November 12, 2009
For three seemingly endless years, Cosmo (that's me) and Wanda have tried many a time (and failed many a time) to see a little band called MuteMath, a.k.a. only the most brilliant band ever, in concert. If you know me, you know I've been trained as a writer (and especially as a journalist) to avoid absolutes. But here are three reasons MuteMath really is the most brilliant band ever.
3. The drummer, Darren King, has to duct tape his headphones to his head during shows or he'll lose them. His talent is simply... illuminating.
2. They filmed the music video for Typical backwards. Singing. Drumming. Everything.
1. They more or less invented an instrument, called the Atari, out of an old game system by the same name.
So now we agree that this band is indeed the most brilliant ever, yes? Good. Moving on.
It was a Thursday night at the House of Blues....
The opening band was As Tall As Lions. That's all I have to say about that. Well, and that the singer didn't wear any shoes onstage, which in my experience is the mark of a great musician (but I was too excited for MuteMath to pay the Lions much attention; sorry to any Lions fans out there).
Singer Paul Meany has an unusual sort of voice. It sounded different enough live to have that authentic in-the-room-with-him feel while still having the quality of the recording. Vocal quality, that is; it may have been missing an effect or two. But it was good! Definitely not one of those shows you leave wondering how the band ever got a record deal with a vocalist like that.
Meany's so cool he makes the keytar look cool. Did you know that thing got voted the lamest instrument of all time in some poll or other? Neither did Vicky T. I dunno, the only bands I know with keytars in them are awesome. Someone should revise that poll with MuteMath and Cobra Starship in mind.
I like to refer to Roy Mitchell-Cárdenas as "That Hippie Guy" - in the fondest way possible, of course! Hippie isn't an insult in my book, since I more or less am one. But I mean, look at those shades, and the hair, and the
Not only does That Hippie Guy play a mean regular bass; he plays a six-foot-tall upright bass, too! I can't remember all the songs he used it for, but he sure rocked that thing during "Reset." Rocked it like a nice chunk of granite. No, harder than that. Rocked it like a diamond, he did.
And then there's Darren King. Gosh. What can one even say about Darren King? I am in awe every time I see this man pick up a pair of drumsticks on YouTube. To finally see that live was phenomenal. During "The Odds," there was a vertical drum set positioned at the back of the stage beneath the huge arch and King went over and played this vertical drum set. Pretty lights shot out from the drum pads every time he struck them for a kaleidoscopic musical experience.
Later in the song, King returned to his regular old horizontal set, which was hooked up to a bunch of light bulbs. A different one lit up for each drum in his set. So instead of just hearing the rhythm, you could see it, too!
They closed with "Reset," and Meany finally broke out the obligatory gymnastics. The guy was dancing on his keyboard and on the drums. He walked around banging a mandolin with a drumstick for a while. Meanwhile That Hippie Guy was rocking the upright bass harder than your average diamond and King was over there hammering away at the drums...
...and then Meany brought out the Atari. Which he not only rocked, but also allowed those in the first few rows to rock. That included me and Wanda. That's right, yours truly got to play the atari! See the little red knob next to the funny green semi-orb? I played that. Yeah!!
And that, being the encore, was the end of the show.
Of all the concerts I've been to, this was definitely one of the most memorable, and definitely one I'd go to again! If you're not already a fan of MuteMath, please take a minute to check these guys out (start with the Typical video, linked above). If you are a fan and haven't seen them, please make every effort to do so (your life will be better). If you're a fan and you've seen them, you know what I mean! See you at the next show, my friend.
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