Wednesday, May. 21, 2008 | 08:09
Cluster @ The Empty Bottle
i took public transportation out to the show and still got there early. it wasn't exactly sold out, though more people showed than i expected.
the opening bands were ok, if a little bland. one was rock with three guitars and some noise, and heavy reverb on the vocals. meh. the second band, chandeliers (it was their cd release show), may sound better on record than live. four guys with vintage keyboards and a drummer, they had a disco backbeat and arpeggiated synth lines, and i can't figure out what the other three guys did. some swooshing noises, some weird sounds here and there, it really wasn't all that interesting. it needed an edge or greater depth, something to make it dramatic. i suppose it was serviceable as dance music, and people did dance.
cluster was something else. i can't say it was great, but it was pretty good. i had no idea what to expect, and now i wonder what they sounded like initially that made them so groundbreaking--it certainly doesn't sound as original today (though don't get me wrong, it's still inventive in its own way). i think my problem was that i had some trouble separating it from my stereotypes of new age synth music. cluster seems to have more of an edge, and playing live mixes its sounds very well. they had some trouble with the quieter moments because the people around the bar kept talking, but they could take their sound up to drown out the tossers.
cluster played for 2 hours, including their one-song encore. they had some techincal difficulties at the start, but got it sorted out. it was relaxing music, perhaps better suited to an auditorium with seating and not a standing-only bar. people might have fallen asleep in chairs--and these guys wouldn't have put many people in them--but it would have been a more appropriate setting.
