Black Box Revelation - I cringe a little bit as a duo comes out on guitar and drums. I don't know why, as I have long given up my reluctance to accepting these down-sized bands. Some work a lot better than others, so I allow myself a bit of skepticism. But this Brussels-based duo succeeds pretty quickly with me by playing sharp garage blues rock somewhere in the obvious neighborhoods of the White Stripes and the Black Keys. The guitar work was excellent and the sound was dense, fuzzy and reminded me of a simpler Mudhoney at times. The drums were pretty basic, but he had that extra pop that kept things moving forward. And the last spacey psyche-out rocker showed plenty of pace and excitement making this a very enjoyable set.
Steve Gullick
Beady Eye - Aside from hearing some middling mainstream rock songs, the only thing I recall about the band Oasis was those wacky feuding Gallagher brothers. But when I imagine myself of my four best friends working with our brothers, then what is to make fun of? Well, we probably would not have made it quite so public. But hey, Oasis is done, the brothers have their respective musical projections and this one seemed just a little bit interesting to me. Liam Gallagher is the voice and this line-up has many of the most recent Oasis players aboard within its 2-guitar, rhythm section and keyboards player combination. The lighting is stark white for the first song with film studio type lighting on stage. Later, colors are carefully used for each song with various rear projections of slides and film. It was a slick look for slick music. Despite one of my friend's specific assertions of my knowledge of British rock, I really don't know Oasis well enough to compare. I never really enjoyed a lot of that era's music, but I did get some of the same vibes here tonight as I have had from Echo and the Bunnymen and the Smiths. These are sharp pop rock songs with plenty of guts and traces of psychedelic moves. The pace is varied nicely and it is all easy to get into without feeling too cliched. Even the less moving tunes were well done and there were only a couple of those. Most rocked nicely with strong vocal work and slick sound. It was a bit short of a sell-out, but close enough for everyone to be happy. I am not sure this band has quite the moxy to drive people into a frenzy, but they really delivered a positive set that most people went home happy with their time invested.
Plug of the Night: Forgot to post this and it features bands I have seen before and recommend. And although I may not be able to make it, The Jet Age, Deathfix, and the Mean Ideas are playing Comet Ping Pong, tonight, Dec. 9th. Check it out if you want to see some excellent local music.g
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