Review: Mono @ TSI
05/09/07 • Posted in: Downtown Jacksonville, Events, Music, Reviews by Joey Marchy 6 Comments »
photos and text by Adrienne Moore
Engrish still sounds like English and MONO, live, still sounds like MONO.
MONO, a four-piece instrumental rock band from Japan, played to a solid crowd last night at TSI following Sounds Trains Make, Grails and Worlds End Girlfriend. The result was a cinematic production of layered guitar melodies and varied rhythms suggestive of Texas post-rock band Explosions in the Sky.
At midnight, MONO took the stage and bassist Tamaki, lone female, commanded the attention of the audience despite a petite stature and monochromatic black attire. Guitarists Taka Goto and Yoda stood on either side of Tamaki and drummer Yasunori Takada played in back. The band kept a low profile on stage focusing on instruments and pedals and creating a mature appearance.
The music was characterized by long crescendos followed by powerful climaxes that became painfully loud, as indicated throughout the audience by fingers in ears. MONO produced a sound not unlike what is found in their albums, only more intense and dramatic because of their physical involvement in the music.
The reaction of the show-goers was varied throughout the set; some people swayed and some thrashed about, particularly as the volume grew. In between songs, a voice shouted, “Turn it up!” from the back of the crowd, which seemed inappropriate after seven minutes of strict concentration. By the end of the night, I was acutely involved in the sound and production on stage. I left unable to hear, but the affect was worth it.
MONO is more than halfway through their U.S. tour and will be playing in Birmingham, Ala. tonight. I have a feeling their final performance at the Bowery Ballroom on May 17 will be one of their best.
The Flames Beyond the Cold Mountain (mp3)
Official Mono website
Mono Myspace
tags: jacksonville, mono, tsi
Yay! a review!
Thank you to everyone who came out to the show. It relieved months of stress to see the local response.
If anyone has any photos of the show and could email me some links or something, it would be much appreciated if I could have a looksy.
booking@clubtsi.com
Thanks,
Brendon
booking@clubtsi.com
I took a few photos and will e-mail those after work today. The show was great. Good job, Brendon!
props to brendan…best show ever at tsi in my humble opinion, and i was also pleasantly surprised and relieved at the turnout. grails, which is one of my current favorite bands, was phenomenal and i would LOVE to see them get a showcase show in town someday soon. mono was fantastic as well….as i described it to my sister: a face blistering, ear mangling display of rock behemoth. awesome awesome awesome.
adrienne, if you were the girl jotting notes down during the mono show…i was standing right next to you!
brendan - we have several shots of the Grails show that i just have to get my wife to upload and i’ll send them over, and i know meg was shooting them all night. thanks for booking the great show!
thanks! looking forward to seeing the photos.
just about everyone else in the place, including myself, were blown away by Gralis. they have such a saturated and layered sound, you really forget they’re instrumental for a sec.
they will be back, they were very impressed with Jacksonville. most bands are reluctant to play this city, but minds change by the end of the night, especially when they almost run out of merch.
Here is the link to three of the photos Adrienne took:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/urbanjacksonville/tags/mono/
really glad to hear that…would love to see them back and would encourage everyone i know to attend. the drummer was unbelievable…and the 12 string guitar!!!!! radness. oh and i forgot to mention the local band - sounds like trains - were really intriguing and had a sort of otherworldly sound…always proud to see a local band do something completely original - and they seem to be doing it, so kudos to them.