T texted me. "Man, this place is packed!" When I got to Juanita's T had a Pabst in a can -- one of those stretched cans that looked like it was a joke if it wasn't for real. I scanned the crowd and no one else was drinking. The reason was very simple. No one else was over 12 years old. That's an exaggeration, but it was a young crowd. It looked like a junior high lunchroom; the air was saturated with emo. The band The Bridges were in the middle of their set. They sounded good. The lead singer of this "family band" had a striking voice. She sounded a little beyond her years, which, again, was about 12 (I swear the base drum had Dora the Explorer screen-printed onto it). After The Bridges headed home for bed, Locksley took to the stage. They went to 11 (not their amps but their ages). Not as much to write home about with these guys as with The Bridges. In fact, I can't think of anything else. Let's skip to the next paragraph.
T finished his gigantic PBR and selected a more respectable, and less comical, beer - Miller Lite. It was about this time that the rest of our crew showed up, including our newest LRLM contributor, C, and the party started. Now's where the fun starts, faithful readers (all four of you). Rooney stepped up, as they say, and ripped into "Blueside," the band's first ever song (lead singer Robert Schwartzman showed it to guitarist Taylor Locke the first time they met up in Locke's garage to start the band). The Calling the World Tour, which began in May, had finally reached Little Rock.
By this time, we had moved to the floor, about 7 people deep from the front of the stage. This was a good move on our part, as Rooney live is an act best seen and heard up close. We intended to practice C's ABMF methodology to get as close to the stage as possible. For the uninitiated, the acronym stands for the following:
Always
Be
Moving
Forward
Basically, when anyone in front of you shifts out of the way or in any way leaves room for a breach, move into that position. Enough moves on the chessboard and eventually you're up front and center. It didn't work tonight. The crowd was like concrete. Once it set, it was impenetrable.
"Blueside" was followed by "Don't Come Around Again," then the memorable "Calling the World," the namesake of the tour. "Believe in Me" gave Louie Stephens a chance to showcase his talent on keyboard, adding a sonic layer to the music that hadn't been apparent on the first three songs. "Stay Away" was followed by an incredible rendition of "Are You Afraid?", with a guitar solo toward the end that took it to another level. After "If It Were Up To Me," bassist Matt Winter got to show his stuff on bass guitar in "All in Your Head." The driving bass line in this song really is distinctive and is reminiscent of some of my favorite stuff from U2. Next it was time for a cover song, and they made an excellent choice with The Band's "The Weight." This gave a chance for some of the older members of the audience - not me, I said the older members of the audience - to have a song to sing along to. "What For" followed it up and featured a really cool slide guitar effect.
Schwartzman prepped the crowd for the next song by getting everyone to participate in the obligatory "clap your hands to the beat" routine in the lead-in to "Paralyzed". Locke's guitar built to a crescendo toward the end that made you remember why the guitar was invented. They threw in a little bridge in this song and prodded the crowd with repeated chants of "come on, Little Rock." That was followed by the raw guitar sounds of "I Don't Think So." They did an incredible job of performing this song live, with some mesmerizing electronic effects that carried over into "I Should've Been After You." After "Sorry Sorry", it was time for another cover. This time it was "Helter Skelter," the song Charles Manson stole from The Beatles. Rooney stole it back. Seriously. The guitar was totally over the top by the time the song ended. "I'm Shakin'" was instantly recognizable and welcomed by the crowd. Schwartzman tried to stretch it out a bit at the end, but the rest of the band didn't get the cue and the song, unfortunately, ended.
By the time they started the last one on their list, "When Did Your Heart Go Missing?", a song Schwartzman proudly imformed us had gone #1 in Europe, C's careful application of the ABMF method had vaulted him to the fourth row. I guess he was expecting an encore, but it never materialized. T pointed out that it looked like at one point the guitar tech was tuning things up for a few more, but then the house music came up and he put it back down and shuffled out the door. No worries, though, at 17 songs, the length of the setlist was nothing to complain about.
This was my first Rooney show, and I came away impressed. Some bands just sound much better live than they do in studio, and I think these guys fit that category. This was a little bit of redemption for Juanita's too. We've been a little hard on them of late, but they showed tonight they can still bring in some of the bigger names and, in turn, the bigger crowds. I hope this is an indication of what's to come for them.
-G
A tragedy occurred in Little Rock last night. De Novo Dahl played Juanita’s and nobody came. Well, almost nobody. What started out as an audience of six (seven if you count the bartender) grew to maybe 10 a few minutes into the set (maybe because it was Mother’s Day?). That in itself would not have been a tragedy had this been any other band. But this was De Novo Dahl, a slightly retro, very electronic, and fascinatingly inventive five-piece pop band out of Nashville on tour with their recently released sophomore album Move Every Muscle, Make Every Sound.
But if the cavernous emptiness of Juanita’s dampened their spirits, the band didn’t show it. No sir, they did not. And that’s where the silver lining of this tragedy appeared for those faithful audience members who made the effort. Performing like they were playing to a packed house on a Friday night, from the first note the band played, jumped, swayed and spun their way through a melodic and catchy repertoire. Their enthusiasm was infectious, and had the set lasted longer (and had there been more members of the opposite sex), there’s no doubt it would have turned into a mini- dance party.
De Novo Dahl debuted in 2005 with Cats & Kittens, a double album on which every song appeared twice in altered form. The new album is being touted favorably as a more focused and slightly more constrained offering, but one that keeps the best elements of Cats & Kittens. Lead vocalist and guitarist Joel J. Dahl croons his way up and over each melodic crest and trough as Matthew Hungate deftly trips his way up and down the keyboard, all the while ducking, dodging, spinning and sliding like a male Fly Girl on steroids. Serai Zaffiro on omnichord adds another layer of atmospheric sound and movement. She’s easy on the eyes as well, with a cool nonchalance interrupted occasionally by bursts of energy when the music calls for it. Each band member contributes to vocals at one point or another.
This is a band who are comfortable playing together. Their music is very detailed, with lots of rhythm changes and interesting flourishes, and their performance, both visually and musically, is very tight and impressive. They clearly enjoy themselves and don’t take things too seriously. At one point during last night’s show, Dahl broke a guitar string during a song. When the song was over, Hungate entertained us with the Broken String Song while Dahl tied another one on. It was great stuff.
The silver lining was only slightly diminished by the brevity of the performance. The band had played only about 45 minutes when they finished up. After some prompting from the “crowd”, they did two more, including one from the first album that apparently is rarely performed these days. Then it was all over as quickly and abruptly as it had begun. We were left wanting more.
Let’s hope another senseless tragedy is averted by booking De Novo Dahl on a better night of the week when they come back through town. Or maybe I should say if they come back through town.
In the meantime, you can check them out here.
-G
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