Concert Review: Ponytail @ T.T. The Bears

Last Thursday was WZBCN's spring concert, headed up Baltimore spaz-rock kings Ponytail. T.T. The Bears in Cambridge played host to a solid 4 or so hours of live music, here is a brief recap of a rather wild night. Credit to Amy Dermont for the great photos.

magic magic

magic magic kicked off the night, and you had to admire their tenacity in spite of their many difficulties. After going on about 10 minutes late they played a handful of songs that seemed to feel too long for their own good. The staccato heavy rock music is interesting but is a little too vapid to stay interesting over the course of the set. A broken bass drum and guitar strap made the performance even more awkward for the band, but they were still able to finish an otherwise acceptable set.

Many Mansions

Things quickly picked up as Baltimore's Many Mansions took the stage for a simply brain melting set. A mix of droning guitar work and digital sampling and looping was combined with what was my first live VJ set. The on the fly mixing of old cartoons, nature footage and stock footage all heavy distorted and manipulated left me with a headache, but the best kind. As I said to a friend of a friend next to me after the set, "I have no idea what I just experienced, but I like it!"

Pretty & Nice

Next was the "secret set" of the showcase, which had me worried as the club suddenly filled up with a very rowdy bro crowd. I was right to assume they weren't here for Ponytail, as Pretty & Nice took the stage. Honestly, I'm not going to spend a lot of time or effort reviewing the set. Very bland indie rock by folks trying to hard to act like they are in an 80s new-wave outfit. When they finally left, all their fans apparently followed, the dedicated prepared for the headliners.

Soft Circle

Soft Circle's pedigree is as impressive as his live sets. The former Black Dice and Lightning Bolt member uses a full drum kit, microphone, percussion pad and guitar to craft impressive, addictive and highly danceable songs. Only knowing his background, I was expecting drone or ambient and was thrilled at the fiercely funky night music. I've missed his New England sets with High Places and No Age, I am done missing his shows though after a monster of a set.

Ponytail

Finally, just after midnight, Ponytail hit the stage and absolutely exploded with their trademark max energy rock. Molly Siegel is so entertaining to watch, unleashing her trade mark howls, growls and yelps. The band powered their way through the bulk of 2008's "Ice Cream Spiritual", working the crowd up into a total frenzy. The benefit of the small venue was the lack of bouncer interference. While I am still a little bruised and battered, the pit that raged through the set made a fun experience even more enjoyable. A great way to kick off my spring, I definitely felt like I danced off whatever winter was left of me out. Oh and got a picture with Molly.



Get like me. Thanks to Amy for joining me, and shout outs to Justin and Ethan for also showing up.