Menomena

El Rey - September 16, 2010

Live Review by Adam McKibbin

With a great new album, Mines, that has secured/reaffirmed their place amongst the indie elite, Portland’s Menomena have lately been taking their gospel on the road.  We last caught up with the trio (now a quartet, for touring purposes) back in 2007, when they were playing smaller rooms like the Troubadour and the Echo. 

Let’s get the bad out of the way:  Some folks love the El Rey, but the theatre poses some challenges, particularly for bands that are on their way up from smaller rooms.  We’re not talking about an arena, but, unless you have a giant stage presence, a great show at the El Rey is seldom as immersive as a great show at the Echo or Troubadour.  This time around, despite the band’s obviously higher profile, I could have extended my arms to my sides and done a hippie spin-dance at times without spilling a drink.  That’s not the band’s fault, nor is it their fault that at least a couple of them were reeling from illness (as self-reported from the stage, always a risky move – though I had been wondering).  But it all added up to a show that won’t make the upper tier, although their rendition of “TAOS” was preserved for posterity by a Carson Daly film crew.

So – it wasn’t a classic, but it was still a damn solid rock show, particularly once Menomena started to hit their stride.  Their songs are just too good and too interesting to allow for a total disappointment.  While some have made the argument that a stage is Menomena’s natural habitat, I would actually argue that that they are best experienced in solitude on a good pair of headphones or speakers – and then seen live, where it’s fascinating to watch how these nuanced songs are given life.  The three-headed approach works fabulously for them on record and on stage – and, hey, who doesn’t love to watch a singing drummer?!  Especially a drummer who looks like a giant as he bashes away on his elevated platform at the front of the stage.  They’re each fine musicians and songwriters who have done some interesting things in solo and side projects, but it’s difficult to imagine them ever recapturing this lightning, as so much of Menomena’s vitality stems from the push-and-pull of its three distinct elements.

The setlist offered further proof that Mines reached the same plateau as Friend and Foe, with the night’s highlights alternating between the two albums.  Best of all was a dynamite section down the stretch featuring “Dirty Cartoons” and “Wet and Rusting.”