in Seattle the band cruised through the entirety of their catalog with the grace and appreciation normally reserved for open bands rather than headliners. The group frequently paused to thank the audience and profess how taken aback they were to be standing where they were.
While the instrumentation and warm harmonies were spot-on and almost a direct replication of album-quality, the unscripted human essence of the band manifested through a constant change in instrumentation. Nearly every three songs, you’d spot the drummer pick up an acoustic guitar and accompany with one foot on the bass pedal.
All in all, the performance was a Velvet Underground cover shy of being an intimate revelation, but the icing on the cake came with the encore performance of “Don’t Let the Sun Steal You Away” in the middle of the crowd. See the video below, and check out more about Bear’s Den at bearsdenmusic.co.uk
In addition to contributing to NadaMucho.com, Cody Johnson runs the Sea Speak Music blog.