Mew may be unfamiliar to overseas readers in North America, but if you are into the New Wave of Prog Rock, Mew might be a name to remember between The Mars Volta and Muse, even though these mentioned references are pretty far apart.
Mew hails from Denmark, a country that hasn’t produced that many acts known to strike it big outside of their own borders. Vikings, however, took notice of Mew who hit it big in Norway with their astonishing debut, Frengers, in 2003. This year, Mew have followed up that debut with Mew And The Glass Handed Kites.
Rockefeller was packed this evening, but as many times before, Mew is not a band that really takes the audience. They let the music capture them, along with a huge big screen that’s on almost constantly. To some extent, Mew’s music works as a soundtrack to these short films — and it is quite an extravaganza to experience.
After a couple of instrumental intros, the opening chords of “Am I Wry? No” — one of their biggest tracks on Frengers — were played, and it was very highly appreciated by the crowd. Along with “Snow Brigade” and “156” from the same album, the concert got off to a great start.
The Danes have rendered pure magic from the Oslo stages before, but this time that just didn’t quite happen, although it was close. “She Came Home From Christmas,” “She Spider,” and the astonishing last track “Comforting Sounds” brought out the chills, and they are all from Frengers.
With that in mind, it’s not easy to follow up a great album like Frengers, and their fresh outing Mew And The Glass Handed Kites don’t quite do the trick. “The Zookeeper’s Boy,” “Why Are You Looking Grave,” and “Apocalypso” were partly great… the latter with J. Mascis from Dinosaur Jr. singing along with the band from the big screen.
Expectations can often fool people, and this time they were really high. They were not quite fulfilled, but Mew is still a band to catch up on. Start off with Frengers and you’ll be hooked. Now, go on and do your shopping.
Be the first to comment