| From www.ocreloaded.com: The Hours at Bootleg Theatre last night |
| Written by Paul Lyons |
| Friday, 25 March 2011 20:16 |
 You won’t find too many music venues on Beverly Boulevard in Echo Park. Yet the Bootleg Theatre is not your average venue. With a audience capacity of about 200, the Bootleg is an old 1930’s warehouse converted into an artistic space for theater, dance, film and music. There's a makeshift stage not even 2 1/2 feet off the ground, with modest stage lights, and a PA. A small bar sits in the back, and there’s no curtain, and no seats. This set-up seemed a perfect fit for the Los Angeles debut of a band out of the UK called The Hours. Though they've been making records for the past five years, this is their first U.S. tour. Foregoing their usual 6-man line-up, The Hours performed a strong 9-song set as a power trio. Yet this was no ordinary power trio; there was no bass player and no drummer. Singer/songwriter/guitarist Antony Genn, keyboard player Martin Slattery, and guitarist Richard Lobb filled the Bootleg with big music that made you forget that there were only three men on stage. What’s their secret? Drum machines, a variety of samples, and live percussion were all utilized to fill out the sound. Live percussion you say? Yes, live percussion. You see, though there was no drummer...there was a bass drum, floor tom, and snare drum on stage. Simply put, The Hours are multitaskers. Richard Lobb would occasionally play the bass drum with his foot while also playing guitar. Martin Slattery would sometimes bang away on the snare drum or floor tom. This mixture of pre-recorded drum beats and live percussion sounded very exciting, and added a great dynamic to the music and Antony Genn's pitch-perfect vocals. Genn’s voice reminded me of Robert Smith from The Cure. In fact much of The Hours’ music reminded me of 80’s bands like The Cure and Depeche Mode.  The Hours’ first full U.S. release is a sampling of their first two UK albums: Narcissus Road and See The Light. The title of this new compilation perfectly describes the band’s concert on Thursday night: It’s Not How You Start, It’s How You Finish. Many people in the audience seemed unfamiliar with the band, and those who were familiar would not have recognized their opening number, “I Wanna Be Happy”...as it was a brand new song that has yet to be released. Fortunately, the song was quite good, as was the second song...”Icarus,” a moving track from Narcissus Road. This was followed by another brand new song, a gentle yet very danceable number called “Soul Music.” Next up came a pair of fine songs that were released as singles in the UK...”Big Black Hole” and “Back When You Were Good. ”This is a song about coming back from the dead” chimed Antony Glen before launching into my favorite song of the night, the catchy UK single “Ali in the Jungle.” It’s one of those tracks where you just can’t help but sing along. It was on this song where the live percussion truly stood out. With added effects, Martin Slattery’s floor tom playing added a deep and resounding sound that felt very much a part of the “Jungle” mentioned in the song. Noting the curious location of the Bootleg Theatre, Antony Glen asked the crowd with a smile “We’re in The Hood right? Are you guys packin?” He soon jumped into a pair of tunes featured on It’s Not How You Start, It’s How You Finish: “Never See You Again” and the popular UK track “People Say.” To close out the night, The Hours ended with “Murder or Suicide”...a track off of Narcissus Road. Despite a chorus which sings “Some nights I can't decide between murder and suicide. I'm going out going out going out of my mind”...the song is surprisingly uplifting. In fact, it was on this song that the crowd finally loosened up and came to the front of the stage for the first time to boogie and jump and scream and shout. Out of nowhere, the concert turned into a big music dance party. By the time The Hours finished the last notes of “Murder or Suicide”...the show was over. Despite the crowd calling out for more, there was no encore. After the show, Hours’ guitarist Richard Lobb told me that the band had to play their first U.S. tour on a limited budget, so were not able to bring over its other members. Yet their performance was no less impressive, budget be damned. The Hours have made a small dent on the U.S. market so far, yet from what I witnessed on Thursday, they deserve much more. Similar to U2, The Hours’ sound stretches far and wide...and is tailor-made for big shows in big venues. Today the Bootleg Theatre, tomorrow...who knows? |
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