Ishi, The Burning Hotels, Air Review
Trees
June 24, 2011
Better than: Twitter beef.
In usual fashion, Dallas came out on Friday night to dance. It's just what's happened around these part for the past year and a half: When Ishi headlines Trees it has become an event.
But on this particular night, which featured a particularly strong all-local bill also featuring Air Review and The Burning Hotels, most of the crowd seemed more curious than anything about how the newly revamped folktronica group would sound.
The verdict: Not too different.
The departure of Taylor Rea and Rob Bastien left some huge shoes to
fill, and this was going to be only the second time (and first time with
female vocalist Becky Middleton) that John and J.J. Mudd's newly reformed band would
take the stage since their former bandmates' departure.
While Bastien surely knew his way around a power cord, new guitarist
Rocky Ottley fits into the scene quite nicely, never overpowering the
stage with his presence while injecting some rock into their dance-folk
jams.
It should go without saying that replacing Rea is going to be the
biggest challenge facing Ishi. Middleton's debut as female lead was
good -- and, I'd venture to say, were this a studio recording, you
wouldn't be able to tell that anything changed. So, turns out, replacing
the voice alone isn't that hard.
But replacing the presence and the raw,
sexual chemistry that Mudd and Rea possessed on stage could prove to be
nearly impossible. That type of chemistry can't be manufactured, and
when your calling card is your live show, you can't afford to deliver
anything less. Middleton is a fantastic vocalist, but she nearly faded
into the background behind the light show and Mudd's larger-than-life
stage persona.
One of the criticisms Ishi faced was that, after a while, their set list
became stagnant. Friday's set list included three new songs, one of which
was a cover of New Order's "Bizarre Love Triangle" -- song that kept the crowd
interested for just a little bit longer during the encore.
In other words: This is now an evolving project that
Mudd promises will include a rotating cast of female singers. No matter
who ends up on stage any given night, this is John Mudd's band, and
where it goes in the future will ultimately be up to him.
Critics Notebook
Personal Bias: I've had both lineups of Ishi on my radio show, "The Local Edge," which airs on Sunday nights at 11 o'clock on KDGE-102.1 FM The Edge. They make my local music pants tight.
By The Way: As we break out our "Jump to Conclusions Mats," we need to remember that
this was only their second show.
