Tuesday, October 8, 2024

Live Shows: Miracle Blood, Sapling, and BEDTIMEMAGIC, Deep Cuts, Medford, MA 10/4/24


Some triple bills are just impossible to resist. When Miracle Blood announced they would be holding their album release show at Deep Cuts, I knew I had to make it. Mostly because Miracle Blood are a fantastic band and great live, but Sapling and BEDTIMEMAGIC were also playing the show. I try to see Sapling every chance I get, and I've been meaning to see BEDTIMEMAGIC for a while.

BEDTIMEMAGIC opened the show wearing matching pug singlets. I don't believe I knew they were a duo, but they made some of the biggest racket I've ever seen two people make. Both members (Nicholas on bass and Morgan on drums) shared vocal duties. Their sound was like a mixture of art/noise rock and hardcore. It was loud, it was impossible to ignore, and it was great. The floor of Deep Cuts rumbled during their entire set. BEDTIMEMAGIC aren't going to be accessible for everyone, but for those of us who enjoy this sort of thing, we're going to become enamored.

I've seen Sapling live a decent number of times, and every show is completely different. Friday night might have been the best of all of the times I've seen them. It seemed like everything just clicked. The three members sounded great, they were having obvious fun playing, the crowd was completely into them, and just the right amount of chaos was unfolding. The show had an added amount of noise and aggression into the songs, but in what was still a fun way. The clown box contents seemed endless and even old favorite songs were injected with a new life. 

Closing out the show was Miracle Blood. I believe this was the third time I've seen them live, and this was the best of the three. They play such a unique style of music that is definitely metal and punk without falling into any of the typical trappings of those genres. It's like a genre of metal that indie rock fans and metalheads can agree on. I had heard the band on The Struggling Artist podcast where they discussed how guitarist/vocalist Andrew Wong's vocals were like a carnival barker, and now I can't unhear that. Having in my head that he's trying to get me to play a rigged game or spend money on an attraction makes their music that much more fun now. They also brought in Rainy and Amber from Sapling and Nicholas from BEDTIMEMAGIC to perform on separate songs, which gave the entire show more of a community feel. Judging by the new songs they played, Hello Hell is going to be a late entry for album of the year when it is released in November.

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