Nebula - London Mean Fiddler - 22/2/02
3/5
By: James Faherty
An unusually laid-back atmosphere greeted all when entering the venue for tonight's show. Despite the typical, British rainy weather outside, the Mean Fiddler was a haven of Californian sunshine, imported all the way from over the pond by Nebula.
After support-act, El Caco, regarded by most of the audience as background music to their socialising at the bar, the threesome of rock-grandeur that is Nebula graced the stage to a distorted flurry of feedback. Apparently, the crowd that had gathered varied quite considerably in age, and motions: the younger gig-goers, all hyped-up at the front; and the long-haired, older head-bangers - seemingly, the select remaining few of the hippie generation - content to just stand back with a can of lager and nod along emphatically.
Nebula ploughed straight into sound regardless of the onlookers, however, their distinctively American-sounding brand of fuzzed-up rock 'n' roll enticing more and more of the crowd away from the counter of beverage-sales, and, by the third song, the audience was brimming with energy, the atmosphere both refreshingly positive and amicable.
For the most part of the set, the 'Bula played straight 'stoner-rock', with little variation, aside from a few notable blues-tinged and psychedelic-based compositions that boasted some fantastically elaborate solos from frontman Eddie Glass; the cheesiness of these occurrences may have been of high sustenance, but it's either this range of fromage to endure, or the same as that which gets delivered from the likes of Westlife... Exactly. So enjoy this kind.
Notable was the group's onstage presence: seemingly minimalist, bassist Mark Abshire swings and sways lethargically, oblivious that he's actually on a stage, whilst Glass caresses his guitar with typical rock-star panache. Halfway through the set, sticks-man Ruben Romano appears to morph from a languorous, spaced-out drummer into Animal from the Muppets, determined to bash the living daylights out of his kit and cause as much noise as possible. He succeeds. And at the end of this particular song, he surprises all by smacking a huge gong behind his kit with a flaming torch, setting it ablaze which in turn lights up the entire room. Magic!
Sadly, there was relatively little interaction between band and crowd; surprisingly too, it was drummer Romano that acted as the main voice, announcing new songs and halfway through the set declaring that there were to be, 'Just a couple more songs - then we're off to the bar!' The crowd looks shocked... Luckily, though, Romano is joking, and they proceed to whip through a neat selection of faster-paced songs, the fans going particularly wild for 'Full Throttle'.
By the end, however, the band had covered a big heap of material from their back-catalogue, even managing to squeeze in a four-song encore, not that the crowd are particularly respondent; their appetites for stoner rock 'n' roll had already been whet by the soulful act, whose ambition in life is to inject a bit of passionate music into other people's awareness.
From tonight's observations, the reason for Nebula's continuing success is not because of completely original songwriting, but instead due to the intensity and emotion with which they play. No doubt many people there tonight had been converted to the Stoner-religion, and are eager to get their hands on fresh material from the boys. With any luck, it's not too long a wait away.
Artists in this article: Nebula
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