In the midst of their current U.S. tour the California 4-piece, Mellowdrone, took the stage Tuesday night at the Knitting Factory. The one-stop singer, songwriter and front man Jonathan Bates was joined on guitar by Tony DeMatteo, keyboardist/bassist Cami Gutierrez, and uniquely rhythmic drummer Brian Borg.
The four piece have toured and played with The Killers, The Secret Machines and Smith’s guitarist Johnny Marr who Jonathan befriended over the years. Their sound is a winning mix of Psychedelic-Indie rock with a healthy dose of winking excitement during their live sets. First thing that strikes you is this band sounds tight as hell.
Stampeding out of the gates Mellowdrone played two clamorous guitar rockers that were backed by the booming drums of Borg. The band overwhelmed the sound system and sizeable crowd on hand. Bates dances around stage like a hopped up Chris Robinson speedily strumming with the blaze of quicksilver forest fire. When singing he forms a rocks glass mixture of Thom Yorke crooning “High and Dry," Glenfiddich, and Bono speaking softly to the UN, certainly an appealing concoction.
Tonight’s performance was short, only about 8 songs with the well constructed “Fuck It Man” and “Oh My” being highlights off of the bands recent release, Box. What distinguishes this band from run of the mill guitar rock is their humor and humanity. An example being tonight’s cover of “Yesterday” which was done playfully acapella, more akin to Boys II Men, then Sir Paul. The crashing metallic ending also helped out the cause of the cover.
Besides sound issues like low early vocals, a briefly out of tune bass and a weak sounding keyboard mix, the show was a success. There is no doubt that Mellowdrone should have headlined and been given more time to delve into their catalog of songs. Sometimes you want those mellow drones to last all night.
