Upon arriving at the Gothic right on time to catch Darker My Love’s set, the place was already packed out. Either people were getting there early to miss The Dandy Warhols rush, or they were all waiting in anticipation for the Cali quintet opener.
It was obvious after a few seconds of watching the room move in waves that it was the latter. All eyes and ears were on Tim Presley (guitar/vox), Rob Barbato (bass/vox), Jared Everett (guitar), Will Canzoneri (keys), and Andrew Granelli (drums).
I’ve always had a yearning to time travel to the era of psychedelic ‘60s rock era, wishing I could have been present when Velvet Underground made its first splash at that Warhol’s groundbreaking, multimedia “Exploding Plastic Inevitable” extravaganza. Or been a witness to what I can only experience through the pictures that line the walls of The Fillmore in San Francisco.
Drinking in the rich textures of DML’s “Northern Soul,” an intentional or non-intentional ode to early ‘90s Manchester, as Presley played with guitar shored up high, I realized that we had our own rock legends in the making right here, right now.
With every multi-layered, harmonious and glorious song that escaped from the stage and rose to the Gothic’s gilded rafters, the exchange between the band and fans increased. Towards the end and when DML were wrapping up, I saw the guy next to me shaking his head in utter disbelief, “Wow. Amazing.” And as Presley bid farewell to the crowd, “Thank You!” and the same guy replied, “No! Thank You!”
Dude read my mind.
It was a tough act to follow for the Warhol veterans, but nonetheless exuberant. It was only when I was down closer to the crowd that I noticed a twist to the normal folks that show up for a Dandy time; feeling a bit like Delta Chi was in the house. Even Courtney noticed, making an offside comment with his signature sly grin.
The lead man also took the opportunity to announce that they were, once again, an indie band, recently releasing …Earth to the Dandy Warhols… on their own label in May. Appeasing fans (like me), they pulled tracks “Lou Weed” and “Genius” from the first album archives, along with “Heroin Is So Passe,” “You Were The Last High,” and “We Used To Be Friends.”
Upon the introduction of a song off the new album, “Welcome To The Third World,” one guy from the crowd beckoned Courtney to sing it in French. Always the showman, he complied, rattling off the lyrics quickly in spoken word in the Parisian foreign language. The request may have been triggered by another song on …Earth, “Musee d’ Nougat,” a French flavored experiment that goes on for 14:46 minutes, something more akin to a Phish set. And just maybe, it was the tongue-n-cheek nature of “Welcome…” that drew the college frat crowd, which is ironic. I’m a big supporter of artists expanding their horizons. There’s nothing more boring than hearing an album with a different title and cover with tracks that sound the same as the last album. But in this case, something just didn’t click with that one and some of their other yee-haw ditties.
In a very informal poll (like we need more polls these days), one that I didn’t ask for but was given to me by nearly everyone I knew at the show, Darker My Love did steal the show and then some. It’s only a matter of time before they’re headlining the Gothic, and bigger venues in cities near you.
Darker My Love released 2 on Dangerbird Records this year on August 5.
www.myspace.com/darkermylove
http://blog.filter-mag.com/darker_my_love_tourzine/
www.imeem.com/darkermylove
