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This was my first time hearing Oppenheimer—live or otherwise.
A couple of months ago I met these guys while hanging out on
the roof of The Iron Monkey in Jersey City. It was the first
leg of their US tour and the boys were on a break before heading
back to Belfast. I met them thru Nelson Pla of the band clueLess
who had been traveling with them. When they returned for their
second leg, we hung out at Irving Plaza. So when I heard that
they'd be playing Maxwell's, I figured I owed it to them to
be there.
So often you see bands become slaves to the gadgets left
to just spit out cheesy drum machine sequenced fodder, but
not Oppenheimer. With Rocky on guitar, keys, percussion and
a computer and Shaun on vocals, drums, keys and guitar, their
songs are strong and they clearly were in control of the machinery.
Their sound is a refreshing concoction of ambient noise, classic
synths, catchy hooks and oodles of energy. They also have
a secret weapon that allows them to let go and be one with
their performance.
I've lived thru the electronica eras gone by. I've seen my
share of the good but way more of the bad and the ugly. No
matter the quality of the music there was one thing that darkened
just about every show. Band members were often faced with
the nerve-wracking task of being both performers as well as
technicians. Inevitable thingamabob failures would cast a
dark shadow leaving people with less of an impression of the
music and more of how shit breaks or the endlessly painful
silence between songs.
Oppenheimer has avoided that problem by doing something that
I wish more of my contemporaries would have done. They added
a third member to worry about everything other than the music.
That man is Jerry, the wizard who runs the sound and tackles
the technical matters behind the scenes. Tales have been told
of how he has plucked the band from the depths of sonic hell.
Apparently there were equipment problems tonight but no one
in the crowd was the wiser.
He spent the rest of the time tossing verbal barbs my way.
Come to think of it, he did the same thing that night in Jersey
City too. I wonder who he targets when the band is not in
New Jersey. Speaking of targeting, Jerry made it a point to
tell me that he was a trained sharp shooter. Ya know, just
in case I ever decide to visit the band in Belfast. Of course
he said it with a smile. Oh how I just love that Irish hospitality.
See Also:
Oppenheimer
Bar None
Records
Maxwell's
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