Tantric Review

Tantric goes from a double-platinum album national band to playing in front of a crowd of thirty people in Howards Club H in Bowling Green...

Is this a fall from grace for Tantric or a redefining of their musical career?

The answer, in my opinion, is a bit of both.

As my favorite modern-day acoustic rock band, Tantric holds something dear to me in my heart, so I was naturally very excited to hear they were coming to BG to play a show - the last time I saw them it required a thirty minute drive and a long, long, long wait in line.

First off, to the people I've told this to -- I made one mistake -- this was my third time seeing Tantric, not my fourth (although their WILL be a fourth!).

First, an aside: I felt bad for Tantric as they took the stage. Already approaching 1:00am, Howard's was beginning to thin out, with the passive crowded quickly making for the door. Beyond that, however... my thoughts:

The concert was short (about an hour), but Tantric had a chance to rowdy-up what little crowd Howards could present them with. The venue isn't nearly the same arenas that Tantric has been accustomed to playing in, but then again, times are different. With Jesse (bassist) leaving the group to pursue family matters (supposedly), and the band breaking away from Maverisk Records, Tantric has had a chance to refocus their music and direction. Despite hints of huge crowd-pleasing rock anthems on display, the thirty-ish (maybe forty?) people in Howards were at least able to get off their feet and enjoy a ton of classic Tantric rock-riffs, such as "Hey Now," "After We Go," "Astounded," "Mourning," and of course, "Breakdown." A slew of covers from Alice in Chains (their prime musical influence), the Doobie Brothers, and others helped those in the room who were not always familiar with the band.

By far the best of the night, however, was new material that Tantric presented, and from the sound of things, their early-2007 LP will be a return to glory, with edgier, darker, yet always-well-executed acoustic riff-rock bringing back the sounds of thief excellent debut album versus their awesome, yet uninspired sophomore effort. I can't recall any individual song names, but come springtime, I think we'll be hearing a lot more from Tantric.

I certainly can't wait.