Last year Minus the Bear embarked on a huge tour with a brand new album, Voids, giving their fans the first studio recording of new music since 2012’s Infinity Overload. The Seattle progressive indie band is back on the road this year celebrating the tenth anniversary of the group’s dynamic Planet of Ice album with another large tour working its way across the country.
Minus the Bear’s Planet of Ice tour made a stop at Philadelphia’s Electric Factory on April 28th along with opening act, The Coathangers, an Atlanta based punk/garage trio. The group entertained music fans, who got to the venue early, with an energetic set that saw vocalist/guitarist Julia Kugel (Crook Kid Coathanger), bassist Meredith Franco (Minnie Coathanger) and vocalist/drummer Stephanie Luke (Rusty Coathanger) switching instruments for the last two songs and Crook Kid playing what sounded like a squeaky toy.
The Electric Factory filled up amazingly fast by the time Minus the Bear took the stage amidst a drone of introductory music and they kicked off the show with “Burying Luck”. That began the audience’s journey to Planet of Ice that was played, as promised, in its entirety and in the original order of the album. The band dived right into a version of “Ice Monster” that really delivered, with Jake Snider’s smooth vocals and the dreamy guitar by both Snider and guitarist Dave Knudson along with rich textural layers by Alex Rose on keyboards.
An interesting intro launched “Knights” which had a kinetic rhythm anchored by touring drummer Joshua Sparks and veteran Minus the Bear bassist Cory Murchy. The crowd responded with increasing enthusiasm to each track from the ambitious album that culminated with the beautiful “Double Vision Quest” and the epic “Lotus” that had Snider, Murchy, and Knudson kneeling and controlling the pedals and effects with their hands, transporting the crowd to the frozen world of Planet of Ice with a haunting and progressive rock inspired instrumental segment.
The moody “Hooray” painted an atmospheric soundscape of the band’s native Pacific Northwest with lush vocals and an infectious chorus that had many in the crowd singing along. That began the run of songs after the completion of Planet of Ice segment. The band visited last year’s release with “Last Kiss”, the opening track from Voids. Jake Snider announced that Alex Rose’s birthday was the day before and it prompted the crowd to sing a heartfelt but maybe not the most musical or well-coordinated version of “Happy Birthday”. Another humorous moment occurred when Snider, while the band tuned up for the next song, began to tell a joke and an audience member yelled out the punchline. Two powerful songs from the album Menos el Oso, “Women We Haven’t Met Yet” and “Michio’s Death Drive” preceded a string of songs from the Omni record, “Secret Country”, “Hold Me Down” and “Dayglow Vista Road”, that had much of the crowd swaying happily to the music to end the set.
The crowd offered a huge ovation and were rewarded with a three-song encore that began with “Invisible”, another standout song from the Voids album. Crowd-pleasing versions of “Absinthe Party at the Fly Honey Warehouse” and “Pachuca Sunrise” put an exclamation point on the show and sent Minus the Bear fans at the Electric Factory into the damp, rainy night with smiles.
