Rob Dickinson with Doveman and Elizabeth Harper & The Matinee - Mercury Lounge (New York) - Wednesday, March 1, 2006

by Matthew Berlyant
20 March 2006

This show was rather sparsely attended (Mercury Lounge, which only holds 150 people, was mostly-filled but not close to sold out), perhaps partly because

ROB DICKINSON, the former (and perhaps future) lead singer of THE CATHERINE WHEEL had already played the same venue last October or maybe because some CW fans don’t like or haven’t heard the album. Although this is a shame, it created a warm, living-room type feel where almost everyone in the room was a hardcore fan and thus the vibe in the place was incredible. I had a great time partly because of this. Of course, it also doesn’t hurt that Rob still has an amazing voice and he wrote some of the best songs of the ‘90s!

Shortly before 11:00 P.M., Rob came onstage equipped with only an acoustic guitar and some effects pedals that at times made his acoustic sound like a plugged-in, howling electric. He focused most of his set on material from his excellent solo debut Fresh Wine for the Horses, notably the ironically-titled “My Name is Love,” “Handsome,” “Bathe Away,” “Intelligent People” and my favorite, “Oceans.” At one point, he played what seemed like seven new songs in a row, so when he reached back for two songs in a row from Happy Days (“Little Muscle” and “Eat My Dust You Insensitive F***”), it was like he was throwing the crowd a bone for patiently waiting it out through the new material. However, by the end of the set, when he played the terrific alternative radio and MTV hit “Crank” (from 1993’s Chrome), the entire crowd was singing along.

For the encore, a brave gentleman [I would classify him more as a rowdy punk than as a gentleman -ed.] named Frankie requested to come up on stage and sing backup vocals on Adam and Eve’s stunning “Ma Solituda.” There was only one mic, and Dickinson wasn’t eager to share it for most of the song, so no one could hear Frankie though he obviously knew all the words as he was mouthing along to all of them. And then, the moment that everyone was anticipating happened. The crowd was already anticipating the epic “Black Metallic” to the point where everyone started cheering when Dickinson struck a G chord. Afterwards, he remarked that “it’s just a G chord.” Then a moment later, he launched into “Black Metallic” (with its long instrumental passage reduced to about a minute of guitar screeching), much to the rapturous delight and applause of the audience, who joined in singing). One last song was played, and then Rob invited anyone in the crowd who wanted to chat with him to join him in the front at the merch table.

I only caught three of DOVEMAN’s songs since I left for most of their set to pick up something to eat before Dickinson came on, though I was curious to see them because of some blogger attention that they’ve received. They had a pianist, trumpet player, banjo player, guitarist, and drummer (who was playing a toy kit with mallets)—there may be another member or two who I’m forgetting about—and they reminded me of a bit of LOW and YO LA TENGO in that they’re an indie-rock collective who echo THE VELVET UNDERGROUND (the singer’s voice also reminded me of DEAN WAREHAM from GALAXIE 500/LUNA) without sounding exactly like them. Their last song, a long composition which started out quietly and built slowly to a crushing finale, was my favorite. A friend who was there said they reminded him of LAMBCHOP, which I can hear as well. I’d definitely like to hear more from them in the future and if I catch them again, I’ll stay for their entire set!

ELIZABETH HARPER was the opener. I got there right as her set started—the place was mostly empty. She also played last time I was at Mercury Lounge for FIELD MUSIC, but I got there too late to catch her set. Anyway, I thought that she was OK and that the songs were pleasant, but nothing really grabbed me. The songs are an indie-pop mold reminscent of THE SMITHS, THE SUNDAYS and even early ORANGE JUICE (a huge influence on The Smiths [Not according to JOHNNY MARR—when I interviewed him, he mentioned fellow Postcard Records-band JOSEF K as influential—but OJ leader EDWYN COLLINS has let it be known that he feels The Smiths shamelessly copied OJ’s indie template. -ed.]), so in theory it’s right up my alley, but something just didn’t click.

Filed under concerts shoegaze