This was only my second show at the Red Palace. I unfortunately found out that a three band line-up on a weekday starts on time the hard way. So, unfortunately, all I can say about the band Ice Cream's live show is that the bartender thought they were "pretty good." You can download an ep and a demo at their Bandcamp page. They both sound like they were recorded inside a giant trash can. Recording quality aside, the songs sound like they could have been good live. I'll make sure to show up on time the next time they open for two other bands. Promise. Unless Airwolf is on.
Next up was a band I'd heard good things about; Tera Melos. The first thing that struck me as I watched the band set up was the number of pedals they had. Board after board of pedals it seemed. Some had Disney stickers. Some had blinking lights. Some looked space-age. Some looked like they were made in East Germany in the '80s. Both guitarists had theirs, the bass player had his. I think the drummer had a distortion pedal just so he wasn't the only one without one. This made me a little wary. Like they might just play an A-chord and stomp a bunch of pedals and turn it into "Flight of the Bumblebee." While I appreciate technology and what it can do, sometimes I think bands can rely on bells and whistles too much. Thankfully, I had nothing to worry about.
Once all the pedals were plugged in and the power grid for the Eastern seaboard was re-established, Tera Melos ripped into their set. Within seconds the drummer broke a stick and a little piece of plastic went flying off the bass. Dudes meant business. It was frantic, loud, and off-kilter. The guitarists hands were a blur while he carefully danced above his 15 or so pedals. Ferocious sounds with tons of fuzz would suddenly mellow to a clean sound and shift again into a nice groove. And then back again but this time with arcade noises. Like Q-Bert fronts a noise band. The band was tight despite all of the changes and the songs flowed from one to the next. Really interesting, exciting stuff. The kids standing next to me were screaming the words to the songs they knew. When it was over one of them half-shouted toward the stage, "I'll cut my nuts off for you." He then explained to his friends that, to him, that would be the highest form of praise a band could receive. Hmmm.
Here are a few songs from their record, Patagonian Rats, that don't capture their stage energy completely but are still pretty interesting:
Tera Melos - Kelly
Tera Melos - The Skin Surf
Tera Melos - Aped
Now on to the headliner, Ms. Stern. As you may have read in my previous post, there has been some debate about her chops on the guitar. In my opinion, there is no debate. She can play! Yeah, she might loop a couple of things here and there, but whatever. She switches from strums to finger taps effortlessly. It's kind of soothing to watch in a way. You want improv, you got improv. Over a sort of "Levee Breaks" bass jam, Stern and drummer, Vince Rogers, played off of each others cues for five or ten minutes; making eye contact the entire time. Then it all came crashing down in a spectacular ending. Two sips of white wine later, she is back at it with yet another frantically paced number. Stern keeps things fresh, playing up the dance beat in "Ruler" a little more in concert than on the record. Her voice really came through as well. Over weaving guitar and pounding drums in "Transparency is the New Mystery," Stern shouted "It's not enough... I'm not enough." like she was beggin for understanding or forgiveness. I felt emotion in the delivery. It was pretty awesome.She invited Nick from Tera Melos on stage for the final song of the set for that added dose of rawk. Highly recommended.
No new Marnie songs for this post. Check 'em out at the previous one. Couple of YouTube videos and bunch of my crappy pictures after the jump though.
Marnie Stern
Tera Melos
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