Music seen at the White Heart, April 25, 2008
By TODD RICHARD | April 30, 2008
Free admission makes it hard to pass up a show on a Friday night, especially when it is the emerging Portland-and-New Hampshire band known as Montroller. Just a few years ago, their music would have been classified as “genre-defying,” as there were no terms in the common vernacular to summarize the dense amalgam of sounds and instruments, void of vocals. We now have invented the vocabulary to describe this defiant genre, with words like jamtronica or electro-rock.
Montroller performed as a trio on Friday night, with drums, bass, and guitars in the foreground, and keyboard synth pads taking the back seat. While most electronicists often put their geekery the farthest forward, these gents opt to be the stars themselves and let the synth elements support. The result is a jam-heavy show that meanders away from established and “tight” arrangements. The band began the night with Thievery Corporation-style chillout music, and followed it with expansive explorations into drum and bass, like their sprawling “Kastout.” It could have benefited from less guitar shredding and more of the synth elements. But legions of fans danced, cheered, and spaced out with them.
I barely recognized any of the Montroller fans in the room. This gives me immense hope that our little city is growing, both in size and in scope.
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Live Reviews
, Todd Richard
, Thievery Corporation
