Dark Meat at the Drake Hotel; Thursday September 25, 2008

Dark Meat at the Drake Hotel; Thursday September 25, 2008.

I went into this show knowing nothing. I had the sheer expectation of a party, and a party was exactly what I got. Please meet Dark Meat… They’re a garage rock outfit that gives Broken Social Scene a run for their money in band numbers. For starters it’s really refreshing to see a band do something completely unconventional. Dark Meat’s sound is nothing out of the ordinary, they do however present it in a much different fashion. For starters their size is massive, they consist of about fifteen mid-twenty-somethings who play an array of instruments. OK so to divide this from broken social scene… Their sound is completely different. Musically they are not the strongest band, they don’t have spot on vocals, they don’t have pretty musical interludes throughout. This band does however through their massive orchestration create a lively musical mash up that has more energy than most of what Broken Social Scene has put out to date. Dark Meat are from Atlanta, Georgia, thankfully they don’t sound like it. They’re made up of a bunch of seriously cute girls playing different instruments… Half moon tambourine, the clarinet, the piccolo and vocals. The girls’ vocals bring a sweeter element to the music that take the edge off the lead singer’s rough vocals. Although the women are far out numbered there’s a nice contrast of musical instruments women aside… The men eagerly play a variety of instruments (not just the conventional rock band set up!!). This gig being at the Drake meant a tiny stage, throughout the entire set there was a guy running around play a wide array of musical instruments. For the first tune he played a large brass instrument that looked like a tuba but wrapped himself around in it… It reminded me of an instrument in Dr. Seuss’ Mulberry Street or something you’d see in a school band set up. He later moved on to rubber bins as percussion, playing it in the crowd. What I found most odd was that they played their most energetic song first. It was most action packed, it was long and had by far the most epic ending. They finished it off with confetti and streamers everywhere. The brass guy that found himself playing in the audience used a leaf blower to push out the confetti, he later continued to power the leaf blower at people in the crowd, which I found to be the funniest thing ever! At that time the tambourine/singer jumped into the crowd with pompoms and cheered like she was on the high school team. This show was played to a crowd of perhaps twelve people (bar tenders included). I always find gigs super rough to attend when they’re so tight, but this band carried on. I had a very relaxed word with the brass/percussion/confetti guy and he said big or small it’s all the same to play. The crowd seemed really into it, although small in number everyone was dancing by the end of it. Members of the band occasionally jumped out to dance too, just a really nice atmosphere. Vice (Magazine) picked them up, so there must be something good about them whether it's for popularity sake or for actual musicianship. I'm leaning to the latter!I hope they come again, and I hope they play at a super small venue, hopefully with a better turn out too! Best dance party of the month by far, a better work out than a run!

September 26, 2008