Concert Review II

Last night I attended my second concert. It wasn't a strict technosonics concert, but was instead a traditional performed a full set, half of the time with the accompaniment of a synthesizer, and half without. The band was "Quite my dear," and the played at the Bridge Progressive right off the downtown mall.

I was interested to do a comparison of the two "versions" of the band because I was skeptical as to much of a difference the introduction of digital sounds to their instrumental sound would make. I was surprised at how wrong I was.

First off, and I imagine this helped significantly, the band was very good. The two guitarist/vocalists knew what they were doing and could play off each other very well. The Bassist was very good at covering both melodic and rhythmic structures. The drummer, however was something else. He was very impressive, one of the best amateur drummers I have seen since I used to attend state jazz competitions in high school. His ability to take the sounds of the drums where he wanted, while still keeping time and providing a base for the rest of the band was delightful to watch and listen to.

The second thing that impressed me about these gentlemen was the fact that all of their music was written by them: no covers but no simple elementary melodies either.

Now, there straight instrumental music was very good, very straight forward and almost "pure" I would say. It was easy to listen to, and simple fun. While the music was still lighthearted and fun with the addition of the synthesizer, a welcome level of complexity was added.

The synthesizer was used for several different purposes. It was used for an introduction to one piece featuring the sounds of the wind and whooshing noises. For another, it was used for a sine-sounding keyboard instrument.

Through all its use, the synth player (one of the Guitar/vocalists) did a great job of mixing the very different sound of the synthesizer into the rest of the band's composition. Even as it was adding another, very different layer of tonality and texture, it wasn't overlapping or overpowering what was continuing with the bass, the guitar, the vocals or the drum pattern.

Now, the layer of complexity that the instrument added was not just one from another instrument. It was largely because of the significant contrast between the digital and technological sounds coming from the synth, versus the acoustic/electric sounds coming from the rest of the band.

The one criticism I had of the performance, and this was unfortunately especially critical during their acoustic/digital pieces, was their sound levels. The performance venue was not prime for a concert, it was basically a small concrete room. As such, it was hard at times to hear the more delicate parts of the vocals, guitar or synth selections without having them drowned out by the more rhythmic parts of the band's playing.

Overall, I was very impressed by the music. I walked away from the concert especially impressed with how even a subtle introduction of digital music can add such delightful maturity and complexity to a live performance.