I had heard about the Mercury lounge from several different people previously so I wanted to go check it out and the band’s name seemed strangely familiar.
Relishing the chance to see a live act in NYC, I entered the venue not long after the doors opened and grabbed a beer and chatted to the lady selling merchandise. She went on to sell me the most complex and artistic CD insert I have ever seen (this accompanies the new CD) and was designed and anguished over by one of the band members for quite some time.
In the back of my head I thought there was something about the band that was strangely familiar, and as the lead singer took the stage I wondered if I had seen this band one before but couldn’t place where. The band consisted of, Brent Knopf (vocals and keys), Dave Lowensohn (bass), Paul Alcott (drums), Matt Sheehy (guitars) all talented musicians in their own right.
As the band started to run through the set I thought that it was all very nice, nothing earth shattering but nice tunes. Whilst Brent was a good looking rooster and fit well at the front of the band the other band members were also very entertaining, Paul Alcott on drums was very theatrical and clearly loved entertaining the crowd and I enjoyed seeing them play in a cute small venue. I walked away thinking it had been a good gig and that I would check them out next time they tour through Europe.
Time passed, several weeks in fact and then I noticed that Menomena was about to tour Europe again. I loved them the last time I watched them at the small stage at Paradiso (Amsterdam). It was then when doing some research that I found out that Ramona Fall was the band that the lead singer Brent Knopf had started when he had departed Menomena, and that was probably why there had been a familiarity about him and his new band. So it is a small musical world indeed.
I loved the quote from Danny Seim when talking about still making music as Menomena even after Brent’s departure. "We lost a major creative force in Brent, but thankfully, Brent’s not Kurt Cobain, and we’re not Nirvana. Brent’s more like Peter Gabriel and we’re more like Genesis. And everyone knows how much better Genesis got after that talentless hack Gabriel quit. Waitaminute…”
JV
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