Man, what a show. A personal anecdote before the show review. Feel free to skip ahead:

As I was leaving for the show in my fiance's car I witnessed two drunken Ohio State fans kicking a car. As I was asking them what the fuck they were doing, I realized that it was my car and that the glass from my passenger side mirror was laying on the ground. When I angrily let them know it was my car, they took off running. A foot chase ensued and I quickly caught up, faceplanting each drunken douche to the ground. They took off again and I chased them all the way up to Weber Market where they made the mistake of stopping. After roughing them up a bit more, I made them give me all their money and apologize. Not a good start to the night.

I finally made it down to Carabar with video/audio gear in tow to record what I was sure to be an epic show. As soon as I walked in the door. I saw the owner of the bar and checked to make sure it was OK to film in there. He quickly put the kabosh on it so I put the gear back in the car and pouted for a bit. After a couple whiskeys, I realized that it was his establishment and he must have had his reasons. A few whiskeys later Mount Carmel took the stage.

Man, these guys are good. Like, really good. It was just pure, tight psych blues rock. I never in my life thought I would ever truly compare a band to Cream, but these guys deserve it. Super intricate bass lines and time signature chicanery were only the beginning. Their drummer, who I found out later is 17, is a true blue badass. I don't mean to beat the Cream influence into the ground, but the young man could pass as Ginger Baker's grandson any day. The vocals and guitar were executed flawlessly by the frontman (whom I spoke to after the show and was an all around great dude), alternating between sweet vocal melodies and expressive lead runs, while the bass complimented the sound perfectly whilst adding in enough flourish to stand out regularly. One of the tightest sets I have seen in a long time by any band, local or otherwise. They closed out the set by inviting Nick Tolford and an organist up to the stage for an utterly enrapturing rendition of Joe Cocker's cover of "With a Little Help From My Friends". By the end of the song, I had completely forgotten about all the bullshit from earlier in the night and ended up having one of the best nights out in recent memory.

Thanks Mount Carmel.

Wait a minute there, the owner of Carabar told you that you couldn't record a local act? Really? If that is the case, I'd say that is pretty lame, and I would love to hear the reasoning behind it.

As far as Mount Carmel goes, they are a great band. I consider myself a fan for sure.

Especially since I have seen Sperry record there??

See, I got hung up on the part where he mugged a couple of guys who kicked his car.

See, I think he should have mugged Carabar instead and just accepted that the kids did a few hundred dollars of damage to his car. Priorities people!!!

I love reading reviews like this. Thanks for the recap/heads up, Thorne.

He said there were legal reasons. I respect the dude for having awesome, free shows all the time and it's his place, so I didn't really take offense. I wish I had gotten that cover on tape, though. Some seriously epic shit.

Yeah, I guess I should have elaborated. No punches were thrown (which took a lot of restraint) and "all of their money" was $36. I witnessed them smash my side mirror and dent my door. I think they got off easy with $36 dollars less in their pockets and some bumps and bruises.

Also, rage is a hell of a thing to try and quell.

I have a contract with Ron that clearly states only I can tape at Carabar.

He did mention something about a contract. These may have been the "legal issues" he was talking about.

Better hide your wallet.

i'm positive local act didn't want to be recorded, either.

Thorne,

I have a couple Mt. Carmel shows I recorded spring/summer from Treehouse and Rubys. I can burn you one if you want.

Sperry