On July 16th, I paid a visit to the Commodore ballroom to take in quirky British band Gomez. My experience thus far had been limited to selections off the new CD Split The Difference. I was eager to witness the live show based on the excellent rock I had heard.

The floor was mostly empty as the opening act took the stage. The singer identified himself, and his two piece group as Wil. He launched into a country tinged acoustic rock set, providing the lyrics, and backed up only by a drummer. He was a great player, and got the crowd cheering at both his excellent playing and his frequent, nervous banter between songs. After a short while there was a large crowd gathered in front of the stage. I must say that Wil got the loudest and most enthusiastic crowd response that I have ever seen from an opening act. The set was fairly long, and by the end he had the crowd chanting his name for more. He definitely created a great atmosphere for the feature to come.

The break between groups was blissfully short due to most of the equipment already set up. During the intermission I overheard a fan saying that he had come from Calgary just to witness the show. Personally, I’d say that leaving Calgary, also my home town, during the fun-filled Stampede shows a lot of devotion. I got a sense that the years-old band had quite a strong fan base. Indeed, Wil had remarked that he had been listening to Gomez for eight years, and he was clearly thrilled to be able to open for the group.

Never having seen Gomez live or in pictures, my attention was drawn immediately to the geeky looking keyboardist, who reminded me for all the world of ads for Trailer Park Boys that I have seen hanging around town. Throughout Gomez’s set he proved to be the band’s most excitable member, dancing on songs he was not playing on. He was grinning for the whole show. It’s probably just me, but I get suspicious of people who are that happy.

Regardless, it was fun to watch, and the crowd loved the cheerful atmosphere. Adding to my previous remarks, it was also the most enthusiastic crowd for a headliner I’ve ever seen. I extracted myself from my spot against the stage about halfway through the set, and was surprised to see that the tables on the side were fairly empty, and that almost the entire audience was dancing. Something rare for an indie group I think, as I’m used to seeing stone faced hipsters standing motionless.

The music, had I not known better, I would have described as American country-tinged rock, from Texas perhaps. There were also psychedelic elements in the melodic music, and for the most part it seemed happy music, designed to get a crowd moving. Most of the evening was not as heavy and rock oriented as what I’ve heard of the newest CD, leaning more towards folk and blues.

The show went on for over two hours; I myself would have preferred a shorter, more energetic set. Closer to the end, the band wandered more into noisy jams, including long psychedelic rhythms and solos.

Elsewhere

By Ryan Ince
Photos : Gomez website
Published : August 18, 2004.