Music: NMW Festival review 2001

Music Festival
New Music West
Backstage Lounge

Two weekends ago, the annual music extravaganza New Music West was held throughout a four day span. NMW broke their own attendance record this year. It was no surprise. On the first day, the Arts Club Theatre hosted four rock bands who tried to bring the house down.

Opening the evening was Jeffery Sez - the only band with enough sense of humour to use “nothing refreshes breath longer than Jeff Sez” in their band bio. I’ve seen these boys before and they always aim to please. The set was a tightly orchestrated unit - well planned with no dead air - a feat at which many bands fail. They were noticeably relaxed and the lead guitarist, Joel Bryant, had definitely found his groove with the group.

The last time I saw Jeffery Sez, it was his third show with them and he was a bit stiff - trying to get things a little too right. This time the music flowed from his fingers - he even painted outside the lines. The only shame about Jeffery Sez is that they had to open the evening and no one was on the floor. It would have benefited us all if they had been slated later on in the evening.

The second act was Vancouver’s own rockers Mossy Ledge. There’s only one thing I can say - there is a band out there with better stage presence and light show. They’re called U2. Not that admiring a band and their sound is bad, but they should use the god-given talent they do have and make their own distinct sound. As much as they might love Bono, James “lead singer” Milligan, dressing like him (sunglasses, long hand-covering sleeves and all), and sounding like him does not warrant success. But then again, Mossy Ledge did fall victim to multiple rock critics when they self-proclaimed themselves “feel good pop/rock with lush arrangements and gentle guitar and bass runs.” Next time I’ll keep in mind what that might entail.

Undermars, the third act of the night, did a great job in getting the audience moving. The vocals were strong - clear with no breaks - and they played with a well-blended sound. Their stage presence is something that will come with time. They have been together for less than three years and should keep at it, as opportunities will arise. Or so says some music guru somewhere.

I must apologise to the drummer, Brad. I was talking to him at the end of the night and asked if he was playing during the festival. He said that he had played that night. Please don’t be offended, Brad. No one ever knows who the drummer is.

Finally, the headlining act Whole Damn County arrived to to the delight of the audience. These guys had energy and then some. They brought a near-empty house to its feet. Hailing from Whistler, B.C., Whole Damn County enjoys most evenings as a cover band to all them drunken skier types. This evening, though, they played their own music which was definitely diverse and different. Frankly, their performance blew me away. My favourite song of the evening was a ditty about a boy growing up over the years and the songs that went with it - a spoken story punctuated with porno sex sounds on the guitar and dead-perfect imitations of favorites such as AC/DC and Bon Jovi.

Whole Damn County was a brilliant band who played in a purely brilliant music festival -New Music West.