... And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead - London Forum - 1/5/02
5/5
By: Toby L
Ouch. This one word could epitomise the Trail Of Dead live-experience. Well, either that or f**king sensational.
Let's not waste time building up to the story - we've all heard about/witnessed this Texan musical-masterpiece in concert. Tonight, their closure at the Kentish Town Forum to a short UK stop-over is dramatic, exhilarating and, to be frank, brave.
Whereas other bands at TOD's level portray their live-kicks via the aid of flashy light-shows and other state-of-the-art concert-features, this US four-piece prefer to keep it simple. From the thrilling outset, where Conrad, Jason, Neil and Kevin walk onstage to a hellishly loud response and assume their positions for the show, a feeling of madness is just stirring in the confines of the grand and classically stylised venue. The growling introduction to current LP-opener, 'It Was There That I Saw You' is plucked and the audience roar - and then it goes a bit mental.
Which is how the following hour ensues. Relentless, violent, primal swathes of feedback-laden angst, hysterical shouting-fits, pounding drums, and a gruelling mosh-pit. It's the extreme alternative of a church-service, yet the irony here though is that the sense of elation and revelation that the Trail Of Dead performance conjures up is just as powerful as any spiritual awakening.
The music never loses its volume or gritty pace, with anthems such as 'Another Morning Stoner' and 'Mistakes & Regrets' serving as the only 'coherent' moments where more than one word can truly be heard. As performers, too ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead are astounding. They're not conventional entertainers as such - they just swap instruments for various songs and switch vocalists - but the way it's done is executed with such a suaveness, lack-of-ego and naturalness that allows them to escape the unwelcoming grasp of pretension. Jason Reece, for instance, begins as drummer, and then ends up as the guitarist/frontman - albeit, one that can't stop himself from leaping into the fans in front at random intervals.
The notable highlights are the obvious ones - 'A Perfect Teenhood', namely, where all in attendance have the chance of screaming the lyrics in unison. In addition to this, however, the pushing over of Reece's drumkit at the end proves compelling watching, where every piece is thrown to all angles of the stage, the rest of the band snapping guitars and pushing over amps. However, just when you think that's it, a remaining Keely announces, 'We're gonna do one more song...' You laugh as the roadies run on-stage and effectively rebuild everything, prompting a returning band, who crash into the final number - apart from poor Neil, whose bass isn't working anymore, encouraging his dancing on a stack of amplifiers 'til the end of the set. By the time they finish again, everything literally is finished - the drums, this time, are scattered across all over the place far more severely than before, and virtually instrument is unplayable.
You've just witnessed one of your most intense concerts for years. You've just been blown away. Yet, it's just another night's work for the band.
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