Haardvark, Gravedodger, Soothsayer
- Bleeding Priest
- 6 days ago
- 3 min read
Makeout Room
San Francisco, CA
April 24, 2026
The Makeout Room is a venue in SF that I’ve been to only a handful of times in all the years living here. They rarely put on a show I’d be interested in seeing. In fact they rarely put on shows at all it seems like. Nevertheless I do like this spot and look forward to seeing more heavy(ish) shows there.
The entertainment for this evening’s gig was provided by Haardvark, Gravedodger and Soothsayer. Soothsayer are a relatively new band that I had yet to see. I was very much looking forward to their set being that two very talented ladies and dear friends of mine are in the band. Those ladies being Liz from Castle and Tula from Theya.
The two of them in a band together can’t fail…and it didn’t. At the core of this group are a rock solid trio of musicians in Liz, Tula and the drummer whose name I don’t know. They had a great, heavy, somewhat sludgy groove with catchy riffs. Very solid.
The curious thing about Soothsayer was the fourth member who was on keys and second guitar. I’m not entirely clear what her role in the band is. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE the addition of keys in heavy music. The possibilities are endless and can expand a band's sound to a whole new level.
Unfortunately that wasn’t really happening here. The key parts (that were audible) seemed disconnected from what the rest of the band were doing. It’s unfair to make a be all and end all judgment on this being that the venue had limited sound capacity and her parts were being drowned out by the bludgeoning of the other three members. I’d very much like to hear a proper recording of these songs so I can get a better grasp on what the keyboard parts are all about. Like I said, I’m pro keyboard.
The other curious thing was the bullhorn Liz was using between songs. Her and Tula had a bit of banter going on but I couldn’t make out what the banter was. It kind of broke up the flow of the set a little bit. Curiosities aside I really dug what they were doing and look forward to what they have on the horizon.
Up next were Gravedodger from Oakland. I’ve seen these guys before (at The Bottom Of The Hill I believe) and thought they were good. At this show however their energy level did not match the level I had seen prior. The real issue was the vocals. They were pretty much nonexistent. You can’t blame the PA because I had no problem hearing Liz or the singer from the headliner. Dude’s voice was just not projecting at all. Their music ranges from the most typical Sabbathy stuff to the most adventurous. Think of it like this, it’s like hearing “Children Of The Grave” going right into “All Moving Parts Stand Still”. A true Sabbath fan will understand that reference.
When they’re doing the latter type of stuff it was absolutely thrilling. If they continued in that direction they would really have something special. Being that Shane comes from the quirky, forward thinking band Walken I know he has the ability to take the band’s songwriting to the next level.
Lastly we had Haardvark. I have no idea where these weirdos (I mean that lovingly) are from. Trying to find info on them is a challenge. This trio were one of the most unique bands I’d seen in a long time. Already they earned my respect. They’ve truly created something all their own.
It was like hearing the first three Rush albums if Frank Zappa was in charge or something. It was a loose but very well played performance. You could tell they don’t take themselves too seriously. I guess with a name like Haardvark how could you. While all this was going on the two guys up front were doing synchronized moves ala ZZTOP. It was a great set. I would totally recommend checking these guys out if you ever get the chance.
–Bleeding Priest
