When I walked into the National Theater in Richmond, Virginia to see Minus The Bear play, I really wasn’t sure what I was getting into.  I knew I had listened to them before and that, at a cursory listen, I’d enjoyed what I heard. But before the band’s latest album, their Dangerbird Records debut Omni, I hadn’t sat down to enjoy them. So I spent the couple of days prior to the show absorbing Omni and preparing.

My expectations were shattered — or, perhaps “blown away” would be a better way of putting it. What I assumed would be a low-key, mellow little indie rock show turned out to be an intense display of rock n’ roll vehemence.

I have a friend whom I knew to be a big fan of the band, so I brought him along both to take pictures and to use as a gauge to compare my more or less virgin experience with the band to that of a longtime fan. The show was a success by both measures. I became instantly enveloped in the energy of the crowd, which was feeding directly off the band. Minus The Bear’s music isn’t the most in-your-face, rock n’ roll tour de force out there, but they certainly try their hardest to make it come off that way and they do a damn good job of it. There’s no better feeling than knowing that a band is giving its all and giving the crowd exactly what it wants and then some.

The opening acts, Young The Giant and Everest, were a nice warm up for the main event and neither band crimped on the others’ sound. But by the end of the night those two bands seemed insignificant, like they were put in place only to test our patience. But, other than for the opportunity to see Minus The Bear perform each night, I can’t say I envy anybody who has to try and put on an impressive show next to them.

I want to see Minus The Bear play again. I want to make sure everyone I know goes to see them. Maybe if I had been a bigger fan going in I wouldn’t have been as blown away, but I’m glad I got the experience of becoming a convert — and now I want to spread the gospel.