Black Elk takes night at Dante's

Black Elk / photo by simplyseth

Headlining act Jucifer’s overzealous equipment may have been the main presence onstage at Dante’s last night, on the evening of August 27th, but it was only for Black Elk’s humble presence that the audience rejoiced. The constant cheering from the crowd, coupled with a triumphant set from Black Elk, confirmed what some of us have suspected since this Portland metal band’s beginning: nothing is able to stop these madmen.

An obstacle as simple as a small stage overflowing with the headliner’s equipment proved to hold back nothing from Black Elk’s amazing performance, which was in truth equally overflowing, but with crowd-pleasing energy and haunting aggression. Opening acts liCKIty and Witch Mountain drifted far into the backgrounds of peoples’ minds as soon as the four doom-bringers of Elk stepped out. And never letting their egos get the best of them, Black Elk seemed to have only one concern: pleasing their fans. Boy did they deliver!

It certainly was a good thing Black Elk showed up to play last night. Otherwise, there would have been no reason for any of us to show up either.