Burning Brides singer/guitarist Dimitri Coats seemed very enthused that his band was concluding a two-month tour on Friday the 13th at the Black Cat, a combination perfect for summoning the black magic of rock and roll. It was technically Saturday morning the 14th when the Philadelphia band hit the stage, but they still delivered a solid compendium of hard rock textures that was striking, but hardly magical.
The Brides---a core of Coats and bassist Melanie Campbell, with new drummer Jason Kourkounis completing the trio---have been riding high for much of 2002, as V2 Records reissued their independent debut album “Fall of the Plastic Empire” and sent them on a high-profile tour with Queens of the Stone Age. Coats’ tunes are a backward-gazing stash that recall Black Sabbath with the fat trimmed away and the metallic flush of Monster Magnet.
During their 45-minute set Friday, the group sounded sharp from two months of U.S. gigs, Coats crashing out the opening riffs of songs like “Glass Slipper” and “Stabbed in the Back of the Heart” while the bass and drums rushed to thump out the proper gutbucket accompaniment. By doing away with the excesses associated with their hard rock influences, Burning Brides managed to stay engaging, and occasionally--like in the case of their best song, “Arctic Snow”--- really engaging.
An opening set from Brooklyn rockers Bad Wizard pushed an even wilder hard rock vibe, with vocalist Curtis Brown yelling with so much emotion that he spent the set spilling his mixed drinks on the front rows of the crowd.
Washington Post, 2002
