Tempo No Tempo
This past Thursday night, I arrived late to a concert at The Rickshaw Stop whose doors opened at 8pm. Admittedly, my tardiness was not only purposeful but calculated. I wanted to miss the first band, and figured the opening act, who I was wholly unfamiliar with, would be finished by 9pm. They hadn’t even started by the time I arrived, but I was lucky. The night turned out to be a series of live performances each equally interesting and rewarding in their own ways.
Man/Miracle
Man/Miracle was the first group on stage at The Rickshaw Stop. As I fiddled with the camera I borrowed from a friend between sips of my beer, I caught glimpses of the four-piece group powerfully churning through songs that sounded like modern interpretations of The Smiths styled pop with a far noisier edge. The singer’s voice hardly wavered from its melodramatic delivery, an attribute that could potentially be a polarizing element for fans, but somehow always matched the jangly guitars and powerful rhythm section.
Maus Haus
The next act was a group I’ve been a fan of for quite a while, and had been anticipating seeing live for the first time. In a performance that practically stole the show, Maus Haus delivered an eclectic and energetic set from the epic, brass-heavy opening to its dance-and-sing-along closer taken from their Lark Marvels debut. The sprawling six-piece group overtook the whole of Rickshaw’s stage with multiple keyboards, assorted electronics, drums, bass, and a woodwind/brass player who I believe helps makes the band truly unique. New songs were also unveiled through the set and were played with such precision and tenacity that I couldn’t help but dream of when I’d be able to listen to them at home on a regular basis.
Tempo No Tempo
A few beers in, a couple friendly conversations later, and after hearing plenty of wonderful music, the stars of the night, Tempo No Tempo, took to the stage. This concert was in celebration of the band’s debut release, Waking Heat; a fact which was made obvious not only from the crowd’s excitement but the band’s as well. Singer Tyler McCauley was cracking jokes and giving shout-outs from the outset. This was their night, and Tempo No Tempo wouldn’t let you forget it. Throughout deceptively huge sounding renditions of song’s from their debut album, the trio seemed more interested in having an absolute blast than being wholly accurate with their performance. Vocal melodies were often ditched for yelping screams and more personalized talk-singing, extra guitar-struck percussion was peppered into the songs, and a veritable riot took place on the dancefloor. This wasn’t a showcase of a band looking to impress a crowd or show off to a label-head. Tempo No Tempo’s performance might as well have happened in a friend’s basement; it had the same energy, if not more, of a late night house party truly intent on “taking it there” and not giving a fuck how they accomplished that goal. -Patric Fallon
Links:
http://www.myspace.com/temponotempo
http://www.myspace.com/maushausmusic
http://www.myspace.com/manmiracle
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Q&A: Tyler McCauley-Tempo No Tempo
