The dB's with Mitch Easter and Sneakers - Bowery Ballroom (New York) - Saturday, January 13, 2007

First and foremost, this show marked the first live show by THE dB’s in almost a year and a half. I was fortunate enough to see one of the 2 shows they played in September 2005 at Maxwells in Hoboken, NJ and this show was the first one they’ve played since then. They’re still working, slowly but surely, on a new album and don’t play out all that often. Thus, they were rusty, especially on songs like “Living a Lie”, which also misses the great horn arrangement that’s on the new album. Nevertheless, they were still engaging and any show where most of their classic first two albums Stands for Decibels and Repercussion are played is bound to be enjoyable, to say the least. It was simply a joy to watch them perform songs such as the opener “Black and White” along with other classics such as “Happenstance,” “Dynamite,” “Cycles Per Second” and “Neverland”, which was perhaps the best performance of the evening and the one the crowd seemed to enjoy the most. CHRIS STAMEY was in better vocal form than he was during the Hoboken show and PETER HOLSAPPLE, looking nothing like he did in the ‘80s (he currently sports a bald head and goatee, looking more like a tough biker than a member of a pioneering indie-rock band), was in fine vocal form as well. Drummer WILL RIGBY even got to sing a few numbers, including “White Train” (from their 3rd album Like This). A few other selections from Like This were also played, including the exquisite “Love is for Lovers” and “Lonely Is (As Lonely Does)”. Only one new song, “World to Cry”, was played. Thus, that made this set feel different from the Maxwells show, in which they debuted 4 or 5 new songs in their set. This makes me wonder if they have scrapped some of the new songs or they just felt like playing the old stuff on this occasion. Whatever the case, they weren’t particularly missed as “World to Cry” (which you can download here) is by far the strongest song of the new ones that I’ve heard so far.

Solo artist, former LET’S ACTIVE leader and iconic producer MITCH EASTER preceeded the dB’s by playing a set consisting mainly of Let’s Active material, but throwing in some new songs as well. Cracking jokes about the age of the Let’s Active material, but pleasing the crowd by playing it nonetheless, the highlight was the amazing “Every Word Means No”.

To lead off this special evening, SNEAKERS played their first show in 30 years. Sneakers was the band that proceeded both the dB’s and Let’s Active as Chris Stamey, Mitch Easter and Will Rigby were all members back in the mid ‘70s. Being unfamiliar with this material as well before their set, I also found it enjoyable and musically not a million miles from what Stamey and Rigby would later do with the dB’s and on their respective solo efforts as well. Inspired by both the mid ‘60s British Invasion and early ‘70s glam, Sneakers were fun, enjoyable and a perfect start to a wonderful evening of power-pop.