Before Bear’s Den headed out on the US leg of their winter tour, they announced a contest of sorts for all fans to participate in. What started off as a small idea to select a cover song connected to each city of the tour has developed into, The Slammin’ Enormo’ Tour Anthems: a Spotify playlist started by the band so that fans could track the selected covers. On Friday, February 3rd, Bear’s Den took to the stage in Brooklyn, and as usual, they brought their best.
While they continue to grow their fan base here in the States, Bear’s Den is hugely popular in the UK and Europe. Each visit to the US has proven more successful than the last, as they are selling out all NYC venues, as well as most others throughout the tour. The success of the band lies in the talents of founding members Andrew Davie and Kev Jones. When bandmate Joey Haynes made his departure last year, the trio which quickly became a duo. Christof van der Ven (banjo/guitar), Marcus Hamblett (trumpet/keys), Jools Owen (drums), and Harry Mundy (guitar) now regularly tour with the band and have played a large part in diversifying the band’s sound.
The crowd battled one of the coldest New York City nights this winter for their second city show that week. The set was a mix of their classic hits like, “Elysium”, “Pompeii”, and “When You Break”, along with new favorites “Emeralds”, “Roses on a Breeze”, and their album title track, “Red Earth, Pouring Rain”. The band were absolutely dynamic on stage and engaged the crowd in the entire show. A witty anecdote about things the band does to pass their time on tour ended with a single round of bottle-flip by Christof. He gets one attempt on stage per show, and this night he totally nailed it, sending the crowd into a wild roar. The band unplugged a few times and played an acoustic version of the melancholic “Isaac”, and later came into the crowd during the encore for the popular “Gabriel”. They built up the anticipation through the show to the selection of the chosen cover song: Lou Reed’s “Perfect Day”. Closing out with fan favorite, “Agape”, Bear’s Den gave us a truly perfect night.
Check out Amanda Eckert’s photos of Bear’s Den at Music Hall of Williamsburg:
Here are the selected cover songs of The Slammin’ Enormo’ Tour Anthems to date:
