Dead Meadow - Supreme Trading, 2.22.05
Feathers Release Party

The fact that I almost passed on Dead Meadow's Feathers release party on Tuesday was, in retrospect, sheer lunacy. I was mainly hung up on whether it'd be worth a trip on L train to see a "short set" - what I figured would be just 2 or 3 songs - but the free admission, free Red Stripe, and chance to check out Supreme Trading convinced me it'd be worthwile. Well, Supreme Trading is a great space, the Red Stripe was free as promised and plentiful, and Dead Meadow's "short set" just happened to be about 80 minutes long - not only a full show, but actually the longest set I've ever seen them do!

Dead Meadow's bluesy psychedelic rock works best live. Their last record Shivering King and Others is good, but I don't think I would have become nearly as big a fan had I not seen them a few times on that tour. Shivering King's sound isn't great relative to the live show - on stage, the drums hit a little harder, the guitars have a crisper edge, and you can count on losing yourself in the solos. Feathers does a much better job of capturing that and Dead Meadow played almost the entire album on Tuesday, starting with album opener "Let's Jump In." They fit in a few older cuts as well - the fact that "Dusty Nothing" was one of them made my night.

The show was all about Feathers though, and rightfully so. One big change with this album is the addition of guitarist Cory Shane to the band. They were just as tight with an extra person in the mix (save for a couple false starts), and they all had more freedom to do their own things. The sound wasn't always perfect, but that seemed more a function of Supreme Trading being a bar/club over a proper venue. Two songs really stood out on Tuesday - "At Her Open Door" (studio MP3) and "Through the Gates of the Sleepy Silver Door." The latter is a 13 minute epic that closes Feathers - the version that ended the show was even more epic, with drummer Stephen McCarty making John Bonham proud for most of it.

Dead Meadow will be at the Mercury Lounge on March 24 and 25. The fact that I'll be out of town for both made Tuesday's show all the more satisfying. Especially since it was free!