tiger-high-sf-bottom-of-the-hill

This was supposed to be a review of Toronto hardcore group Metz’ show at San Francisco’s Bottom of the Hill. Then it almost turned into a tale of a lanky, long-haired white dude sprinting around San Francisco by himself. Then it was going to be about getting an initiative on the 2013 ballot to keep BART open past midnight. Luckily, it’s none of those things but something better: photos and a review of a stellar Memphis band named Tiger High.

Opening for Metz in a fairly late Monday night spot, Tiger High brought their charged-up, riveting garage rock to San Francisco delivering a set that at least this attendee did not expect. Tiger High has released a few albums, most recently their Catacombs After Party LP, which arrives physically on November 13. Like most garage acts, even a well-recorded album never really does justice to the tuneage. Which is a great thing for someone originally experiencing Tiger High in the live setting.

Frontman Jake Vest delivered very impassioned vocals (just look at the pics) while blistering through some lightning quick, technical guitar work. If you check out the photo series, you’ll see a blurred hand racing around the pickups. You could blame that on beer and bad shutter speed adjustments, but that would be taking away from the skill of Vest’s playing. While most garage acts bring the volume and heightened presence of sound, Tiger High complemented this with nuanced musicianship and intricate breakdowns/bridges. Tiger Blood self-describes themselves as “a tight knit group of musicians” which I found very accurate considering how well Vest’s three bandmates backed and supported him. On a meta level, I ruminated on how many people are down on “the state of indie” and “the health of the industry”. While things may not be the brightest on a financial level, the fact that a guy can stumble onto music of this quality on a random Monday night during the opening spot speaks volumes to the access to awesome music available in 2012. Thank you, Tiger High for that. I’ll stop there, but I’d give Catacombs After Party a listen below, but try and catch them live if you can to get the full deal. Tour dates included.

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Tiger High Tour Dates

Tuesday Nov 6th San Francisco, CA @ F8 Warehouse
Wednesday Nov 7th TBA
Thursday Nov 8th Santa Cruz @ the Jury Room w/ Organs, The Wild Ones, & Bummer City
Friday Nov 9th San Jose @ Caravan Tavern w/ Dirty Pillows
Saturday Nov 10th Bakersfield, CA w/ Choirs
Sunday Nov 11th TBA
Monday Nov 12th @ Alley Party in Pomona w/ Black Elephant and Deathtrip Forever
Tuesday Nov 13th KXLU Live Radio Show 5pm
Tuesday Nov 13th Los Angeles @ the Redwood w/ Feeding People, Wild Pack of Canaries, Blank Tapes
Wednesday Nov 14th Fullerton, CA @ Burger Records
Thursday Nov 15th TBA
Friday Nov 16 San Diego, CA @ Tower Bar w/ Stalins of Sound, Dirty Sirens, & DJ Craig Oliver
Saturday Nov 17th Tijuana, Mexico @ AMF Festival w/ Crystal Antlers, Pangaea, Lovely Bad Things
Sunday Nov 18th Fullerton, CA @ Burger Records

2 thoughts on “Photos & Review: Tiger High at Bottom of the Hill | San Francisco

  1. Tiger High “Catacombs After Party” comes out November 13th 2012 on Trashy Creatures Records and Burger Records. The debut Tiger High LP “Myth Is This” was released April 3rd 2012 on Trashy Creatures & Burger.

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