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Dead Meadow with The Child Ballads at The Velvet Lounge in Washington, D.C. 7/6/03
So I went off to the Velvet Lounge on a Sunday night to experience two bands that Id never heard before, but I did have some expectations for the performance. After all, Dead Meadow was just recently signed to Matador Records, and I heard that they had a taste for noise rock, which is especially entertaining to me in the live arena. Although Dead Meadow has been together about six years, The Child Ballads, who opened the concert, happened to be performing the second show of their career. In all honesty, it was probably a chance to see The Child Ballads that brought me out, because this is the new band fronted by none other than Stuart Lupton, the DC local who moved to New York with some friends and ended up fronting Jonathan Fire*Eater. The band overtook the New York rock scene by storm for a short while in the late nineties. Their clever use of Farfisa organ seemed like a perfect complement to Stuarts twisted storytelling. However, after signing a huge deal with Dreamworks, Jonathan Fire* Eater soon broke up, and it took a few years for most of the band members to emerge from the Fire*Eater shadow enough to reform as current New York indie darlings, The Walkmen. So all this brings us back to The Child Ballads second show providing, at least for me, a rare peak at what Stuarts been up to since the break up. And any Jonathan Fire*Eater fan will be happy to hear that Stuart has lost none of his fascinating quirks. He opened the show by reading what I hope was an imaginary letter from his girlfriend/drummer that documented the adventures of their sadly drowned son of eighteen years who was currently lying on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. From one stream of bizarre consciousness to another, Stuart thoroughly amused the crowd for over 5 minutes before grabbing his acoustic guitar and opening with a solo piece that proved his musical skills are also as intact as ever. At that point, another impressive guitarist and a drummer soon joined him onstage, and I was happy to see them rock out to a sort of lullaby track that seemed to fit The Child Ballads theme quite well. Both Stuart and the new guitarist worked some great guitar riffs, and their melodic touch reminded me of a lo-fi version of Elvis Costello. Next they brought out a choice Syd Barrett cover, as they rocked Wined and Dined like it was the opening track to some lost Big Star record. They ended with a pleasant enough song called Dont Forget Me (or something like that) which sounded like it had a Wilco-ish vibe, though a bit more modest and sincere than your average Jeff Tweedy track. Then Dead Meadow took over, and their Velvet Lounge fans were anxious and ready. This three-piece from DC had their dirges pinned down into a tight framework of seven minute jams that built up layers of guitar noodles alternating with bursts of noise and tempo changes. The show was cool, and the band has obviously pushed a lot of the right buttons to earn a loyal following at their live shows. As a first time observer, my criticisms could simply be descriptions of a sound problem, but I did get a bit tired of the drummers very loud cymbals which seemed to be used on every beat in a few of the songs. This just distracted from the fabulous low-pitch guitar grinding, and I couldnt help but think that the loud bass-lines were also adding a rigid structure to songs that could otherwise be showcasing the chaotic noises of the lead guitarist. So which noise-rock band does Dead Meadow sound-like? Id argue against the My Bloody Valentine and Mogwai comparisons, simply because the rhythm section was a bit too rigid to create the kind of drifting atmosphere I associate with those bands. And Dead Meadow has somewhat of a jam-like feel to their songs that certainly screamed Led Zeppelin to me. Perhaps the best band to categorize them with is a current band like My Morning Jacket, who also chooses to mix psychedelia with metal in a way most indie rockers would rarely attempt. Ultimately, Dead Meadow is a bit tricky to compare at all, which likely explains their supportive fanbase, who seems to like them just the way they are. A few of their tracks even culminated in the noisy chaos that I was waiting to hear, so I feel like Dead Meadows new LP will be a good one to keep an eye out for.
Releases from Dead Meadow can be purchased at Amazon, Insound & CDUniverse LEFT OFF THE DIAL's Dead Meadow page About LOTD Contact/Staff Advertise Home All content © LEFT OFF THE DIAL 2001-2005. All rights reserved. |
