So this past Thursday, Mom, Some Guy, and Menomena played a tiddy little show at the Granada and SRO was there to take it in. I call this; A show in three parts.
After having been to many shows, it’s my opinion that most live performances fall into three broad categories:
1) Your $$$ Worth
2) Cold Toast
3) “The Experience”
Of course, there are variances to this rule. Absolutely disappointing and ear crushingly terrible shows don’t even rank in these categories — neither do the utterly amazing. But most “good” shows, whether it’s Aesop Rock or Ryan Adams find their way into one of these classifications. Last week’s Menomena/All Smiles/Mom show in Dallas was a perfect example, showcasing each of the categorical breakdowns — I’ll start with the headliner, Menomena, and work my way down…
Menomena = Your $$$ Worth (or, the band made you feel good for spending money you earned): Seeing Menomena was exactly as I expected it to be. Their live sound is an almost perfect replication of what you hear on the album — albeit with a little more of a rocky edge. They played the songs everyone wanted to hear from Friend and Foe (Muscle n’ Flo, The Pelican, Wet & Rusting, etc.), as well as a good handful of songs from I Am the Fun Blame Monster. The crowd at the Granada Theater was incredibly receptive and the band was appreciative. (Really appreciative. I think they thanked the crowd over fifteen times.) One of the best things about their live show was the variety of instruments they use like a glockenspiel or some big ass horn (saxophone?). Plus the keyboardist, Brent Knopf, wore some white slacks that were….interesting. Essentially, the show was great and Menomena proved their ‘hot shit’ band status by delivering the amazing show that everyone was there to see. Basically, you get your moneys worth — easily.
All Smiles = Cold Toast (or, bored me to the brink of suicide): Can you think of something worse than cold toast? Well of course you can, but that doesn’t mean that cold toast is something you’d want to pay to stand around and watch at a show or eat at a table. All Smiles (Jim Fairchild from Grandaddy’s band), is like - how do I say this gently - the color beige. Granted, they didn’t offend us. Or sound terrible. They played well and it wasn’t bad, but all that being said, it wasn’t that good either. The songs were forgettable and quite simply it was like a piece of cold toast… like the kind they give to prisoners.
Mom = The Experience (or, that unexpected 20 dollar bill you find in a forgotten jacket pocket): If you haven’t heard of Mom, it’s entirely understandable. Their demos and Ep were entirely self-released and featured not only damn-fine music, but delicately hand-crafted cd sleeves and now, have completely sold out.
Mom @ the Granada
Mom - Green Echo
Research on the band is also difficult. Try googling “Mom.” I dare you. Access to their music will be much easier in the near future though — the band recently joined on with a Dallas-based label, Pancakes for Mattie, so anticipate a full-length release sometime this summer. (SRO will stay on top of that and I’ll guarantee you, it will be well worth the wait.) Mom is an instrumental duo that utilizes violin, cello, guitar, percussion, and a massive amount of electronics and pedals to create (through looping and other various electronic trickery) beautiful songs. Their music is pensive, with slowly building melodies and themes that lend a delicate and almost impish quality to their sound. Their stage set-up is littered with hand-crocheted yarn squids and little hand-sewn stuffed animals. (You can buy them after the show at the merch table.) On their cds, they sound great; however, watching them create their sound live is an amazing experience. Those in the crowd who showed up never having heard of Mom were given a show they never would have expected. It’s the kind of performance that transcends the recorded songs and becomes something larger and more memorable. It’s why I keep going to shows.
hey my brothers in the mom