Dead Meadow - Gig Review

2nd March, 2008.

The venue was the lovely Scala in King's Cross, London.
The band exciting my senses on this particular day was the swaggering Dead Meadow; with excellent support from Oxford veterans Youth Movies. Oh, there was also another support band, but I missed their set...they go by the name of The Owl Service, and I mean them no disrespect by missing their performance; but I have to have my smokes. So, in short, I blame the smoking ban.

Anyway, after witnessing the schizophrenic melange of sound that is Youth Movies (who the popular Foals sound like they may have stolen their moves from....hmmm) and going through various feelings of confusion, amazement and points of discontent; out came Dead Meadow.

It was a gig I had been anticipating for some time, after a friend turned me onto their swamp-rock steez on his car stereo. Here was a band that had genuinely captured the elements of the 60's and early 70's hard rock bands and combined the sound with the technological capabilities of today (ie: more volume and guitar effects) and on the lyrical front, thrown in the weird storylines of Lord Dunsany and other fantasy/horror fables.
I love all the bands in the vein of Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and my dear, dear Jimi Hendrix Experience. So, as you can imagine, this band had piqued my interest with the very first wah-laden solo I heard. I thought if they sound this heavy on record, they must really bust some skulls at live sets.
I was not disappointed, (aside from the smoking ban making ALL gigs feel strange these days, let alone a psychedelic-inflected band like DM) as they strutted out and dropped straight into a deliciously sludgy soundmash.

Now, when it comes to describing the sound of Dead Meadow; it is difficult not to use adjectives that have been applied to them several times before (sludge-rock, heavy swamp blues, etc etc.) but I don't think that indicates any limitations to the band themselves. So forgive me if Im using phrases you've heard before; inventing new language isn't high up on my to-do list.

I must also mention I did not know most of their material as I attended the gig, or indeed much about them. They sounded like a California band straight away, but the truth is that they are actually from Washington D.C.; albeit relocated to the Californian pleasures of Los Angeles. As soon as I heard them, I related their sound with that of a 'floatier' Black Sabbath, touches of Creedence Clearwater Revival and United States of America (The band, not the country...*sigh*).
They have 5 studio releases, the latest of which is entitled "Old Growth" and is the prime promotional reason for this tour. It also happens to be my least favorite DM album by some distance, but that is another story for another time...perhaps with some marshmallows.

Either way, after getting the albums shortly after witnessing their firebrand live show, I am able to name some track titles and pick preferences by name. Two of my favorite moments featured "Greensky Greenlake" and "The Whirlings" which both feature guitar textures that seem to be overlooked these days in favor of jangly chords : a decidedly lo-fi sound with meticulous attention to the amount of fuzz applied to it, is how I can best describe it with my limited understanding of guitar effects; but they contribute a great deal to the overall feel of the song thanks to the overdriven bass sound and groove of Steve Kille.
Both the aforementioned tracks also demonstrate the understated and underrated drumming of Stephen McCarty, playing slow, SLOW grooves with embellishments and triplet fills that tip the hat to Bonham and Mitchell.
What was most surprising (to me, at least) about the live show was the amount of solidity and musical understanding the trio were able to conceive given the lack of clarity in sound; and the winding developments and gradual shifts in their compositions; which is perhaps a hint of their minimalist tendencies. However, for all the fuzziness and general noise they created; it was never out of their control, right when you thought it was going to blow a speaker or ignite a front-row head-nodder; they were able to reign it in and shape it to their desire.
One problem that the swirling guitars do cause is making the lyrics very difficult to decipher. Dead Meadow partly wants it to be that way, as on record it is already distant and muffled; so at the live show with the volume cranked hard; it makes it near impossible to make out what singer/guitarist Jason Simon is warbling about.
While the tempo of most of their songs meant that time elapsed is considerably more than usually expected when seeing a live act, it was of no consequence (other than missing the last tube home and having to take a very convoluted route via overground train and night buses, but that is fun every now and then) and certainly did not bear down on anyone's patience.
As the end of their setlist rolled around, they finished with a thunderous climax and left the stage after thanking everyone.....only to return to perform the dreaded encore. It felt somewhat forced and was a minor blemish on an otherwise captivating show; and I know I will be going to see them again after they lived up to their hype as one of the best live psychedelic bands around today.


Love, Peace & Peanut Butter Cups from Reese.