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Live Review
by SashaS
23-11-2002
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| Cave In relax after the Foo's tour |
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Live: Cave In
Wembley Arena, London
Friday, November 22, 2002
Cave In: solid opening band on Foo’s tour
The Foo’s Wembley Arena dates were very well and promisingly opened by Cave In, one of Dave Grohl’s fave (current) bands and label-mates of late. This foursome from Boston, Massachusetts, belong to the hard-tranche of prog-rocking school that allows them to dip into emotions but also to fire riffages that become these huge sonic washes with a potential of creating incredible tribal ambient!
The band’s third album, ‘Antenna’, is not due until March 2003 and yet the band already plays a selection of tracks from it: ‘Breath Of Water’, ‘Inspire’, ‘Rubber And Glue’, ‘Seafront’… All displaying complex arrangements with pace-changes, mood-switches and sudden emo-explorations followed by bombastic bridges, all played with youthful fervour and energy, resulting in their drummer requiring third snare drum by the fourth song! (An innate Keith Moon, anyone?)
Playing a support usually fails to produce the mosh a club date of devotees would have but each and every song tonight is conferred by enthusiastic applause despite new music not being available for another four months, at the earliest. The band’s (independently released in the USA) material was available in the foyer but only after the show’s end because discs could be used “As weapons!?”, singer/guitarist Stephen Brodsky pronounced incredulously. Alas, mate – we don’t have guns-for-anyone policy and have to use whatever is handy!
The most obvious reference points are Tool-cum-The Cure but without any plagiarism although a song like ‘Woodwork’ indicates the true nature of their influence, with ‘Seafront’ being almost a tribute to the legendary British supergroup that has been Rock’n’Roll Hall Of Fame’d a while back.
When Brodsky enquires about our liking Led Zeppelin and then asks whether we’d mind if they played ‘Dazed And Confused’, it was too much of a temptation to feign hard-to-please. And, we were in for a treat because it wasn’t just a cover but an astonishing interpretation: the Cavers have taken the template’s spirit and adorned it with different effects, breaks, jamming and details to turn it into something else!
It is so great to see a (fairly) new band tackling its main influence and demonstrating their relationship to it. So many artists avoid such a move (perhaps due to lack of proficiency) and thus deny us a relevant point of comparison. It certainly did crown this very impressive performance!
It became clear during their short set that Grohl’s picking Cave In for the support slot was not only due to them remind him of his beloved Zepp’s but also for being really solid rockers.
Jot this name down for next year.
SashaS
23-11-2002
Cave In’s album ‘Antenna’ is due for release in March 2003 by RCA/BMG
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