Heavy Trip/Modern Ego/The Azures/Craetor Live 3/22/25
Live at The Marigold Theater in East Hampton, Massachusetts USA *March 22nd 2025*
I almost thought twice about going to this show. The two hour drive to get there wasn’t too appealing after a long week. However, I definitely made the right choice. Heavy Trip from Vancouver, BC in Canada blew my mind when I heard their latest release, Liquid Planet (review here) in early January. The album came out at the very end of last year and otherwise would have definitely been on my year end, top twenty list. I also listened to Modern Ego, who just released their EP the day before the show, and I really liked their sound too. As for the other two bands playing, I maybe heard a song from each of them and was unfamiliar with their music, for the most part. The Marigold Theater is a cool venue. It used to be an old movie theater, a tattoo parlor, and maybe something else. The vibe in the place was good and the people were friendly and there to watch some good heavy rock music.
CRAETOR
I arrived a bit late to the show and unfortunately only caught the tail end of their set. The three piece band sounded good though. They are a local band that play a style of heavy sludge and doom, for the most part. The bassist does the vocals with a raspy and aggressive tone and the music was heavy and tight. I maybe only got to hear about three tracks but they were definitely cool and a great opening band to start things off. The bassist was wearing an Acid Bath sweatshirt after their set, so that earns Craetor some praise in and of itself.
The second band was called The Azures, and they were from New Jersey. They definitely had a unique sound, with dreamy, rhythmic music and vocals, and some indie noise rock mixed in. The band is fronted by a female singer who had good emotive vocals and stage presence. The bassist had a prominent low end sound that fit in nicely with the drums. She didn’t move around a lot but kept a nice steady rhythm to accommodate the guitarist. The guitar sound had a rawness to it and he played some psychedelic and garage like rhythms, but they were a little low in the mix. The drummer had a good dynamic of playing soft and simple to heavy pounding as the songs built up. Overall, it was decent but not exactly my thing.
https://theazures.bandcamp.com/track/whiskey-sour
MODERN EGO
The hometown heroes, Modern Ego took the stage and crushed through a nine song set. The three piece band have a heavy psych and hard rocking sound that has a seventies feel to it. Michael P. Beliveau plays guitar and vocals, Mickey Prout is on bass and vocals, and Tyler McCreary is on the drums. The band sounded very good! They were very tight and Beliveau sizzles on the guitar with his scorching blues leads and heavy riffing. Prout is an excellent bassist, holding down the rhythm when Beliveau is shredding and letting loose with some interesting and busy bass lines too. McCreary is an exceptional drummer, keeping everything tight as nails and solid throughout. Modern Ego just released their debut EP entitled The Cult Of The Skull, the day before. Luckily, I was able to listen to it a few times through before the show, so I at least had some familiarity with the band. They played all four tracks off the EP starting with “Prisoner”, which was the second song on the set list. It’s a great track that is pretty melodic and has a very catchy chorus. It’s an airy psychedelic tune that gets stuck in your head. It’s probably one of my favorites so far from them. They also played “The Line” and the title track “Cult Of The Skull” back to back, and ended with “Evil Evil”, the final song on The Cult Of The Skull. I wasn’t familiar with any of their other songs but they all sounded great, nonetheless. The bassist Prout sang lead vocals on one song called “Lava Lamp” and I remember “Mindmelter” that followed it, was a ripper. The other tracks performed were the opener, “Monkey Paw”, “Terrified”, and “Don’t Sit Down (Stand)”. I was very impressed with Modern Ego and I can’t wait to hear what the band will do next. My review for The Cult Of The Skull will be coming soon.
https://modernego.bandcamp.com/album/the-cult-of-the-skull
https://www.facebook.com/share/19wxp8oX6N/?mibextid=wwXIfr
HEAVY TRIP
Heavy Trip is definitely the reason I came to this show. Based on the music from their latest album, 2024’s Liquid Planet, I am a big fan of what this band is dishing out. The three piece delivers some of the most utterly crushing and guitar scorching music today! The band will blow your mind with their devastating riffing and ear shredding leads. I was so stoked to witness the Heavy Trip band live and front and center. They absolutely demolished and lived up to their name, Heavy Trip. The opening song was the title track “Liquid Planet”, a thirteen minute journey into face melting mayhem. The band, consisting of Cole Jandrisch on guitar, Cole Vibert on bass, and Ben Frith on drums, are all on point and dialed into their sound. The second track off of Liquid Planet was next, entitled “Silversun”. They steamrolled through with psychedelic leads, thundering drumming, and riffalicious exuberance. “Mudd Red Room”, the fourth track on Liquid Planet was next and continued on the assault of riff rampaging, electrifying and bluesy leads, and hammering rhythms. The crowd was really getting into the music. On the balcony to my left, a woman and younger girl were dancing frantically the whole set. Another guy was doing some skanker shuffle the whole time too. It was definitely a cool site to see during this set. The band then played the first track from their 2020 Self Titled album called “Hand Of Shroom”. That was a pleasant surprise and it fit in nicely with the rest of the songs. The final track performed was “Astronaut”, returning to the Liquid Planet record. These guys are fantastic live! They made the two hour drive well worth it and my ears are still ringing from it.
https://heavytripdudes.bandcamp.com/music
https://www.facebook.com/share/1B1pBs6Hx1/?mibextid=wwXIfr
After their show, I proceeded to chat with Heavy Trip and Modern Ego and let them both know my satisfaction with their performances. They were all super nice and appreciative and I bought a t-shirt from each band to show my support. I also conversed with a guy and his wife who were both into the same style of music and we recommended bands to each other. It was a great experience and I really appreciate the people I meet at shows, sharing the same passion for the heavy underground music.
