Live Review: Bear's Den - Commodore Ballroom, Vancouver 06/06/2019

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Ever wondered what it might feel like to have your heart both broken and mended at a show? Well, with seven years and three melancholic albums behind them, London based Bears Den will guide you through a night of emotional joy and sorrow.

Returning to Vancouver after two years, it’s safe to say that this is being treated as a holiday. Fans filter in to the venue in no timely manner, squeezing as close to the front as they can. When the (now) duo, formed of Andrew Davie and Kevin Jones, take to stage, the crowd allows a cheer of happiness before resuming in silence. As if you could hear a pin drop, the show begins. 

The sound of Elysium trickles in and eventually the ballroom is echoing harmonies between Bears Den and their audience whom now appear to be at standstill - under a spell if you will. It is an enchanting show, watching the devotion and admiration that fans have for this band is quite mesmerising. Every word is either whispered or sang back as if the entire room helped write the lyrics themselves.

As far as live performances go, I’d say this one lies in my top ten. With a band to back them up, the setlist is transformed in to a magnificent journey that you can’t help but just close your eyes and sway along to. This striking instrumentation is further supported by picture-perfect lighting that glows through the staged silhouettes.

It’s become a Bears Den ritual to perform Blankets in Sorrow unplugged and delved within the crowd, and so, that is exactly what they do. A path is cleared and once again, the venue sits in silence. Something you could argue as disposing an eerie feeling, yet, this is nothing more than peaceful, calming - something that rather gives you goosebumps from amazement and not fear or cold. It is simply the perfect end to what has been an incredible night.

Words and Photography by Alice Hadden


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