Webster Hall fails as a live venue during CMJ showcase

Miranda Kimball A&E Editor

When any band tries to “make it” in the music industry, live gigs can play a crucial role to win fans’ favor. Both The Music and Hope of the States, two bands hailed as the UK’s latest rock virtuosos by the press on their side of the Atlantic, are vying for American success. However, their showcase performances at Webster Hall on Oct. 14 as a part of the CMJ Music Marathon barely satisfied their already devoted (but small) fan base. While live gigs are an imperative tool for a band as they spread their musical mantra, we cannot ignore the fact that the venue a band plays in on a given night can make or break a gig. Case in point: The Music’s and Hope of the States’s performances suffered because Webster Hall is not an adequate site for live music.

While The Music, who are now in full promotional swing for their second album Welcome to the North, played an hour-plus set filled with songs from both their self-titled debut as well as their latest release, the inconsistency of their sound throughout the night hurt their performance. The stage at Webster Hall is rather big compared to the Bowery Ballroom or Irving Plaza, and Phil Jordan’s drums were set up so far back on the stage that his kit’s sound wavered in and out throughout the set. At times, the drums were spectacular and served as the backbone for such songs as “Bleed From Within,” one of the new tracks played, but at other points the drums simply came off as flat. Rob Harvey, whose voice is a true stand-out in today’s British rock scene, also struggled with the poor sound quality. Webster Hall is first and foremost a nightclub and live vocals simply get lost somewhere amidst its art deco interior design.

While this wasn’t the night for The Music to win over any new fans, it was clear that the band had matured since hitting the scene back in 2002. Their new songs are far more musically complex and lyrically thoughtful, and their old songs are now performed with such confidence that the young quartet can even experiment and tease out their live sound.

Hope of the States’s gig at Webster Hall was their last date on a month-long tour across the United States, and it was quite clear that these boys were ready to pack up and go home. Despite headlining the concert bill, Hope of the States played only nine songs, compared to The Music’s 12. While The Music worked around the inconsistent sound, Hope of the States, and particularly its lead singer Sam Herlihy, struggled with the poor sound quality throughout the set. At points during virtually every song, Herlihy’s voice, like Harvey’s, simply got lost between the stage and the audience. It was evident from Herlihy’s facial expressions that he couldn’t hear anything through his ear piece, as he plowed through a number of songs from Hope of the States’s debut album Lost Riots. Like The Music, Hope of the States was able to get through their set with their tremendous ability to play together as a cohesive group. There were moments when this young rock band sounded truly symphonic, particularly during the one new song that was performed, “Black Stars Red Stars.” For a new comer to Hope of the States, this gig simply didn’t do the band justice (they didn’t even play arguably the best song off their album, “66 Sleepers to Summer”).

It’s true that CMJ is just a showcase; you are not going to see the best that every artist has to offer. But it is important that its organizers, for the future, realize that the quality of the venues they select are just as important as scoring the next up and coming band to perform. Let’s just hope the organizers learned their lesson by the time next year’s marathon rolls around.