229 Great Portland Street
London
20th September 08
If you were feeling lazy, to the casual observer, it would be easy to place Dead Meadow in the stoner rock bracket.They’re definitely rock and very probably stoned but Dead Meadow are a long way from being yet another band in debt to Kyuss or Monster Magnet.
This floppy haired trio are what happens when every bit of metal or classic rock cliché is systematically removed from the music. They still ape some of the rock moves of the late sixties and seventies but their blissed out sound has far more in common with the eighties UK drone rock of the likes of Loop and Spacemen 3 than any third generation Kyuss copy. And tonight, Dead Meadow are on excellent form.
Although singer Jason Simon’s vocals are extremely low in the mix and struggle to compete with the waves of shimmering guitar crashing from the stage, it doesn’t really matter when the guitar and lazy grooves are this damn good.
Although the venue isn’t packed to rafters, those that have turned out to witness the band lap up every second of their beautiful music as the band work their way through tracks from their latest album ‘Old Growth’ plus some from their four previous albums including ‘At Her Open Door’ and a storming ‘Sleepy Silver Door’.
Best of all, even this far into their careers, Dead Meadow play like they’re having an absolute blast tonight, passing a whiskey bottle amongst themselves, swigging deep and further locking into the music, lost within it and feeling every inch of their glorious psychedelic rock.
A fantastic gig from a criminally under-appreciated band. Let them into your dreams now.
James Sherry