Music seen at Geno's, November 8
By DAN CLARK | November 12, 2008
If any Portland band can claim their own cult of personality, it's Covered In Bees. Easily one of the best live acts in Maine, if not all of New England, they never fail to draw a large, energetic crowd of diehard fans. Coming out of the hiatus they've been on since August, CIB (plus Hand Me Downs and the Pubcrawlers) celebrated the release of two much-anticipated projects: Andy Davis's Maine-lensed zombie film 2, for which they wrote and performed the music; and 24 Hour Album, for which the band challenged themselves to write and record an entire album in 24 hours.
Covered in Bees have always functioned with a simple mission: play loud, have fun, and always give the fans something new. The average CIB live show is anything but, as these death-punk overachievers always exceed expectations. The band's excitement and enthusiasm for playing live can whip any crowd into a hurricane of pure joy in nanoseconds. At the eye of this storm is Bees front man Boo Leavitt, a tattooed bundle of megawatt charisma and energy, galvanizing the crowd with tales of heartbreak, haunted houses, Spiderladies, and Swampmen. Providing the sonic settings for these stories are axe-grinder Doug Porter (Confusatron), bassist Ed Porter (Pigboat), and Tristan Gallagher (Man-Witch) on drums. The music hits you like a triple espresso, only without the acid reflux. Galloping rhythms, searing solos, and the ever-dynamic Boo combine to flood the system with endorphins and adrenaline, making you pogo uncontrollably with a smile on your face so wide your cheeks hurt the next morning.
Unfortunately, now CIB will slide back into temporary "Bee-tirement" until next summer. The silver lining to this gray cloud is the release of 24 Hour Album (on the Saco-based Entertainment Experiment label), 32 tracks combining 19 tracks they wrote and recorded in 24 hours earlier this year with the out-of-print Black Grimace EP and three live tracks from their infamous two-night stand at Geno's back in August. If the excitement surrounding Friday's show and this album are any indication, Covered in Bees' triumphant return can't come soon enough.
On the Web:
Covered in Bees: www.myspace.com/coveredinbees
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