Sondre Lerche at the Mod Club; Monday April 2, 2007

Sondre Lerche at the Mod Club; Monday April 2, 2007. 9/10

I wish i could re-write my review for his album, because after some intense listening to the album: "Phantom Punch" in preparation of the show tonight i have realized how amazing it actually is. Slightly more rockier however it still show cases his brilliant voice and fun enthusiasm he shows within the concert setting. Openers were Willy Mason and Thomas Dybdahl. Thomas Dybdahl was up first, he was from Norway as well. He had a cool blues inspired sound that was super polished. Dybdahl was alone he played guitar, the harmonica and sang. I still can't get around people that can do that, play a great guitar part and play the harmonica, super talented! The majority of his songs were love songs seemingly inspired by one person, two songs to mention: "Adelaide" and "Cecile", where he mentioned that the song "Cecile" was written about the same girl. Throughout this whole set all i could think of was Rocky Votolato, but European. I also thought that his material could easily match the likes of James Morrison or some other hot shot European super star male singer, but we'll see! His sound was great both his playing and vocals were strong, however his songs often seemed to loll or go to slow for my likings, perhaps that's just what i was feeling that night.Willy Mason an American, not Euopean! Had a rough vocal sound and his guitar playing was pretty good, however he talked himself down when he got up on stage saying "Aww it's awful to come on stage right after a guitar player like Thomas Dybdahl". He was too modest. He didn't even mention his name until a person in the crowd asked him what it was, of course i forgot it even though i read the openers beforehand. Mason's sound was rough however he to me sounded like a rougher Rufus Wainwright, similar to his deep sounding vocals. Apparently his band had lost their gear in some kind of car accident and he had just flown here making it just in time... Alone, i found him extremely boring, his songs were cute but the cuteness rubbed off once every song felt like they conglomerated into one. Despite his drone performance, i'm super curious to hear him with his band--perhaps it's better.SONNNNDRE LERCHE. very punctual which always makes me happy! Came on at ten o'clock and played for roughly an hour and a half. The majority of the material was drawn from the newly released album "Phantom Punch". His set: (not in order)Airport Taxi ReceptionThe TapeSay It AllPhantom PunchTragic MirrorFace the BloodWell Well WellShe's FantasticTrack You DownTwo Way MonologueCounter SparkHello Headphones (B-Side of Two Way, unreleased except UK import)Sleep on NeedlesModern NatureEveryone's Rooting For YouMinor DetailThe Curse of Being in LoveHe played "Counter Spark" last! One thing they definately had was loads of fun, so much less routine than other shows i've seen, which i really dug. It was nice to see a band truly doing what they love. For "Counter Spark" which was a request, Lerche said he hadn't played that in three or four years (Off of Two Way Monologue). He wasn't kidding both the drummer and bassist had to glance on Lerche's guitar to see his progression. I really loved his performance of "Tragic Mirror" and "Two Way Monologue", they were super well done and i love them for different reasons. "Tragic Mirror" resonated with the album version where as "Two Way Monologue" was much faster and altered quite a bit. I was super disappointed when he took out the lines "You were naked and it was weird" i was anticipating it but it never happend! I'm always so stunned that Sondre Lerche is only 24! Releasing his first major record label album at the age of 19! That's me now! Ah! He's talented and i am infactuated with "Phantom Punch" his latest release, go buy it! Now nownow!I was kind of angry at the Mod Club because i called in and asked if i could bring in my Digital SLR and they said it was ok, but then when i got to the door they said no because my camera was too good. Downer, was really jazzed to get some amazing photos!

Download: "Tragic Mirror", "After All", "Track You Down" and "Two Way Monologue"