British folk rock band Bear’s Den played at historic Webster Hall in the East Village on Thursday, September 15. They have been touring nonstop for the past 18 months gaining a loyal fanbase. The duo consists of Andrew Davie (lead vocals, guitar) and Kevin Jones (vocals, drums, bass, guitar). Christof van der Ven joined the band in 2016 as a session musician and plays in their live shows. Jools Owen is also their current drummer and horn player when they perform live.
Bear’s Den opened their set with the title track of their recently released fifth studio album Blue Hours. The album was released in May of 2022 and debuted on the UK Albums Chart at # 6. They then played “Frightened Whispers” which is also featured on the new album. Fans were excited when the band went back in time a few years and performed “Red Earth & Pouring Rain” from their 2016 album of the same name.
Continuing the mix of new and old material, the next portion of the set included “Fuel on the Fire,” “All That You Are” and “Isaac.” A big highlight of the night was when the band performed an unplugged version of the 2013 song “Sophie.” After that, they played a few more new tracks from the new album including “New Ways” and “Shadows.”
They then performed their newest single released only a few days ago, “Stitch In Time.” The song was developed during the creation of the new album, but wasn’t completed until they recently started touring again. When asked about the meaning of the song, the duo said, “‘Stitch in Time’ is a song exploring ideas around trauma. Specifically the idea of reaching back through time to be with someone in a difficult moment and just being with them and letting them know that it’s not ok.” You can listen to the new song below.
Perhaps my favorite part of the show was when the band went into the crowd during the encore at the packed Webster Hall and performed “Gabriel.” Without the help of mics, the band sounded amazing and really brought the crowd together for a communal experience. The show ended with “Agape,” the first track from their first album Islands released in 2014.
You can see the rest of their tour dates here.
Setlist: Blue Hours, Red Earth and Pouring Rain, Frightened Whispers, Fuel on the Fire, All That You Are, Isaac, Sophie, New Ways, Shadows, Stitch in Time, Magdalene, Crow, Love We Stole, Spiders, Auld Wives, Pompell, Gabriel, Agape
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