Minus the Bear – Zodiac, Oxford 15/12/07

17 December 2007, 15:37 | Written by Jacob Saunders

(Live)

If you ever need cheering up I can recommend one thing: Minus The Bear. I’d never had the chance of catching them live before this, and they didn’t disappoint. Jake Snider and his eccentric bandmates stood around casually for ten minutes or so before bursting into song. I’ve never heard an audience that loud at a venue that small before, the cheers and applause after the first song sounded more like a tyrannosaurus rex than four hundred or so music lovers. Three minutes in and everyone already knew it was going to be an amazing show, “The Fix” was up next, a perfect rendition, sounding similar to the studio recording, but with a lot more edge and a lot more energy. Dave Knudson wrapped up the song nicely with a solo which sounded much more raw and organic than the version found on Menos El Oso. The first half of the set also saw them play Menos El Oso’s “Memphis And 53rd” and “Drilling”, two of the records strong points.

Minus The Bear played plenty of their older, more comedy driven songs such as “Just Kickin’ It Like A Wild Donkey” and “Hey, Wanna Throw Up? Get Me Naked” parts one and two, but also catered for newer fans with tracks from the last two records like “Knights” and “The Game Needed Me”, some people danced, some people punched the air, some just stood there and looked like they were ready to fall asleep, but you could tell they still loved every second of it.

To sum up, Minus The Bear are a brilliant live act, they’re energetic, charismatic, and very fun. The chemistry between the band and audience is incredible, at least two people shouted “Jake I love you” during the set (come on guys, save it for the Bright Eyes show, eh?), but at least we can all sleep soundly knowing there are some people who appreciate great bands who dare to be a little different like ‘The Bear, I just hope they’ll be coming back to our island soon.