Philzone.org - Philzone Phansite Community Discussion Board: Setlists and Reviews: Non GD Related Reviews: Archive: New Monsoon, Fillmore, 2/9/08

nice reveiw Emily, I am seeing New Monsoon Friday night

Thanks for taking the time to put these reviews together, Emily. Always a pleasure to read your take on things.



>>>EOTO was heavy on all the electronic nonsense...

On a whim, last night I made the drive to Eureka to see EOTO at the Red Fox Tavern. Took me a while to warm up to their brand of slow-building layered electronica, but by the end of the first set I was gettin' into it. The ubiquitous presence of Humboldt herbal medicinals certainly added to the show's appeal. No doubt the addition of a jammy guitarist would've made the music much more enjoyable, but hey, up here in far northern NorCal we've gotta take the few cool shows that come our way.


Been a while since I last saw New Monsoon (back when they still had Marty, and just after they added Ron Johnson on bass), but I see they're playing two shows up here in the hinterlands on Feb. 22 & 23, and you can bet I'll be there.
http://www.newmonsoon.com/
http://profile.myspace.com/newmonsoon

I really liked Ron Johnson, he brought some great funk with him, too bad he's was only temporary!

The core 3 really shine in this lineup, Jeff and Bo have really stepped up their game.

***Leave this here review, do not put it anywhere else, please and thank you***

Thanks for repeating that, I think it's important for people to see.

>>>They both got the job done, but really I won't be sad to see them go.

They just temporary as well, or is this merely assuming the inevitable changes?

Emily - one of your more critical reviews, most of which I'd agree with.

Show had some pretty hot moments, but I think the band hasn't had quite the same feel since the departure of the percussion team and bass player(s). Thought the first set had some pretty hot moments, as did the 2nd. I liked the opening of the 2nd set with the Cheese percussionists, Kang (who wasn't all that noticeable) and Carbone - that was pretty cool. Some nice work by Jason, especially. Tim really makes the whole thing that much better, and he and Jeff seemed to be having a blast riffing off each other at times.

Highlights for me were probably the Velvet Pouch and Mountain Air, and then the start of the 2nd set, Dark Star, Daddy Longlegs and Alaska in the 2nd. Bridge of the Gods is also one of my favorite "heavy" tunes. Unfortunately, had to take my wife out to the car and missed most of Walrus on the way back in, but that did sound pretty good.

I've got to say that the "Don't Let it Bring You Down" seemed a bit weak. Probably not a great tune to cover, and Jeff's vocals were just not right for this tune - way too low on the register, and he's not really that great a vocalist to begin with (though I think his voice has improved over the years). Hard to do justice to Neil's unique vocal stylings. Still, I respect them for trying it. The "Dark Star" was good musically, but also a bit lacking on the vocals - it's tough to cover a tunes with singers like Young and Stills when it comes to the vocal parts.

I thought some of the new tunes that I hadn't heard before (Modus Operandi?) were pretty good and seem like they add something to the setlist. All in all, a very fun night that pretty much delivered the goods.

Oh, and surprisingly, the floor seemed to have a good amount of room, especially more towards the back. Clearly, not quite a sell out.

>>Emily - one of your more critical reviews<<

Well, makes sense that I'm more likely to go shows I'll like For example, There's three Umphrey's shows this weekend, I'm likely to write a highly critical review of them but you'll never read it because I'm just skipping the shows instead

I've been pretty down on NM since the world beat departure, there's not a solid reason for it, I've never seen a 'bad' NM show, but with the ups and downs of the lineup lately, I've seen a lot less NM than I did a couple years back. I'd travel locally (sonoma, santa cruz) to see them but those days are long past, it's hometown or nothing for me these days.

That said, this was an especially great night, the stars aligned and I had a fabulous evening straight on through 'til the wee hours of the morning I think had it been a straight New Monsoon show without the fun cover songs and without the kick ass special guests it would have been good, but not great.

The Velvet Pouch and the Mountain Air were probably my favorite NM tunes of the evening. Song for Marie is a special one as well.

Emily,

By critical, I certainly didn't think you were being too harsh. I mean, I don't go to shows that I think aren't going to be good/great either, but sometimes things don't match one's expecations, right?

The only thing I ever remember of yours being actually harsh was a little something about the Phil show with RA at the Fillmore back on '05 - or am I just imagining that. If so, I couldn't have agreed with you more.

No UM for me this weekend, either (though I do have Monday off, so perhaps...). I'm laying low. Kimock's coming up in mid-March at GAMH and some other things I've noted. Adrian Belew next weekend at Slim's - that might be worth checking out (never seen him w/o Crimson).

SBD is up on the archive

http://www.archive.org/details/nm2008-02-09.sbd.fl ac16

I thought this show was outstanding and listening to it again only confirms that. I left the Fillmore on a cloud feeling elated that the Bay Area has another stellar jamband with all the right influences that will playing frequently in the region. My official review:
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/music/concerts/55339/ new-monsoon-end-of-time-observatory/

Looking forward to next Friday in Santa Cruz...

review of the 2-9-08 EOTO/NM Fillmore show on JamBase, with some of Sueshi's pics
http://www.jambase.com/Articles/Story.aspx?StoryID =12921

Ive been listening to this show some. Great musical landscapes but there is an abundance of keyboard cheese. New Monsoon needs to put the guitar louder in the mix... they have a great one that is barely heard.