The basement of a nineteenth century church might seem like an odd place for The Dismemberment Plan’s mini tour of the Northeast to wind up on a Friday night, but it was a match made in heaven. Even the wrought iron lined worn path and stone steps leading down to the performance space added to the ambience of the dimly lit old wood paneled room.
D-Plan opened their show with “A Life of Possibilities”, from the band’s breakthrough album, Emergency and I, and the deep low end of bassist Eric Axelson juxtaposed beautifully with the higher range of vocalist/guitarist Travis Morrison. Drummer Joe Easley led the fierce tempo that began “Secret Curse” from the 2001 album Change that the group just reissued, on vinyl for the first time. The band showed they still have a satirical side that was prevalent in their earlier work with “No One’s Saying Nothing” from last year’s reunion album Uncanny Valley, the first Dismemberment Plan album in over a decade.
Mesmerizing synthesizer by Eric Axelson who switched from bass to the keyboard, and harmonic guitars by Travis Morrison and Jason Caddell floated in and out of the emotionally lyrical “The City”. Travis Morrison might have reached the limits of his high notes vocally as the band careened through the artfully constructed “Following Though”. “If I Don’t Write”, from the group’s debut album, 1995’s !, had a hard driving punk-tinged sound. Polytechnic beats and haunting guitar runs shimmered in the dark basement venue during a stirring performance of “The Other Side”.
A tight crunchy groove by the southpaw rhythm section escalated the intensity of “Back and Forth”. Ironic humor strangely disjointed instrumentation, and rap-inspired vocals highlighted the fun and energetic “The Dismemberment Plan Gets Rich”. Three more songs from Change that illustrated a more sophisticated sound and lyrical content than some of their earlier work. “Time Bomb”, “Superpowers”, and Come Home” received massive audience approval. It is a tradition of The Dismemberment Plan shows that audience members are invited on stage during “The Ice of Boston” to dance along with the band, which happened during the second song of the encore. Chubby Checker urged people to do the twist with his song “The Twist”, Roxy Music had “Do the Strand”, people actually danced “The Curly Shuffle,” The Dismemberment Plan has “Do the Standing Still”, their homage to music fans who stand completely still no matter how wild or chaotic the music is, and that is, with the stage still full of both dancing and standing still people, how they ended the show.
The Dismemberment Plan is a diverse band that defies classification, mixing genres, lyrical styles and providing music fans a fun and exciting show. The band will be doing a hometown show at The 9:30 Club in D.C. on November 28, and a New Year’s Eve show at the Brighton Music Hall in Boston, where there will most likely be people dancing or standing still on the stage during “The Ice of Boston”.
Photos by Richard Clarke
