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Monday, November 24, 2008
Dumbwaiters rock through the cold at NWB
Posted by Christopher Nadeau on Mon, Nov 24, 2008 at 10:00 AM
New World Brewery on a Saturday night boasts a healthy built in crowd of conversationalists and music lovers respectively. Even with the threatening cold snap on the horizon and very little local media coverage, quite a few people made it out specifically to support the local post-punk rock band Dumbwaiters and the show promoter New Granada Presents.
With the audience drinking cold beer while huddling, humping or gyrating near conveniently located space heaters on the New World patio, I wondered how many people got drawn away from this local show to see the moldy blues rock of Johnny "I played at Woodstock" Winter at Jannus Landing or Guns N' Roses' heroes Nazareth crust rocking at the Largo Cultural Center. Probably none, but our continued cultural emphasis on these old bohemoths roaming the lands and garnering top dollar for performances of contrived, dated music marketed for the sake of nostalgia gets under my skin...
Back at the New World Brewery, Orlando band Kingsbury opened up the show. Playing with a few genre names that are too loaded for me to know what I'm talking about, the "shoegaze" rock band converted me to their mix of noodling lead guitar, controlled feedback, solid Roger Watersy bass lines, stomp box controlled light show and practically whispered, intimate vocals. Their intstrumental breaks worked especially well, mostly because of constant crescendos following "down-tempo" leanings. My two criticisms of the band (too many songs began with singer playing one guitar or one keyboard while singing and sometimes the sound of the band was a little too late Pink Floydish for my tastes) did not tarnish their performance that much. Download a free EP at www.kingsburymusic.net
The second band, Woven from LA, took a long time to set up two electric drum kits and began their set with music I wasn't in the mood for at all. Being the shitty concert reviewer that I am, I left before the first song finished and went with some friends to get some Mema's nachos. Woven might have gotten a lot better, but I'll never know. I got back just in time for Dumbwaiters.
Before reading this next passage, understand my bias: Dumbwaiters remains one of my favorite local bands. That being said, their mix of raw guitar, pleasant yet caucaphonous keyboard, bass, drums and crisp vocals really sounded great at the New World last night. Dumbwaiters took the stage right as the cold wind really took hold of the evening/early morning with unreasonable intensity compared to the previous three hours. Its not every day the breath of a singer becomes visable with every exhale in the Sunshine State. Through their angular sound with lots of cross chatter and interplay between instruments, their deconstructed songs carried them through the pitfalls of a pirate hat that kept floating around, numbness from the cold and a brand new bassist. The "lead" guitarists' meanderings and violent strummings really affected the mood of the set in a galvinizing way for me. All in all, a really fun and engaging performance.
Or you could have gone to see Nazareth...
Comments (4)
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Nice review, Chris. And, I agree, sadly, classic rock and beach bar bands are Florida staples. Maybe it's because all the people doing the booking for city-sponsored events are all over 50 years old? Or maybe they're the only ones who will tour down into Florida for less than a thousand dollars. We've always had our work cut out for us.
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Thanks! I think the age thing is definitely an issue. Also, its so easy to base your musical tastes on the familiar or tried and true rather than finding new sounds that might challenge your preconceptions a little.
