Concerts and Shows at The Magic Bag
Helmet: Betty 30th Anniversary Tour with Slomosa and War On Women
Sunday, March 16 - $36 adv. - VIP $111 - All Ages
Celebrating the 30th anniversary of their groundbreaking album Betty by performing it in its entirety!
Helmet is an American alternative rock band from New York City formed in 1989 by vocalist and lead guitarist Page Hamilton. Since 2010, the band has consisted of Hamilton, drummer Kyle Stevenson, guitarist Dan Beeman and bassist Dave Case.
Helmet has released eight studio albums and two compilation albums. After releasing their debut album, Strap It On (1990), on Amphetamine Reptile, Helmet signed to Interscope Records and released three albums for the label, including the highly successful Meantime (1992), Betty (1994) and Aftertaste (1997). Helmet broke up in 1998, but reformed in 2004, and has since released four more albums ― Size Matters (2004), Monochrome (2006), Seeing Eye Dog (2010) and Dead to the World (2016).
Slomosa:
Expansive mountains constitute nearly two-thirds of Norway. This breathtaking grandeur gives the country a sense of natural splendor and mystique as if its topography has held secrets for millennia.
Hailing from the city of Bergen, Norway, Slomosa channel the sprawl of their surroundings through a sweeping signature hybrid of revved-up stoner rock riffage, grungy hooks, and a concentrated punk wallop. As if holding up a sonic mirror image to the landscape, an avalanche of distortion tumbles into valleys of massive melody, teeming with tectonic force. Now, the group—Ben Berdous [vocals, guitar], Marie Moe [vocals, bass], Tor Erik Bye [guitar], and Jard Hole [drums]—perfect this inimitable sound on their aptly titled second full-length offering and MNRK Heavy debut LP, Tundra Rock.
"'Tundra Rock' is 'Desert Rock' in our terms," Ben observes. "A desert doesn't have to be warm. If you think about it, the biggest desert in the world is Antarctica. In this respect, the tundra is our desert. We thought it would be cool to coin a genre, and it's stuck to us. You could certainly say the grandiosity of nature is evident in the songs."
Nearly ten years ago, Ben planted the seeds for Slomosa as a "casual excuse to drink beer, smoke, and play rock music with friends." Without pressure or expectations, songs naturally took shape under the influence of everyone from Kyuss, Queens of the Stone Age, and Sleep to Nirvana, Alice In Chains, and Soundgarden. The band's 2020 eponymous debut, SLOMOSA, has piled up over 10 million streams fueled by "Kevin," "In My Mind's Desert," "There Is Nothing New Under The Sun," and "Horses." Inciting critical applause, Invisible Oranges raved, "Slomosa are no strangers to evoking the best of early stoner rock without resorting to lazy imitation -- see their self-titled debut for evidence of that." Meanwhile, they played to packed crowds all over Europe and the UK, scorched the stages of Alcatraz Open Air and Hellfest, and received invites to tour with the likes of Alkaline Trio.
2024 saw them hit the studio with producer Erik Marinius to record Tundra Rock. In essence, Slomosa picked up where they left off, while leaping forward at the same time.
"I wanted it to be a natural continuation of what we did on the first record," Ben reveals. "In many ways, my life had changed. Suddenly, I went from a regular work life to being a touring musician. My hobby became my job. We didn't 'plan' for the first album to become anything. I'd gone through a lot since then. Tundra Rock is darker and a little more melodic. It represents the emotional side of the band."
The quartet initially bulldozed the way for this chapter with "Cabin Fever" and "Rice." Meanwhile, the single "Battling Guns" illustrates their evolution. Purring distortion and Ben's airy vocals drive the track towards a question, "What would you do?"
"I initially wrote it about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict when I was younger," he states. "My roots are from Algeria. However, I grew up in a partially Palestinian home, and my siblings are half-Palestinian. I was aware of the conflict, and I was quite political as a kid. It's about the general occupation and soldiering that has happened over the years. You can view it as throwing rocks versus battling guns. The lyrics can speak to conflicts around the world though. In the simplest sense, it's an anti-war, anti-fascist track."
"MJ" tempers a hulking groove with a spacey lead, showcasing another side of the band's sound. "We definitely embraced grunge more this time," he notes. "You can hear it on 'MJ'." Then, there's "Monoman." Between the loose bass line and barnstorming riff, Ben's lyrics confront "frustration with life." The trip through SLOMOSA's tundra concludes with the tribal bounce of "Dune."
"The vision was for it to move like techno does," Ben goes on. "It's one of my favorite songs, because it is so different."
In the end, Slomosa welcome everyone into their world on Tundra Rock.
"If you listen to this, I just hope you feel something," he leaves off. "This is my life project. It means a lot to me. It's given me a chance I never thought I'd have. I'm fortunate to be here. I want you to take away that Tundra Rock is here to stay."
"'Tundra Rock' is 'Desert Rock' in our terms," Ben observes. "A desert doesn't have to be warm. If you think about it, the biggest desert in the world is Antarctica. In this respect, the tundra is our desert. We thought it would be cool to coin a genre, and it's stuck to us. You could certainly say the grandiosity of nature is evident in the songs."
Nearly ten years ago, Ben planted the seeds for Slomosa as a "casual excuse to drink beer, smoke, and play rock music with friends." Without pressure or expectations, songs naturally took shape under the influence of everyone from Kyuss, Queens of the Stone Age, and Sleep to Nirvana, Alice In Chains, and Soundgarden. The band's 2020 eponymous debut, SLOMOSA, has piled up over 10 million streams fueled by "Kevin," "In My Mind's Desert," "There Is Nothing New Under The Sun," and "Horses." Inciting critical applause, Invisible Oranges raved, "Slomosa are no strangers to evoking the best of early stoner rock without resorting to lazy imitation -- see their self-titled debut for evidence of that." Meanwhile, they played to packed crowds all over Europe and the UK, scorched the stages of Alcatraz Open Air and Hellfest, and received invites to tour with the likes of Alkaline Trio.
2024 saw them hit the studio with producer Erik Marinius to record Tundra Rock. In essence, Slomosa picked up where they left off, while leaping forward at the same time.
"I wanted it to be a natural continuation of what we did on the first record," Ben reveals. "In many ways, my life had changed. Suddenly, I went from a regular work life to being a touring musician. My hobby became my job. We didn't 'plan' for the first album to become anything. I'd gone through a lot since then. Tundra Rock is darker and a little more melodic. It represents the emotional side of the band."
The quartet initially bulldozed the way for this chapter with "Cabin Fever" and "Rice." Meanwhile, the single "Battling Guns" illustrates their evolution. Purring distortion and Ben's airy vocals drive the track towards a question, "What would you do?"
"I initially wrote it about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict when I was younger," he states. "My roots are from Algeria. However, I grew up in a partially Palestinian home, and my siblings are half-Palestinian. I was aware of the conflict, and I was quite political as a kid. It's about the general occupation and soldiering that has happened over the years. You can view it as throwing rocks versus battling guns. The lyrics can speak to conflicts around the world though. In the simplest sense, it's an anti-war, anti-fascist track."
"MJ" tempers a hulking groove with a spacey lead, showcasing another side of the band's sound. "We definitely embraced grunge more this time," he notes. "You can hear it on 'MJ'." Then, there's "Monoman." Between the loose bass line and barnstorming riff, Ben's lyrics confront "frustration with life." The trip through SLOMOSA's tundra concludes with the tribal bounce of "Dune."
"The vision was for it to move like techno does," Ben goes on. "It's one of my favorite songs, because it is so different."
In the end, Slomosa welcome everyone into their world on Tundra Rock.
"If you listen to this, I just hope you feel something," he leaves off. "This is my life project. It means a lot to me. It's given me a chance I never thought I'd have. I'm fortunate to be here. I want you to take away that Tundra Rock is here to stay."
War On Women:
Riff-fueled manifestos are nothing new for War On Women. The co-ed feminist punk troupe has been tackling injustice one song at a time since their 2010 inception. Storming out the gate with teeth gnashing and spitting venom, War On Women's self-titled 2015 debut crossbred riot grrrl ferocity with the nimble aggression of thrash. Hailed for their crystalline jabs at societal ills, War On Women prove that hardcore can incite change that ripples far beyond the parameters of the stage.
War On Women are neither a crew of young bucks nor a contagion of seasoned legends. They don't fit neatly into metalloid machismo or hulking hardcore tropes. They have nothing to prove, and there's nothing more delightfully dangerous than that.
Shawna Potter - Vocals • Brooks Harlan - Guitar • Jennifer Vito - Guitar • Suzanne Werner - Bass • Dave Cavalier - Drums
The Magic Bag