Mute Math Concert Review
5/3/7 | La Zona Rosa | Austin, TX
1969 was an amazing and pivotal year for rock and roll. Woodstock shook the world, as did Hendrix. Black Sabbath's self-titled debut album came out and a new super group called Led Zeppelin did the impossible -- they toured the United States twice and released their first two albums. Those that were lucky enough to see any of these shows were never the same after seeing this quartet twist and bend the blues in new catastrophic directions. Anyone that witnessed the 18 to 25 minute spectacle of "Dazed And Confused" live with Jimmy Page's violin bow tricks on the electric guitar and his call and response tripping with Robert Plant's vocals had to be forever changed. Certainly they'd never forget what they witnessed. Rock and roll had a new, almost supernatural presence to reckon with for the next decade.
The band Mute Math should thank their lucky stars to be mentioned in the very same breath as these rock pioneers, but they are indeed unleashing something on their audiences night after night that none of them will forget.
These New Orleans trained musicians seem to pay homage to their hometown's fine tradition of Jazz and Blues improvisation. After the lights in the club go out, they strill on stage like confident workmen, calmly beginning the task before them. A single light bulb flashes over center stage, as if inspiration is about to begin. Frontman, but co-equal performer with his bandmates, Paul Meaney, flops down on his piano bench and starts jamming away, as if he's stirring the Jazz stew up, looking for a groove to envelope the entire room in its vibe. The band surrounds him with accompaniment, including guitarist Greg Hill's high almost falsetto high voice as the snippet called "Collapse" begins the show.
The band tears through their fairly standard set from the past year: "Typical," "Chaos," "Plan B," "Stare At The Sun" and "Obsolete" without nary a rest. The band has not reinvented the musical wheel, but they're playing their own tune and they seem to really enjoy it. Their confidence and attitude is contageous, and the audience is soon in their back pocket along for the ride. "Control," "Stall Out" and "Noticed" each add something different to the mix as the band expresses many sides of itself: soft, progressive, experimental, rock, and soul.
It's when they break into their closing number that they forever change the perspective of everyone in the audience with eyes to see. "Break The Same" shows the band moving in one direction, but with the energy of four different voices standing tall on their own but cohesively side-by-side. When the song breaks down, the bass player is banging on a spare kick drum that's sitting atop a keyboard stand. The drummer has taken his sticks to anything solid: mic stands, an upside-down drum stool, the hard top of Meaney's piano, or the floor. Meaney is doing handstands on the piano keys, rolling over the instrument and jumping around the stage. Guitarist Greg Hill picks up his effects board at some point and starts coaxing wild and ethereal sounds out of it like a feedbacking electric instrument. It's some of the craziest five to eight minutes in the current state of rock and roll. After leaving the audience breathless and mind-blown, they return for an encore of the instrumental "Reset," which capitalizes on more frenzied activity, including the custom theramin-atar type instrument that Meaney relinqueshes to the audience midway through the song, effectively creating a new song every night.
Everyone that sees this is going to remember it the rest of their life. More than one person has surely thought, 'They need to document this.' Fortunately for us, cool heads have prevailed and the DVD Flesh And Bones Electric Fun was recorded in wonderful stereo by several moving cameras, including one mounted on the headstock of Meaney's key-tar. Those that haven't witnessed this experience in a club or arena setting yet will now be able to preview and re-live it in well-lit and bright color on this disc.
Trust me on this one: people have to witness this while it's happening. It's that special ... and it might be the best $20 you can spend this Spring. [Teleprompt/Warner Bros.] Doug Van Pelt
©2007 HM Magazine - All Rights Reserved
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Comments
i saw mute math open for david crowder 2 years ago and your review only begins to capture the "what the heck?" question everyone is thinking when witnessing mute math onstage.
i'm hard to impress and my jaw was open the whole time. i felt bad for shawn mcdonald with his acoustic/mellow vibe having to follow them.
we rushed out to the lobby to only find all of mute math's cd's were already sold out.
they rule. yes, indeed...they rule.
