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Live Review: Ogre and Eldemur Krimm in Portland, Maine, 03.14.14

I’d never been to Portland, Maine, but a CD release show for Ogre‘s first record in six years, The Last Neanderthal (review here) with Eldemur Krimm on the bill was a fitting occasion for a trip I’ve been wanting to make anyway, so tack two hours of Friday evening Boston traffic onto the already-two-hour trek, and I was off. The stretch of Portland I saw on arrival struck me like a lot of post-industrial towns, and really not so far from what I caught of Portland, Oregon, last month — lots of art, lots of Southeast Asian cuisine, more ice on the sidewalk. The show was held at Geno’s Rock Club. Local proggy types Sunrunner opened.

With four vocalists between the two guitarists, bassist and a ukulele player who remained seated for the duration — I guess it’s hard to find a strap — Sunrunner were rife with melodic intricacy. Singers traded parts, executed harmonized arrangements mostly with success and earned a warm reception from the crowd, who must have been waiting outside in the cold for the show to start and continued to pile in throughout the five-piece’s set. They were there plugging their second full-length, Time in Stone, and weren’t my thing, really, but decided to thrash out a bit at the end, which metered some of the indulgent moments. Basically at that point I was waiting for Eldemur Krimm to start.

Exactly when the last time I saw the reactivated Portlanders, I couldn’t tell you, but it was around the time they put out Dirigo, their 2003 debut, so somewhere in the neighborhood of a decade-plus. They were a trio then, now the four-piece of guitarist/vocalist Fred Dodge, guitarist Neil Collins (also of Murcielago), bassist Jason Marshall and drummer Stefen Samuels hit the Geno’s stage in high spirits and offered me a reminder of what had made me enjoy Dirigo in the first place. Well at home in those songs, on that stage and kicking ass, Eldemur Krimm struck a balance between mid-’00s stoner and classic heavy rock quirk. They were fluid and relaxed in their groove, void of pretense, but the material was motor-ready all the same, and the audience went right along with them.

By then there was a more than solid crowd at Geno’s. Dirigo‘s memorable opener “Elephant Gun” was placed after “Black Fog,” which followed it on the album, and “She’s Maid of Wood, Pt. 2” from the self-released 2008 sophomore CD, Trainwreck on a Ship, led off. The people knew them, and with what looked an awful lot like a hat made of or at very least covered in electrical tape, Dodge made for a considerable presence up front during the songs. Marshall and Collins provided backing vocals to add to what already felt like a party, and both “Astronaut” and “Chopper Reject” were enough to make me pull out my copy of Dirigo again and give it another spin. Some technical troubles early on, but it was hard to imagine a better way to set up Ogre‘s set.

They did play exceptionally well next to each other — obviously this wasn’t the first time the two Portland locals have shared a bill — but Ogre distinguished themselves in their doomier feel, and where Eldemur Krimm had focused mainly on older material, Ogre celebrated The Last Neanderthal‘s arrival with a setlist taken half from it. “The Jaded Beast” and “Ogre” from the trio’s 2003 debut, Dawn of the Proto-Man, “Age of Ice,” which was on their original demo in 2000 and also showed up on 2012’s reunion compilation, Secondhand Demons, and a quick closing finale of what might’ve been a cover of “Naked Lady” by The Bags were older, and the rest of the set found bassist/vocalist Ed Cunningham, guitarist Ross Markonish and drummer Will Broadbent tearing through new tracks, beginning (rightfully) with “Nine Princes in Amber,” one of The Last Neanderthal‘s catchiest hooks.

Granted, in that category it has some competition, but it made a raucous start. As on the album, it gave way to the Sabbathian creepings of “Bad Trip,” and Ogre continued to play classic heavy rock off doom in much the same way as Eldemur Krimm had off punk and stoner vibes. Markonish quickly pulled attention with his lead work, which Cunningham and Broadbent met head-on with an array of killer grooves and fills. Something else Ogre had that worked with Eldemur Krimm was no delusion of grandeur. From the start of “Nine Princes in Amber,” it was clear that I was watching three friends who enjoy playing together have fun with a batch of new songs. That’s what it was. There were a smattering of birthdays that had been shouted out all night from the stage — Sunrunner rattled off five or six alone — and that only added to the already friendly mood. Ogre weren’t trying to “make it,” they were trying to have a good time. From what I could tell, that’s exactly what they had.

Maybe too much of one. “Warpath” and “Son of Sisyphus” had been thrills, but Geno’s brought up the house lights somewhere right around “Age of Ice” in what was a pretty clear signal to wrap it up. Ogre blasted their way through the closing cover anyway, and when they were done, the room was at full brightness. Coupled with the fact that it was past one by then and I had two hours’ road time waiting, I took it as a sign to head toward the exit. Made it home just a little before 3:30AM, which felt like good time.

Thanks to John Pegoraro for the company (his review is here) and Neil Collins for the accommodation.

More pics after the jump.

Eldemur Krimm

Ogre

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