I had been waiting to catch Helms Alee live for some time now and was beyond stoked to see that they would be a part of Crucial Fest this year. The bands latest album Sleepwalking Sailors, has been on constant rotation ever since it came out in February of this year. Well all my waiting to see Helms Alee’s live show was worth it. This band absolutely slayed live, Ben Verellen’s guitar playing was fierce and soared all over the place and Dana James bass tone was absolutely legit, but the highlight was watching drummer Hozoji Mathes0n-Margullis’ crazy and unique drumming style. Mathes0n-Margullis was like a less hairy and more controlled version of Animal from the Muppet’s! Another killer aspect of the show was witnessing how intricate the bands vocal work is with Verellen adding in the pirate like howls and wails and the female’s of the group countering with chant like dual vocal harmonies.  These vocals are one of the more interesting elements of Helms Alee’s sound, but it’s something that needs to be witnessed live to truly appreciate the complexity of the arrangements. The band played second to last in this showcase and was given a bit longer set time than the other bands half hour sets, which I was grateful for because it gave them an opportunity to play a a variety of songs from their entire discography. After the show I stalked Verellen outside of the bathroom just so I could introduce myself and tell him how awesome his band was. So Ben if your reading this sorry for being a creep, but thanks for being so nice, hahaha! Also, shout out to the all three band members for hanging around the entire next day and checking out all the other bands’ sets. I love it when bands support each other. – Jon

Catch HELMS ALEE Live - Tonight June 20th in CALGARY at Sled Island Fest at 12:30am at Dicken's Pub.