The content of this live review was originally posted on the online music and popular culture magazine I See Sound on 11 Feb 2006.
Back in September, [I See Sound writer] Jeff Snyder had a chance to review his first Black Rebel Motorcycle Club show for I See Sound. Now it was my turn. Owning BRMC’s last two albums, I was excited to see how the band would alternate from their earlier to more recent material.
The 500 or so people in attendance slowly trickled in throughout the first two bands’ performances.
It all started with The Morning After Girls, from Australia. The PA began by playing a phased out intro. Sacha Lucashenko walked out, picked up his acoustic guitar and began playing under the recorded intro. Soon it was just the acoustic guitar. Then Aime’e Nash walked out. She sang a beautiful song. Their bass player, Scott Von Ryper, played a synth part. Then the other members walked out. The show was starting out mellow, but showed signs of complexity and diversity.
As soon as the first song was completed, someone yelled out, “Your guys album kicks ass,” and requested the song “Hi-Skies,” which they didn’t play.
The band changed instruments throughout the set. First there were 3 hollowbody guitars, bass and drums creating a wall of sound. Then Nash put down the electric guitar to play the keyboard, then percussion, before going back to the electric guitar. With four vocalists (everyone but the drummer sings) and varying instrumentation (all electric guitars to keyboard, acoustic guitar, and harmonica), this band showed strong diversity and seemed to be a good fit as an opener for Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.
The majority of their 6 song set was fluid. They would end songs with most of the band practically cutting out of songs while one or two members would continue melodic or feedback induced lines into the next song in this 30 minute set. After their final song, “Shadows Evolve,” when the house lights came on, I was hoping the band would keep playing, but sadly their allotted time was over.
The second band was New York City’s Elefant. The instrumentalists of the band took their spots on stage and waited for their lead singer, Diego Garcia. The first sound the audience heard was the intro to The Who’s “Baby O’Reilly.” Elefant’s guitarist, Mod, played the Pete Townsend-esque downbeat to begin “Uh Oh Hello.” Out walked Garcia, with a slow meander. They played songs from their forthcoming album The Black Magic Show. Most of their songs sounded retro in an 80’s English style with songs that resembled The Strokes or other current “The” bands.
Musically this band was pleasing. The drummer, Kevin McAdams, was a hard hitter. He got into the songs to the point where he stood up while continuing to beat his toms and cymbals. Mod and the bass player, James Jeffrey Berrall, played each note with enthusiasm. Garcia’s stage presence was a let down. He tried to get the crowd into the performance. He jumped off the stage and sang one song from the protective gate in front of the stage. While some of the people at the front of the audience seemed to enjoy his antics, Garcia appeared half hearted and without much energy.
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club began with Peter Hayes alone on acoustic playing “Restless Sinner,” off the band’s latest release, Howl. The band picked things up by continuing to showcase Howl. “Shuffle Your Feet” and “Ain’t No Easy Way” made the set start with strong momentum. They mixed the set with songs from all three of their full length releases. This band mixes the sound of modern Brit pop with their take on blues rock. The blues induced songs were more energetic and drove the set.
They had a great stage set up. As soon as they started playing, fog began to fill the stage. By the end of the set, the smoke completely covered the stage. You couldn’t even see the drummer, Nick Jago. The stage had 4 par cans and 2 strobe lights in the back to silhouette the band with focused lighting coming from below and in front of the singers. With all the smoke on stage, it was amazing these guys could sing as well as they did.
The 3 piece showed amazing versatility while playing a great set. Hayes played a multitude of instruments, changing guitars while playing harmonica, keyboards, trombone, and accordion. Robert Levon Been played some guitar, upright piano, and keyboards, but mostly maintained the bass lines. They added a 4th member, Spike, for some of the songs. With a versatility similar to Hayes and Been, the addition of Spike increased both their wall of sound and energy.
After playing for over an hour and a half, Been came back out to begin the encore. He informed the crowd that Hayes was not feeling well, so he’d come out in a moment. First Been played a solo song. Then Hayes came out to showcase one of his songs on acoustic guitar. If he was under the weather, no one could tell from his performance this evening. Then the full band kicked in to a few songs before they ended with feedback and noise that lead into the final song. They ended the 2 hour set with Hayes singing and playing accordion and Been playing a keyboard and adding additional vocals. For the first time all night, you could hear Hayes voice crack from his ailment.
Their encore showcased the musical variety and dynamics Black Rebel Motorcycle Club present. The band is able to play upbeat rock songs or draw the audience into their balladry while showing influences that range from rockabilly, Brit pop, indie rock, classic rock, country, and punk. With each visit to the Queen City, the band garners a larger audience. And rightly so.
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