The ukulele was on point as Dent and his trio of accompaniments bounced through nearly all his songs, including the Prince cover "When You Were Mine," set opener "Oh, Paris!" and set closer "Meet Me in the Garden," which was surprisingly untrue to its recorded version. All the shooby-do's and varied retro back-up vocals were present, awkwardly piped from the bassist and guitarist. The tropical vibe also persisted, a single lei hanging from a mic stand. While there wasn't much to look at aside from four dudes making pop songs, it was at least a good experience seeing the tunes live. Also, I talked to the drummer, Carr (Dent was chattin up some ladies from his Mississippi hometown), his enthusiasm turning into the solid form of a neon pink "I'm an Alcoholic" coozy. What more can a guy want?
However, A.C. Newman was hardly entertaining. I agree that choreographing seven people on stage to recreate songs is a feat, especially when you've got a violin and four or five part harmonies. The downfall was that each song really sounded the same. I mean, there were self-described "power ballads" and "power waltzes," but everything just seemed like a New Pornographers' b-side. He's playing music which I tend to describe as indie-arena-rock. The sound is huge, but he's playing at the Paradise Rock Club so he can't get that huge turn-out one would expect from such power pop. Perhaps it's cos he's got a lot of competition in Boston for a crowd, but if I wasn't head over heels bout the opener, I'd have skipped it too.
PHOTOS COMING SOON.
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Unrelated:
Not a new track, necessarily, but you can download the first track from the Nodzzz self-titled record "Is She There" right from What's Your Rupture. They have few tour dates coming up, all in San Francisco and Texas, but hopefully they'll come back around soon.
Nodzzz - "Is She There"
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