Live Review

The Dandy Warhols – Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London

• 25th Jul 2008

After having the absolute joy of reviewing The Brian Jonestown Massacre exactly one week before, this reviewer couldn’t help but get hyped by the fact that they were about to photo shoot and then review The Dandy Warhols in such a short space of time. And in similar fashion the band take to the stage as inconspicuously as possible and get the ball rolling.

Strangely the band are all lined out with Zia McCabe on the left, then drummer Brent Deboer (looking like a cool extra from Almost Famous), then Courtney Taylor and Peter Holmstrom on the right. So for the crowd nobody is obscured on stage (and it gives the Deboer that much more exposure). Sadly that makes for a Photography nightmare in the pit at the front. But luckily 10 out of the 12 photographers are only interested in shooting Courtney so they stay to the right giving this photographer free reign to prance up and down to get most of the rest of the band.

The music itself is a serviceable start. But then the crowd soon cheer out when the second on the list turns out to be ‘Godless’ from the ‘Thirteen tales From Urban Bohemia’ album. A classic album starter and one that should probably have been used to start the gig. The Dandy’s here implement a level of control of the crowd and atmosphere. It is a shame then that it’s a bumpy ride throughout. Some new material is tested on the audience. The band genre-hop a bit which nicely shows off their ability to ape other styles whilst still remaining true to themselves.

Taylor may sound like he’s got a throat infection from time to time, but the power of his voice is certainly put to great use. His is one that can be totally captivating when it is loud and stretched out. It just doesn’t happen as often as you would like. Zia becomes more bouncy as the night progresses. Peter Holmstrom is a wonderful guitarist, but on stage tonight he seems far too concentrated and stoic in his black threads. Again it is good that Deboer as he is quite an expressive figure behind his kit and truly looks like he is living up being the drummer of such a diverse band.

The new material is not bad at all, and the band hit a few of the more popular tracks over here in the UK. The one that give them their height here ‘Bohemian Like You’ seems a bit speeded up and rushed, but then there are other songs where they really take their time and slow things down, and even drop down to just one member playing by themselves which really work wonders
So by all degrees it is a good gig, but you can’t help but feel that they have played so much better somewhere else.