Concert review: Dredg at The Rex

[illusionofjoy]

Driven by the strength of the single, "Bug Eyes," I bought the concert ticket and Dredg's latest album, Catch Without Arms on Wednesday. Dredg was a band who managed to have two albums delivered to WAIH during my tenure there as the music director. While they always made it onto the play list, the group was usually overshadowed by names with more notoriety and bigger promotional pushes. Such is the way of an industry which floods the market with product and then wonders why profits aren't what is expected.

Regardless, Catch Without Arms would be the disc which propels that band into more deserved recognition. I can only wonder what the current music director at WAIH is doing, because I know that I'd have this disc in high rotation. Suffice it to say that one listen had convinced me that I wasn't going to a concert where I'd hear "Bug Eyes" and then be bored for the remaining hour and 57 minutes.

Tickets were $10 in advance ($12 if you used a credit card and likely much more if you bought them through Ticketmaster). Upon arriving at The Rex Thursday, the first thing I noticed was the line snaking around the street next to the building. I had arrived at 7:30, just as the doors were opening under the mistaken assumption that Pittsburgh, being fed a steady diet of WYEP, Clear Channel and Infinity, would have no idea who Dredg was, which would lead to a smaller crowd. How quickly one forgets the impact of the internet when one sucks upon it's electronic teat constantly.

Thankfully, I didn't spend much time in line, as I had bought my ticket in advance. I walked past those shortsighted souls who now waited at the box office and entered the theatre proper where I grabbed a seat towards the front. People slowly filed in – mostly shaggy haired emo kids. I saw a lot of T-shirts for bands who owe much of their whininess to The Smiths, but would never admit to it. The first of two opening bands touring with Dredg took the stage after a quick sound check and public service announcement by the house.

Veda

The openers for the openers, Veda are a four-piece from Kansas City, Missouri (pronounced, "misery"). In the biography on their website, they city Joy Division, the Foo Fighters, A Perfect Circle, Björk and Coldplay as influences. Live, they sound like the Foo Fighters fronted by Bic Runga, which isn't a bad thing. Had I any cash on me beyond what I needed to pay for parking, I might have picked up one of their CDs to give it a listen later on.

mewithoutyou

The actual opening act for Dredg, or as I think of them now: one opener too many. Mewithoutyou are from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and can stay there and never ever come back to Pittsburgh, as far as I'm concerned. I'm not sure how long they played, but it was time miserably spent. The real shame of it is that they actually have competent musicians who play a wonderful mix of emo and shoegaze. These guys could make something of themselves if they would just ditch their lead vocalist. It's not that he couldn't carry a tune, it that he preferred screaming out of rhythm to even trying to sing. After three songs, I was ready to scream back, "get off the stage – you suck!" Here's a hint for their asshole frontman: if you want to be avart-garde, try out for Xiu Xiu or Turn Pale, though I suspect that both bands would reject you for lacking even the slightest glimmer of artfulness.

Dredg

The main attraction, or in other words, the reason I bought the ticket, Dredg quickly buried the memory of the horrible band who preceded them. I had been sitting down for mewithoutyou, wishing for them to become plagued with technical difficulties that would cut short their performance. When Dredg took the stage, I stood up.

According to Allmusic.com, the band has actually been together since 1993, forming as a bunch of friends playing music together in high school. Their first release was the independent Orph EP in 1997, long out of print at this point. They were signed to major label Interscope two years after their debut album Leitmotif was released. Interscope subsequently re-released the album.

Performing live Dredg are a force to be reckoned with. On a page of Thursday's paper where they gave Coldplay two columns, the Post-Gazette slapped the band with this undeserved slur: "Down the street at the Rex, it's a band Interscope dredged up called Dredg. The members stem from the Bay Area band specializing in the kind of epic rock you get from U2 or Incubus." Once again, it is painfully obvious that Ed Massley, their music critic, does not bother to do any research before subjecting the public to the newsprint he vomits up. Comparing Dredge to U2 is complimentary, but inaccurate, while an Incubus comparison is merely insulting, considering the calibre of that band's recent output. To say the band were "dredged up" after they spent nearly a decade in indie obscurity is a slap in the face.

Live, Dredg have more in common with Sunny Day Real Estate and The Catherine Wheel than they do with U2. Some of the dirty strings used are even reminiscent of Porcupine Tree while the more atmospheric moments bring to mind Phaser. While these guys rock hard, and pile on the feedback when needed, they remain melodic throughout and know when to draw back to just a solo piano or softly sung vocals backed by a simple bassline.

It takes impressive musicianship to face such giants, and the members of Dredg have used their time together to hone their craft quite well. Gavin Hayes is one of the few vocalists running in emo circles (which is odd, considering Dredg qualifies as progressive rock) who can actually sing. Meanwhile, his stage banter in-between songs is reminiscent of the nervous boy next door. Bassist Drew Roulette holds his end of the rhythm section up with the standard rock basslines intermixed with bass chords (always a treat). At the other end is percussionist Dino Campanella, who continued to play not only drums but keyboard at the same time as the crew were removing his kit from the stage, piece by piece. Finally, holding it all together is the wall of sound that is guitarist Mark Engles.

Almost as impressive as the band were the audience – not a single asshole brought forth the "concert curmudgeon" last night – amazing! A pity the same couldn't be said for other motorists during the drive home afterwards…

The Thursday night show at The Rex was Dredg's first appearance ever in Pittsburgh. They will be coming back September 29^th to Club Zoo in the Strip District. This is another Thursday night. I plan on going.