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Moke
A Concert Review |
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One of the hardest things a band probably has to do is open for
another band. More often than not, the crowd will have no clue who
you are, sometimes only be familiar with one of your songs, and just
not give a damn about what you're going to play. Worse yet can be
when you're a new band, your latest CD hasn't even been released
yet, and most of your music hasn't been played on radio in the
United States. The band in that situation this time around was
called Moke.
Moke is a band that unless you've been to England lately, well,
odds are you've never heard of them. And, they had the challenge of
opening for the Black Crowes on their current tour. The band was up
to the challenge.
Led by John Hogg on vocals, Moke showed that they weren't
amateurs to the concert scene, and were able to take the crowd, who
had no clue who they were, and garner applause that surprised me for
them being an opening band, but the applause was well deserved.
Me, I was in the same boat as most of the rest of the people in
the crowd, however, I at least had some idea of what to expect when
it was explained to me a few days earlier that their sound was kind
of a Rage Against the Machine meets Lenny Kravitz. And yes, I would
have to say more Lenny Kravitz than Rage, but they also had a Black
Crowes feel to them, and, in a weird way, Moke also reminded me a
little of Billy Thorpe, the "Children of the Sun" guy.
They have a bluesy sound that sometimes goes into a rap, and can
take a song like "Another Weekend," start it out very
slow, very groovy, and then surprise the shit out of the crowd when
the guitars start blasting and John takes a song into a section were
you can understand the Rage Against the Machine attitude.
This review will be kinda short, because, well, they only played
for 30 minutes. But I will say this, I was pretty impressed at their
ability to get the crowd into them and the response they received. I
look forward to seeing a full-blown show from Moke, but kind of
worry because their music doesn't seem to fit into the sort of bland
air-play out there today. But, if they continue to put on live shows
like they did opening for the Black Crowes, I think they have the
chance to develop their following without the air play, just by
putting on a good live show.
So that's it for this one, Moke gets Two "Who are
they?" Thumbs Up. Kinda bluesy yet every now and then over the
top. It will be interesting to see if this band from Britain will be
given the time to develop a following over here in the states.
That's it for this one, I'm The Dude on the Right! Later! |
