Black Mountain @ Academy 3

This bunch of heavyweight guitar maestros manage to make their mammoth noise with just four of them in the band, and are so unassuming and unpretentious that you wonder if it’s the same people!

They amble on, fiddle about with a bass amp that refuses to behave and shyly launch into opener “Wilderness Heart”  from the new album. However when it comes to tunes, there’s nothing quiet and retiring about Black Mountain.

Guitarist Stephen McBean conjures all sorts of wizardry from his guitar and effects while Amber Webber sings in her folky soulful voice, like a rockier Joni Mitchell. There’s new tunes “Rollercoaster”  with its hypnotic chorus, and “The Hair Song” both from latest album “Wilderness Heart”.

From second album “In The Future” we get a thundering version of “Evil Ways“ plus “Stormy High” with its almighty Sabbath-esque riffs! Venturing even further back in the Black Mountain caves, from self titled debut album we get the anthemic “Don’t Run Our Hearts Around” with all three vocalists chipping in on harmonies. “Bright Lights” – also from their “In The Future” album – appears to be a crowd favourite with someone shouting for it at regular intervals.

There’s not much interaction from the band, however, apart from the occasional “thanks” and Stephen's lame “if you keep asking for that, you’ll back us into a corner and we may have to play it”.

Wouldn't you just guess... when they come back on for the encore, to everyone’s delight it's the aforementioned “Bright Lights”, in its entirety, all 20 psychedelic minutes of it! From the hushed repeated opening vocal refrains to a blistering instrumental bit in the middle which build and builds before the main riffs and vocal come back in. There’s no point even trying to follow a masterpiece like that, and with their heavy tones ringing in our eardrums, we beat a retreat to our normal lives, after being taken on one mind-bending musical journey courtesy of Canada’s finest

Paula Gregory