Diesto, Lesbian, Grayceon, and Burials at Plan B 5/7/2011

So I saw Diesto was playing at The Know on Friday the 6th, and asked Rich if he would like to join me for some ear crushing rock.  I have seen Diesto around town a few times, and they are one of my favorite bands on the heavy side.  Rich noticed that they were also playing at Plan B on Saturday, and after confirming that that was actually true, and assessing the line up of both bills, we decided Plan B offered the better overall show, so we skipped The Know and planned for Plan B.

I was meeting Rich there, and when I arrived, Burials (not to be confused with the English band of the same name) were already playing.  Burials are a local band, and I have seen there name on bills around, but can't say i have seen them, or at least if I did they did not make an impression on me.  Many times I listen to bands and I am not blown away, and said band ends up being discarded by my brain.  Sometimes I am just not at a place where I appreciate the music, but when I revisit that bands music down the road, I like it a lot more.

Perhaps I would appreciate Burials more in a different time and place.  Don't get me wrong, the playing was impressive.  Burials is a tight trio with some intricate playing that was dead on.  The had moments I liked, but also some thrashy moments that were just a flurry of everything at once, you hear all and yet nothing at the same time.  For me, it's a musical turn off.

We headed to the back porch and ran into Shaun and Lorretti, regulars at the local heavy shows, and talked with them for a bit while Grayceon was setting up.  Soon Grayceon came on, and every time someone would come or go from the outdoor area, I would hear some enticing music coming from inside.  Soon the call to check it out was too strong and I headed inside. 

Grayceon was up next out of SF, I would later learn, though they were playing on Lesbian's gear and I thought that it was Lesbian, which is what I thought for most of their show.  Anyway, we were treated to something that would become a theme for the evening, the mighty metal cello!  Obviously, it is somewhat different to have a metal band that both employs dynamics, yet also plays some epic metal.  Jackie Perez Gratz commanded a bodiless electric cello, no doubt suited to the rigors of the road.  Playing through the biggest bass rig I have ever seen, literally 10 feet tall, a seventies Ampeg 10X10 by the look.  The vocals went from melodic and sweet to a crushing guttural screams and growls.  I felt the vibrato as the cello added a mournful touch to Grayceon epic tunes.  And yet, there was more.  The guitarist, Max Doyle, was no slouch.  Moving between crisp cleans, using some out of the box chord voicing and generally playing exactly what was need the entire time.  And on the kit was the massive Zack Farwell providing a solid stoner metal backbone.  Grayceon is a solid band, and I thoroughly enjoyed their set.  After they finished I walked up to the stage to tell Jackie how much I enjoyed her playing.  She is a cool down to earth chick.  I also bought their CD, really was hoping for some Vinyl, but had to settle for a CD.

So last year Lesbian started popping up on bills around town.  As it turns out, these guys have some pedigree and formed in 2004. After I see a bands name so often, I start to wonder, so I was interested in checking out a band that would call themselves Lesbian, be it metal or not.  What was icing on the cake, was apparently it was metal cello night, because some members of the Portland Cello Project set up in the front of the Plan B stage, full on sheet music and all.  So they started playing, and the Cellos added such depth.  They were four of them and the music was written to weave in and out of chordal variations, with some soloist moments.  The Cellos were great backing Lesbian up, and I am always pleased to see a band that sounds so good, most because these guys know gear.

The two guitarists, each with Knucklehead 100 heads, Mesa and Marshall cabs.  The bass rig was the biggest fucking Ampeg rig I have ever seen.  It looked like it had the 70s style grill cloth.  The rig was so big it almost touched the ceiling.  They played most of their set with the Portland Cello Project down on the floor in front of the stage.  It was really cool, with the cellos adding some interesting chordal and harmonic elements.  I liked what the cellos were doing.  They were building chords where each cellist was playing one note, and one of the cellist would be taking a more lead/melody roll.  Lesbian are full on metal, but they are all older music scene dudes I would guess and it showed.  They did their last 20 minute song (I am not exaggerating) without the Portland Cello Project, and I did not like that as much as with the cellos, but is was cool.  The bass player was the owner of said gigantic Ampeg bass rig, and he played a six string bass as well as covering vocals.  He is a power house.  Solid drumming and awesome dual guitar work were themes of the evening.

I would like to see them again without the Cello Project just to gauge them as a band, but damn, the dudes sounded great, and can play.  As for the name, OK, but these dudes are no joke.  I went and listened to all their music on bandcamp after the show, and I must say I like it a lot.  They do write some excessively long tunes, but it does not seem to bother me much.

Diesto put on a real good performance, but they were kind of overshadowed by the two previous acts.  Perhaps is was just because these acts were new to me, and I have seen Diesto a few times.  This performance was better than the last Plan B show I saw.  They played several songs from their newish album, High as the Sun .  Totally worth your time to go take a listen.  Diesto is one of the better heavy bands in town, IMHO.  They kick dual crushing guitars, solid rhythm section, more space and doomy moments, less of a tendency to fill everything up with excessive playing.  The show was solid and enjoyable, despite the fact that Diesto did not go on till almost 12:30.

Anyway, it was the best show I have seen this year, way better that the Red Fang CD release.  There were also probably about 50 people there, which is pretty good for Plan B.  Afterward it was off to the Hawthorne carts, where I had the brick oven pizza for the first time (usually fries all the way :).  It took forever to come out, but was delicious and satisfying.