The evening started with Tyler Fyre and Thrill Kill Jill, two sideshow performers that swallow swords, insert nails into their noses and perform other such freak show acts. You never really expect “breaking a cinderblock on crotch” to be the opening act of a concert, but sure enough…
From there it was time for Damon & Company to take over the evening. The band has only played a handful of shows together, but they all came off sounding as though they had been playing as a group for years. Couldn’t ask for a tighter show in the early history of a band.
Last night’s performance had everything that last year’s Demon Days live performances lacked. This show felt way more like the high-energy shows for which Blur was more well-known. This may be because the live Gorillaz performances featured Damon playing with band session musicians.
This band truly is the sum of all its parts, with every member contributing to the performance. Paul lays down amazingly funky bass lines, while Tony Allen locks in on really tight beats, and Simon’s guitar work was perfect.
The band rocked through their album in sequential order and then encored with Doghouse and Mr. Whippy. Doghouse took the shape of an open, dub-style jam that featured Damon moving from piano to melodica. Mr. Whippy was a song I hadn’t heard before and featured a rapper from Syria. Overall, it was an amazing night of music and one of the better debuts I can expect a newish band to make.
(And just for good measure, here’s another nice shot…)
0 Responses
this album is one of my faves as of late. great shots! And not just that last one.
Definitely best album of 2007 so far