His Name is Alive w/ Nomo @ Black Cat 5/21/06
I was a litle late to the show and opening band Nomo had already begun by the time i’d arrived, and i quickly regretted that i hadn’t been on time. There are few things better than a surprisingly good opening band, and this was just one of those pleasant surprises. After shedding a tear for the loss of Antibalas a short time back, i was happy to see an afro soul group who had put the emphasis on the soul. Nomo numbered 7 on this night, with a full horn section, bass, guitar, keys, and up to 5 on percussion depending on the song. It wasn’t as dancy as Antibalas used to be but it had soul for days. They put the intimacy of the Black Cat’s backstage to excellent use on their closer, taking the horns into the crowd, with the rest of the band on percussion, for an acoustic and perhaps even ‘moving’ finale. They were damned good.
It had been a while since i had heard anything new from His Name Is Alive (not that they hadn’t been releasing stuff), but I was plenty happy with what i got. The band included three memebers of Nomo, answering why these two would tour together with their the odd sound juxtaposition. Warn and co. played a few classics, including ‘Can’t Go Wrong Without You’, as well as several songs off their latest CD Detrola (which i bought at the show and have since listened to more than once). The instrumentation has changed a bit to keep it fresh, but it’s still HNIA and it’s still good stuff. As i remembered from the last time around Warn upped the guitar ante significantly for the live show, and everything worked for the most part.
The music itself is and always has been some of the most empathetic i have heard. It’s hard to believe that Warn has suffered in all the myriad ways that his songs are sad, and i hope he hasn’t. Yet the songs show a depth of emotion that i just don’t hear really anywhere else… Perhaps i’m not listening in the right places. HNIA creates moving and beautiful songs out of traditionally wonderful vocals and non-traditionally wonderful music. They have found their sucker in me.
(Before the show i said this: His Name is Alive have been around quite a while now. I first got to know them as experimental pop artists, i think from seeing the video for Can’t Go Wrong Without You by the Brothers Quay on 120 minutes. Wow, that is an oddly frightening memory, not the video, but the fact that i remembered that just now. Anyway. HNIA can and does do a little bit of everything, but when they stick to a song structure, i am nearly always happy with the results.
Bonus: When last I saw them, long ago at the old Black Cat, they brought a rhino, and after the rhino had rampaged through the crowd, rings appeared as if magically for a brief round of ‘Rhino Ring-toss’ (onto it’s horn of course). Who knows what wonders await. )