Tag: The Well

Top 30 live shows of 2019: #’s 5 – 1

Here we go. Who were my top five live acts of 2019?

#5 – The Well – Levitation Austin – November 09th

The Well are at the top of their game right now, and this heavy-hitting set of blues-laced doom metal was one of the highlights of Levitation Austin for me. I knew within three songs that it was going to be one of the best sets I saw all weekend if not all year, and I was right.

#4 – A Place to Bury Strangers – Levitation Austin – November 10th

I was talking with a woman after the Levitation Austin set by A Place to Bury Strangers. We’d just been flattened by it. Walls of sound, blazing strobe lights, haunted house fog, and guest spots by members of Ringo Deathstarr, Numb.er, the KVB, Cryogeyeser, and Hoover iii were added treats to the raw force that APTBS unleashed. The woman said, “You wonder, ‘Were they really as good as I remember the last time I saw them?’ and as soon as they start you’re like, ‘Oh yeah. They are.'”

#3 – Thee Oh Sees – Thalia Hall – Chicago, IL – October 11th

As I like to say, everything you’ve heard about a show by Thee Oh Sees is a hundred percent true. Crazy double drumming, wild guitar work, wall-shaking bass, psychedelic synths, and a crazy crowd mixed to produce a stunning night of music, highlighted by all twenty-one-plus minutes of “Henchlock” from their great new album, Face Stabber.

#2 – Jeff Lynne’s ELO – United Center – Chicago, IL – July 27th

In terms of sheer spectacle and sound quality, this show by Jeff Lynne’s ELO was going to be tough to beat. The light show was, go figure, amazing and was only outmatched by the sound quality. Mr. Lynne still sounds great and his backing band was top-notch. He played all of his hits and even a Traveling Wilburys song with Dhani Harrison singing and playing his father’s parts. This show by a legend could only be outmatched by another legend.

#1 – Paul McCartney – Memorial Coliseum – Ft. Wayne, IN – June 03rd

Seriously, how was anyone going to beat this show? It was practically in my back yard and was a fun show by a legend who has inspired more musicians than we’ll ever know. He played a great mix of Beatles, Wings, and solo tracks, told a lot of fun stories, and delivered a fun show that left you wanting another full set. The expensive tickets were worth every dollar.

There you have it. Another great year for live music. Get out there and see some.

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The Well announce winter tour dates through the U.S., Canada, U.K., and Europe.

Austin trio The Well announce yet another round of North American, EU and UK tour dates in support of their critically acclaimed new album Death and Consolation (RidingEasy Records.) The band has spent much of the year on tour, and now continue the trek into 2020, sharing some US dates with label mates Zig-Zags and R.I.P. These will be The Well’s first ever tour in the UK, having only played London’s DesertFest in 2019, and fans’ first opportunity to see the band performing songs from the new album. Please see all dates below. 
The band also recently shared a new video via Brooklyn Vegan. Watch & share the 4K UHD video for album track “Raven” which was directed, shot and edited by William Orendorff HERE. (YouTube.) Death and Consolation is without a doubt a weighty album title. And, The Well is among the heaviest heavy psych bands in existence. So when we say that there’s even more darkness and intensity to the band’s third album than previous efforts, take heed. It’s a deep sea diving bell of enveloping heaviness and longing. 

“This one is a little more personal,” says guitarist/vocalist Ian Graham. “2018 was a strange, dark year. A lot of change going on in my life, there was a lot of depression and coming out of it over the last year. I wanted to call this Death and Consolation, because in life that’s a constant.” 
While The Well continue to walk an intriguing line between authentic early 70s doom/heavy psych and frayed weirdness of dark folk – especially with their haunting unison male/female vocals – the new album also adds the stark vibe of post-punk acts like Joy Division and early The Cure. “I feel like this album is almost more gothic. We’re big fans of post-punk,” Graham says. There’s also much less jamming, the songs are tight and concise. And, did we mention, heavy? The band tuned down a full step to C-standard tuning for this album, which gives the proceedings its monstrous sound.

Sonically, Death and Consolation picks up where The Well — Graham, bassist/vocalist Lisa Alley and drummer Jason Sullivan — left off with their widely heralded 2016 RidingEasy album Pagan Science. The band once again recorded with longtime producer/engineer Chico Jones at Estuary Studio in 2018, who has turned the knobs for all three of their albums (Jones engineered the band’s debut album Samsara with producer Mark Deutrom [Melvins, Sunn0)))] in 2013.) Samsara, released late September 2014 was ranked the #1 debut album of 2014 by The Obelisk and Pagan Science among the Best of 2016 from the Doom Charts collective. Likewise, the band’s intense — some even say “possessed” — live performances have earned them featured slots at Austin’s Levitation Fest, as well as tours with Kadavar, All Them Witches, Black Tusk and more. 

“This album might be a little less produced, because I didn’t want to push technical stuff as much,” Graham says. “I’m so scared of getting too complicated when getting better at guitar. This is still kind of punk rock.” 

Death and Consolation is available on LP, CD and download via RidingEasy Records. Orders are available HERE. 

THE WELL TOUR 2020: 01/22 – Milan, IT @ Ligera 01/23 – Bologna, IT @ Freakout 01/24 – Turin, IT @ Ziggy 01/26 – Lille, FR @ La Bulle Cafe 01/27 – Tours, FR @ Le Canadian Cafe 01/28 – Nantes, FR @ La Scene Michelet 01/29 – Bordeaux, FR @ Les Voutes 01/30 – Dijon, FR @ Peniche Cancale 01/31 – Rennes, FR @ Le Melies 02/01 – Paris, FR @ Espace B 02/03 – Brighton, UK @ Hope & Ruin 02/04 – Milton Keyes, UK @ The Craufurd Arms 02/05 – Glasgow, UK @ Broadcast 02/07 – London, UK @ Black Heart 02/08 – Bree, BE @ Ragnarok 02/09 – Berlin, DE @ Zukunft am Ostkreuz 02/10 – Salzburg, AT @ Rockhouse
02/19 – El Paso, TX @ Monarch 02/20 – Phoenix, AZ @ Yucca Tap Room 02/21 – San Diego, CA @ Til Two Club *02/22 – Oceanside, CA @ The Pourhouse *02/23 – Los Angeles, CA @ Permanent Records Roadhouse *02/25 – San Francisco, CA @ The Knockout 02/26 – Nevada City, CA @ The Brick 02/27 – Portland, OR @ High Water Mark +02/28 – Seattle, WA @ Substation +02/29 – Vancouver, BC @ TBA +03/02 – Kalispell, MT @ Old School Records 03/03 – Missoula, MT @ TBA 03/04 – Boise, ID @ The Shredder 03/05 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court 03/06 – Denver, CO @ Streets of London 03/07 – Albuquerque, NM @ The Launchpad
* w/ Zig-Zags+ w/ R.I.P.

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Review: The Well – Death and Consolation

Ian Graham, guitarist and vocalist for Austin, Texas doom rockers The Well, had a bad 2018 – according to a press release for their powerful new album, Death and Consolation:  “2018 was a strange, dark year. A lot of change going on in my life, there was a lot of depression and coming out of it over the last year. I wanted to call this Death and Consolation, because in life that’s a constant.”

It’s an appropriate title because the power chords, heavy lyrics, thunderous bass (courtesy of co-vocalist Lisa Alley), and almost heart-stopping drums (courtesy of Jason Sullivan) on the record are both creepy and invigorating.  Graham also says, ” “I feel like this album is almost more gothic. We’re big fans of post-punk.”

That goth influence comes out right away on the opener, “Sabbah,” with its growling bass and lyrics of “flowers sliced by assassin’s steel.”  Listening to “Raven” is like stomping on the gas pedal of a 1970 Plymouth Roadrunner while Satan is chasing you in a Dodge Coronet Super Bee down a winding mountain road at 12:01am.

“Death Song” isn’t a cover of the tune by the Black Angels (another Austin psychedelic powerhouse), but I’m sure the Black Angels would appreciate its Black Sabbath-meets-Thin Lizzy vibe.  “Cup of Peace” could be a Joy Division track if that band upped the fuzz and spent more time in dimly lit libraries full of massive books chained to iron racks.

“Eyes of a God” gets off to a spooky, whispered start and then breaks out a serious rock groove that blends metal with late 1960’s garage rock while Graham sings about touching a land that lies beyond the sun.  “Act II” starts with a sample (probably from a horror film I have yet to see) of someone trying to banish a holy man from getting closer and then breaks into a song about ancient evil being unleashed on the world…or is it?  The sample at the beginning seems to indicate that The Well knows there are bright things beyond the veil that even Lovecraftian Old Ones fear.  Oh yes, and the song is an absolute wall-flattener.

“Freedom Above” is a slow burn under a bubbling cauldron, whereas “This Is How” is a fuzzed-out raging fire that claims, “This is how the world ends, drowning now in flames.  This is how the world ends, nightmare of the sane.”  You don’t get much more metal than that.  The closer is “Endless Night” – a dark tune about dark things dragging Graham (and the rest of us) to even darker places.  It’s packed with sludge, menace, and guitar riffs deadly as a battle axe.

I’ve come to love doom and stoner metal over the last few years, and Death and Consolation is one of the best records I’ve heard in that genre.  The Well is at the top of their game right now.  I need, you need, we all need to see them live, and we all need to hear this record.

Keep your mind open.

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The Well unleash “This Is How (the World Ends)” from their new album, “Death and Consolation,” our next week.

“Their most intimate, darkly personal record yet… Taking them out of the doom corner and giving it a raw, post-punk feel. “Raven” sounds like a Satanic, downtuned Steppenwolf, and frankly we can’t get enough.” — Kerrang!

“An intoxicating mix of stoner metal and occultist rock — it’s dark n’ doomy, sure, but it’s also as catchy as fly paper coated in industrial strength glue.” — Metal Sucks

Austin trio The Well share a new track from their forthcoming third album Death and Consolation via Metal Injection. Hear and share “This Is How The World Ends” HERE.

Kerrang Magazine also recently launched lead single “Raven” HERE.  Metal Sucks hosted the crushing album opener “Sabbah” HERE.

Death and Consolation is without a doubt a weighty album title, and The Well is among the heaviest heavy psych bands in existence. So when we say that there’s even more darkness and intensity to the band’s third album than previous efforts, take heed. It’s a deep sea diving bell of enveloping heaviness and longing. “This one is a little more personal,” says guitarist/vocalist Ian Graham. “2018 was a strange, dark year. A lot of change going on in my life, there was a lot of depression and coming out of it over the last year. I wanted to call this Death and Consolation, because in life that’s a constant.”

While The Well continue to walk an intriguing line between authentic early 70s doom/heavy psych and frayed weirdness of dark folk – especially with their haunting unison male/female vocals – the new album also adds the stark vibe of post-punk acts like Joy Division and early The Cure. “I feel like this album is almost more gothic. We’re big fans of post-punk,” Graham says. There’s also much less jamming, the songs are tight and concise. And, did we mention, heavy? The band tuned down a full step to C-standard tuning for this album, which gives the proceedings its monstrous sound. Sonically, Death and Consolation picks up where The Well — Graham, bassist/vocalist Lisa Alley and drummer Jason Sullivan — left off with their widely heralded 2016 RidingEasy album Pagan Science.

The band once again recorded with longtime producer/engineer Chico Jones at Estuary Studio in 2018, who has turned the knobs for all three of their albums (Jones engineered the band’s debut album Samsara with producer Mark Deutrom [Melvins, Sunn0)))] in 2013.) Samsara, released late September 2014 was ranked the #1 debut album of 2014 by The Obelisk and Pagan Science among the Best of 2016 from the Doom Charts collective. Likewise, the band’s intense — some even say “possessed” — live performances have earned them featured slots at Austin’s Levitation Fest, as well as tours with Kadavar, All Them Witches, Black Tusk and more. “This album might be a little less produced, because I didn’t want to push technical stuff as much,” Graham says. “I’m so scared of getting too complicated when getting better at guitar. This is still kind of punk rock.”

Death and Consolation will be available on LP, CD and download on April 26th, 2019 via RidingEasy Records. Pre-orders are available HERE.

THE WELL TOUR 2019: 04/24 Dallas, TX @ Club Dada * 04/25 Austin, TX @ Barracuda * – album release party 04/27 Austin, TX @ Independence Brewery 04/28 Austin, TX @ Waterloo Records 04/29 San Antonio, TX @ Paper Tiger 05/01 Omaha, NE @ Slowdown * 05/02 Denver, CO @ Hi-Dive * 05/03 Phoenix, AZ @ Yucca Tap Room 05/04 Los Angeles, CA @ House of Machines 05/05 Long Beach, CA @ Alex’s Bar 05/06 Sacramento, CA @ Blue Lamp 05/07 Nevada City, CA @ Cooper’s 05/08 San Francisco, CA @ Elbo Room 05/09 Portland, OR @ High Water Mark 05/10 Seattle, WA @ Substation 05/11 Vancouver, BC @ Static Jupiter 05/12 Calgary, AB @ Palomino 05/13 Edmonton, AB @ Temple 05/14 Winnipeg, MB @ The Windsor 05/15 Minneapolis, MN @ Cabooze 05/16 Des Moines, IA @ Vaudeville Mews 05/17 Colorado Springs, CO @ Triple Nickle 05/18 Taos, NM @ Monolith on the Mesa Fest 05/19 El Paso, TX @ Monarch * w/ Monolord

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The Well release “The Raven” ahead of full album due April 26th.

“Their most intimate, darkly personal record yet… Taking them out of the doom corner and giving it a raw, post-punk feel. “Raven” sounds like a Satanic, downtuned Steppenwolf, and frankly we can’t get enough.” — Kerrang!

Austin trio The Well announce their forthcoming third album Death and Consolation today, sharing the first single via Kerrang Magazine.


Death and Consolation is without a doubt a weighty album title. And, The Well is among the heaviest heavy psych bands in existence. So when we say that there’s even more darkness and intensity to the band’s third album than previous efforts, take heed. It’s a deep sea diving bell of enveloping heaviness and longing. 


“This one is a little more personal,” says guitarist/vocalist Ian Graham. “2018 was a strange, dark year. A lot of change going on in my life, there was a lot of depression and coming out of it over the last year. I wanted to call this Death and Consolation, because in life that’s a constant.” 
While The Well continue to walk an intriguing line between authentic early 70s doom/heavy psych and frayed weirdness of dark folk – especially with their haunting unison male/female vocals – the new album also adds the stark vibe of post-punk acts like Joy Division and early The Cure. “I feel like this album is almost more gothic. We’re big fans of post-punk,” Graham says. There’s also much less jamming, the songs are tight and concise. And, did we mention, heavy? The band tuned down a full step to C-standard tuning for this album, which gives the proceedings its monstrous sound.


Sonically, Death and Consolation picks up where The Well — Graham, bassist/vocalist Lisa Alley and drummer Jason Sullivan — left off with their widely heralded 2016 RidingEasy album Pagan Science. The band once again recorded with longtime producer/engineer Chico Jones at Estuary Studio in 2018, who has turned the knobs for all three of their albums (Jones engineered the band’s debut album Samsara with producer Mark Deutrom [Melvins, Sunn0)))] in 2013.) Samsara, released late September 2014 was ranked the #1 debut album of 2014 by The Obelisk and Pagan Science among the Best of 2016 from the Doom Charts collective. Likewise, the band’s intense — some even say “possessed” — live performances have earned them featured slots at Austin’s Levitation Fest, as well as tours with Kadavar, All Them Witches, Black Tusk and more. 


“This album might be a little less produced, because I didn’t want to push technical stuff as much,” Graham says. “I’m so scared of getting too complicated when getting better at guitar. This is still kind of punk rock.”

 
Death and Consolation will be available on LP, CD and download on April 26th, 2019 via RidingEasy Records.


THE WELL TOUR 2019: 03/01 – Austin, TX @ Hotel Vegas 04/12 – Lafayette, LA  @ Freetown Boom Boom Room 04/13 – Cypress Creek, LA @ Fête du Void Festival 04/24 – Dallas, TX @ Club Dada* 04/25 – Austin, TX @ Barracuda* 05/01 – Omaha, NE @ Slowdown* 05/02 – Denver, CO @ Hi-Dive* 05/03 – Phoenix, AZ @ Yucca Tap Room 05/04 – Sacramento, CA @ Blue Lamp 05/09 – Portland, OR @ High Water Mark 05/10 – Seattle, WA @ Substation05/12 – Calgary, AB @ Palomino 05/13 – Edmonton, AB @ Temple 05/14 – Winnipeg, MB @ The Windsor 05/18 – Taos, NM @ Monolith on the Mesa Fest 05/19 – El Paso, TX @ Monarch
* w/ Monolord

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