If you were to look at a timeline of the concert reviews I’ve written for Ground Control, you’d easily surmise that I’ve gone into retirement. When my name pops up once on an annual basis for “best album of the year” lists, that’s one thing – but to inspire me to attend a concert again, that takes the epic promise of music that will make me think deep thoughts and stir my soul.
Last year it took Opeth to drag me out of my cave. Earlier this year a daring double bill of Joanna Newsom and Philip Glass lured me out for an amazing evening in The City. So what was it that pulled me out of my lair to attend a show on a chill December night, in San Jose of all places? One thing, one very special thing, a great and promising thing, brought me to San Jose that night and it was to attend the premier live performance by a newly reformed band named At Least We're Dreaming.
You may be wondering, “What is it that is so special about the three young men and one young woman which make up this band?” Most simply, it’s the unique musical sounds they create together. More complexly, it’s the story of how these unique individuals have been drawn together to blend the creative energies that make their music unique. More on that later.
This night at Music Ink Presents, a collection of bands were gathered to celebrate “A Metal Christmas.” I was only interested in hearing ALWD and arrived at the venue about forty-five minutes before they were scheduled to perform. This allowed me to see one of the other opening bands, Among The Torrent, and get a feel for what the crowd was like, what the sound in the building was like. The acoustics were excellent and there’s a high quality stage lighting system that would put MANY small music venues in SF/Oakland to shame which brought an added sense of professionalism to all who would perform here.
I was given the privilege of being allowed to photograph the concert from a close vantage point (sitting on a corner of the stage) so when At Least We're Dreaming came on stage and started to perform I could feel a sense of intimacy with the performers like I’ve never felt at any other concert before, either as a fan or as a photographer.
At this point I was glad that I got to see Among The Torrent perform. They were a four-piece standard metal band who practically begged for the audience to show signs that they were enjoying themselves. No one stood closer than ten feet from the stage and gently applauded after each song ended. Their music wasn’t bad but the lead singer acted like a cheerleader.
As soon as the stage was set up for ALWD, the mood in the audience changed. People came up to the stage and and yips and shouts of rowdy excitement rang out, charging the atmosphere. The reputation that the word-of-mouth talk around town had built up about this band, the two tracks on their demo CD and this being their first live performance brought out people expecting to hear something impressive.
In darkness, singer Scarlett Helena sat down at a keyboard until a spotlight lit her face. Discovering that her mic was turned off, she playfully smiled and waved at the audience, then when she was hooked up live, introduced the song she was going to sing solo. It was a cover of the haunting Elliott Smith song, “No Confidence Man.” When we first see this young woman’s delicate facial features and bright, hopeful eyes, she almost appears fawn-like and her voice when she speaks is delicate. But when she sings a resonance filled with emotion that belies pain mixed with wisdom of someone much sager emerges and the transport to another realm than the simple concert hall we stood in begins to shift dimensions.
On the closing lines of the song, drummer Dave Stankus starts to bring in a simple beat, tapping on the cymbals. The stage is still in darkness, the keyboard is taken away and the guitars start to bring in the melodies of their opening song, “Vic”. Then a dim spotlight appears on Scarlett who seems to be the only person on stage, besides the drummer. I wondered, “Where the hell are the guitarists?” Scarlett, who started to give us a taste of the intrigue of her voice with “No Confidence Man” now starts to let us have the full flavor of the richness of her timbre.
A soft light filled the stage enough to see the singer and the drummer and now I was convinced that there were no guitarists on stage, but some tight, moody melody was slowly building up (my first sense of identity was that their guitar playing sounded similar to Tool or The Mars Volta) and now, we could all see Scarlett Helena as she began to stroll along the stage, the image of an urban black swan wearing a black tutu, a black top striped with gold lame, black tights and army boots. This outfit and her long black hair makes you think of a young Amy Lee (Evanesence). She has started to sing now, with this strong, soul-filled intensity which grips you, and still, no guitarists in sight. There is something about this intensity in her delivery that reminds me of Otep Shamaya’s delivery when singing. Soul wrenching emotion that must be screamed, but Helena sing-screams so prettily. It’s weird.
Finally, about two minutes into the song the guitarists walk past me up the stage steps from the audience. They had been out standing among the crowd jamming! I didn’t see any spot lights on them though; I found out later that they were supposed to be spotlit but somebody at the control panel missed their cue. Bassist/vocalist, Mark Euchner took (temporary) position on the far end of the stage and lead guitarist Bret Burnett took (temporary) position on my side. THEN the song breaks into the chorus, the guitars are roaring, as is the singer and the stage lights come on bright, illuminating them all. The guitarists both jump to life and start posturing demonstrably, at first on their own sides of the stage, but after awhile they start switching sides, back and forth. All the while, Scarlett Helena remained focused and never seemed to worry about being knocked down. There was a synchronicity in play, flowing an energy between them all.
Their songs are all pretty lengthy (5+ mins) and they are complexly composed. As I listened more, I began to hear elements of Dream Theater, yet darker; elements of Lacuna Coil, yet even more enticing. One thing that amazed me was when I got a chance to see the finger work of Burnett during some of his guitar solos, the intricacy and speed with which he plays was stupefying. On top of that, he could keep up that complexity while doing his artistic calisthenics around the stage. Euchner’s fingering techniques were equally complex to watch but his movements weren’t as graceful or eye catching as Burnett’s were.
I must also mention that the foreboding presence of Stankus on the drums is very noticeable. He is a big man and with his shaved head and tattooed arms he offers the crowd yet another pinpoint of action to focus upon. He anchors and controls the tentacles of the beast that wanders his stage with his controlling and driving beats. Very, very impressive!
One thing I began to sense missing was the feeling of what the crowd was experiencing. I was as blinded by the stage lights from seeing the audience as the band was. The roars of approval from the fans after each song was indication enough that they were having a good time and that they thought the music was excellent. I saw no signs of miscues or flubbed entries or forgotten song verses during the whole set, but I wondered what the audience was doing. Were they standing still? Were they gently grooving? Were they staring in awe, pressing hard to get closer to the stage to examine closely every movement of the performers? Next time I see them I’ll get into the crowd so I can see, feel and participate.
Four songs into the set a familiar tune of despair echoed into the room. They were playing a cover of Nirvana’s "Heart Shaped Box." This blended right along with the darkly dreamy mood they had led us into but it seemed to ground the audience giving them something familiar to identify with. Helena’s voice seemed to melt around the meaning of the words as they came out of her soul’s depths. I don’t think I have ever heard this song sung with such emotional truth before. And this was something that I was beginning to feel more and more, that this young woman believes what she sings. They are not just lyrics, they are part of who she is and what she has lived and she wraps her tongue around each syllable salaciously before releasing them to our wanton ears, souls.
The next two songs, “Hegira” and “Judas,” were familiar to me because I had been listening to them on the demo CD the band released in October. There didn’t seem to be any heightened sense of recognition from the crowd though, and one jerk shouted out “Play more Nirvana” after the end of “Hegira.” I felt that these songs were placed at a proper position in the set and were sung flawlessly compared to how they appear on the CD. Once these songs get more widely distributed and achieve some airplay, they’ll excite future concertgoers a lot.
One thing that may take some time for listeners to acquire an ability to do is understanding just what it is that Helena is singing. This has nothing to do with issues regarding the clarity of her voice, but about the complexity of her lyrics. She does not write “sing-along anthems.” It may also have to do with the mechanics of how a gentle woman’s (powerful) voice is blended in with forceful and loud guitars and drums. Integration of keyboards into their sound may be a nice way to mellow their sound, enabling more area for her voice to blend in and establish itself upon.
There were two more songs, “September,” then “Prowess” before the set ended and a sort of encore was called for. Helena brought the keyboard back onstage and played an on-the-spot improvisational outro. I asked her later if she could tell me what the lyrics were she sang and she said that she could not remember them.
In summary, I was impressed by this band’s first showing. They are energetic, emotional, focused and well rehearsed. One critique I would offer is for the guitarists to possibly coordinate some choreography for their stage roaming. I heard from other sources that saw the show from the audience floor that they looked a little bit more “chaotic” than I could assess from my position. Really though, it’s the magic quality of their exquisitely composed and meticulously executed music that will attract new listeners, and hopefully large crowds to come see them in the future.
Photos:
At Least We're Dreaming at Music Ink Presents – San Jose, Ca – 12/14/12 – [Photos]
Set List:
intro (piano cover of Elliott Smith’s “No Confidence Man”)
"Vic"
"In Ink"
"Somnolence"
cover of Nirvana’s "Heart Shaped Box"
"Hegira"
"Judas"
"September"
"Prowess"
outro
Artist:
www.facebook.com/pages/At-Least-Were-Dreaming/
