October 21, 2008

Secret Machines @ Webster Hall

Openers TK Webb & The Visions put on a great set perfect for guitar junkies and general rock enthusiasts alike. Their sound is all over the musical map and they totally put on a stellar performance that showcased not only their debut album Ancestors, but just how unique their musical vision can be. And seeing them live transformed my casual interest into actual intrigue.

Currently on tour in support of their eponymous third studio release, Secret Machines got their space rock on for a crowd chock full of longtime devotees. They played a healthy mix off their previous two releases Now Here Is Nowhere and Ten Silver Drops as well, including my favorite track “Nowhere Again,” which is an erotically charged number that grows in intensity and always gets the audience’s collective pulse racing. The music just swells and throbs in all the right places.

Secret Machines are, at best, a three-prong rock outfit that really electrified the place with larger-than-life drumming, heavy guitar riffs, atmospheric keyboards, and the kind of vocals that grab you by the lapels and don’t take NO for an answer. Even their stage set-up was eery and dark as they performed in this cage that resembled some sort of steel cable cobweb. I kinda dug it.

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