[kj] (OT) Secret Machines Gig Tonight

[TB]

Just got home from LA seeing The Secret Machines at the pretty tiny El Ray 
Theater.

These guys are going to be huge, mark my words. I mean, U2, Led Zep, Pink 
Floyd huge.

The El Ray theater is probably the size of a small movie theater, maybe 
holds about 800 people tops. The last time I saw a show there was in late 
'03 for Killing Joke.

Walking in, right off I knew this was going to be something unique.

The stage was in the round, set up the middle of the floor, which because 
the floor isn't much bigger than a large living room, means the stage took 
up the entire floor, butting right up to the soundboard near the back of the 
room. This meant people only stood at the furthest, maybe 20 feet back from 
the stage, in fact people could stand on the regular elevated stage most 
acts normally use for shows here. They had the speakers and lights on a 
circular rig over the stage that I'd guess was about 25 feet in diameter and 
all their and amps, guitars and gear was rather haphazardly stacked on the 
risers under this rig with each of the three members facing each other with 
their back pretty much to the audience. In a way, there really wasn't a 
perfect spot to stand, but there really wasn't a bad spot either. Throughout 
the show, I stood right next to the drummer, right behind the 
singer/keyboard player, and lastly, moved over near the guitarist, all 
within about 5 feet of the players at all times.

They played a pretty balanced mix of the best material off their 2 albums, 
leading off with their current single, "Alone Jealous and Stoned" followed 
by "The Road Leads Where It's Led." Most of the songs were extended beyond 
the album versions with long, drawn out passages and although there was a 
point mid set where it kind of dragged a bit, I really can't fault the set 
overall.

Musically, the three are faultless players and really tight considering this 
is the start of a major tour. Their drummer is perhaps the most rock solid 
and just plain impressive time keeper I've ever seen. The guy sounds like 
John Bonham reincarnated and is really the lynchpin of the band.

The bands' sound is pretty much what you'd get if you had John Bonham, The 
Edge from U2 and maybe a grittier, more talented (and less pretentious) 
version of the singer from Coldplay in a band.

The only thing I could say against the band at this point is that they 
really don't relate to the audience on a personal level at all and have 
almost zero stage presence, a fact exacerbated by the way the stage is set 
up so that they face each other and not "up front" on a stage facing the 
audience like a typical rock band. Still, the set up was like being in 
someone's living room watching 3 guys on the cusp of something really 
amazing playing great music for themselves with the audience as intimate 
bystanders.

The audience was definitely on the quiet side although always into the show, 
but the respectful crowd really suited the music perfectly. This wasn't a 
"rawk" concert.

They had a crew filming the show so maybe this'll show up at some point on a 
dvd or something.

Seeing tonight's show, I felt the same as when I've seen other bands like 
Jane's Addiction, U2 and Guns n' Roses just starting out in tiny settings in 
the 80's, just knowing that I've seen something pretty damn special. Even 
though they're kind of a throwback to trippy acid rock like early Pink Floyd 
maybe, it's still nice to see and hear a band taking this kind of music to a 
new level.

After being a bit disappointed with the new album, I thought they could fall 
into a kind of diluted "Coldplay meets Pink Floyd" commercialism, but 
frankly, after seeing tonight's show, I think these guys have a great future 
charting new territory that will defy categorization.

T.B.