x-posted from PMX:2:
Saw this tour at the nearly full Metro last night, quite a step up from their last headlining show at the Bottom Lounge. Saw a Dream Theater shirt and a Katatonia shirt, but otherwise it was mostly a heavy indie-rock kind of crowd (though, ha, I suppose that's actually what the Katatonia shirt was part of too!) Lots of women too, although they may have been drawn more by Ours.
The main point to Ambulette is the lead singer/guitarist/keyboardist, Maura Davis. Perhaps the best female rock singer I've ever seen perform. I don't even know of anyone to compare her to, because she has a lot more intensity than all the girl-singers in the metal world. I'm sure she just stole her style from some female rock icon of the 70s, but since I don't know who any of those icons may be, I've got no problem with that. I kept thinking that when she *really* belted it out, she might start to lose it, but she never did. Impressive control. The three guys in the band are serviceable but essentially go unnoticed. They have a 5-song EP out, the highlight of which is "If You Go Away", apparently a song co-written by Jacques Brel that's been covered by everyone. I only mention that because it helped create the odd coincidence of me seeing to Jacques Brel songs performed by two different bands within a week (the Dreseden Dolls doing "Amsterdam" the week before).
Ours is another "band" where the singer/guitarist is the whole focus. But in contrast to the understated Davis, Jimmy Gnecco has apparently been told by a few too many people how great he is. Or, more importantly, he actually believes them. Whether it was his sideways old-school radio microphone needed to capture all the genius encapsulated in his voice, the roadie running his giant Rickenbacker out to him, or his black eyeliner and Robin Hood neckerchief, it all just made me want to smack him. The people in the crowd who kept shouting out "Jimmy!" (oddly, many of them were guys) didn't help either. All that stuff would be ok if the guy could back it up, but he really couldn't. Ok, you can do a falsetto. Great. So can Ace Young. Write better songs and put the voice to better use, and maybe I'll be interested.
Dredg was of course then quite a contrast to the two openers. Not in style, because it's probably a perfect tour lineup, but because Dredg is an actual band where all four guys carry the weight equally. Strangely when I saw them last year, I left with the impression that they could hold their own on arena stages, but this time I thought the Metro stage (hardly arena-sized) was a bit too much for them. Still, a pretty kickass show, and I came away again amazed at what great players they all are.
Neil
