Mellowdrone

Echo - December 15, 2007

Live Review by Amber Henson

Photograph by Alexis Roberts

Mellowdrone was the first band I reviewed for The Red Alert.  I haven’t read that review for quite a while, and I’m going to hold off on that until after I write this one.

Jonathan Bates, singer and bassist and pretty much Mellowdrone, is an enigmatic man.  He doesn’t speak much, doesn’t interact much with the audience, and spent much of the concert with his eyes closed, either in the ecstasy of playing his music, or because the lights showing the slide show behind him came straight into his face.  He and the guitarist Tony DeMatteo both wore v-neck white t-shirts, while the drummer, Brian Borg, wore a white button-up.

Their set contained thirteen songs, and because there was a different event happening at the Echo later that night, they started at eight. When the songs were strong, the audience responded well, and when they went on too long and seemed whiny, there was a super fan up front who sang along and could support them on her own.

It’s hard for me to pinpoint exactly why the concert didn’t seem to go over as well as was expected.  Maybe it was the venue (there’s a sort of annex area where people can sit down, but can’t see the band) maybe it was the time (we were out of there before 10), but I think more than anything it’s that it’s too hard for Bates to focus on one of the two main things that set this band apart from others: his voice.  When he’s playing bass, he can’t show off his vocals as well, which range from Robbie Williams’ soprano to Johnny Cash’s bass.  The other thing that sets them apart is the sound on their album, which is produced, to some extent, with a keyboard that doesn’t exist on stage.

Alright, now I’m gonna go read the old review . . . hmm, comfortable with the new lineup, eh?  Well, it’s been almost two years.  They were definitely comfortable with each other, but bring back Cami Gutierrez on bass/keyboard, and then we’ll try again.