C O L U M N S

Road Reports Archive

Ozric Tentacles / Lotus
Bowery Ballroom . New York, USA

By: Ken Pierce
Show Date: 3/19/2005
The Ozric Tentacles made a return to New York to play the comfortable venue called “Bowery Ballroom”, I was in attendance for this display of pure psychedelic rock and here are a few thoughts on it. For those that have never been to the Bowery Ballroom in NYC, you might enjoy the place for not only is there a good PA system but the setting for the venue is quite nice. Downstairs is the bar and lounge while upstairs (on ground level) is where the stage is. There is also an upstairs balcony where VIP and special guests might mingle. The room seems to hold about 500 people which is great for getting a closer vantage point to the Artist you are there to see. It holds true to the intimate gig.

Opening up that night for The Ozrics was a very interesting jam band known as Lotus. They were very good and performed their set of jazzy oriented music to the very visible joy to the audience. Everyone in the group seemed to be very talented at the instruments they played and there was a lot of interesting things going on in their music. The entire front stage viewers were dancing about and reminded me of what one sees at Phish or the Dead shows. Of the players I was most fascinated by the percussionist, as he had so many different items in his setup that he was not only musically cool, but really fun to watch. It was my goal to talk to them afterwards but the chance was just not there as they were tied up with other people after their set.

After a reasonable breakdown time, the Ozric Tentacles came to the stage. This is an interesting outfit to say the least. The group has been around for over 20 years and as reference showed has just released their 25th album. Friends who know my musical preferences warned me that I would be incredibly bored at the show however they could not have been more wrong. In the concert setting, the Ozrics proved to be a lot heavier than even I expected them to be. The current lineup is based upon core member Ed Wynne; and he is the dude to watch. He rips on the guitar and also plays synths and triggers rhythms that he plays along with during the show. My vantage point was directly akin to his on the stage so this made me enjoy it all the more. The only issue about the show was the fact that there was some serious technical stuff brewing with his guitar rig. The crew was back and forth a lot trying to rectify this. Ed played it off in a charming manner, making some comments I could not discern since I was below the monitors. When I commented to a fan next to me that it did not seem all that drastic, I was told that were certain synths were was a lot more guitars. I am sure Ed was not enjoying this, but gigging is like fishing sometimes as you don’t know what you will end up with. If the sound goes out you can’t blame the guy you just have to fix it as fast as you can.

Joining Ed on the other synthesizer setup is Brandy Wynne and she was a jolt of energy the entire night. She was enjoying herself so much and this is great when the band gets the kick out of the show. I prefer this to bands that merely stay there and make me feel as though I am watching a picture. The audience can feel this I will tell you that much. On drums was Metro who I thought was a killer player. He did not miss a trick through the whole performance, and it was long. On flute they have Champignon and his playing added an almost Jethro Tull feel to it. During the show he employed types of the instrument to achieve the proper affect needed. Graeme was holding it all together on the bass. Truly a great lineup. The effects were mostly a light and slideshow that went on all thru the set. Viewing that and the music the best way to describe it to a newcomer would be to say it is almost like a harder-edged vein of Syd Barrett era Pink Floyd (that you combined with assorted trance/danceable synth beats). The slideshow stuff had numerous extra terrestrial images in them making me feel this is a subject the band focuses on. At one point my photographer coined a key phrase to sum up the night, he turned to me after getting some killer shots and smiled as he said “Set Your Controls For The Heart Of The Bowery”……I couldn’t agree more, and I was glad we went. The set list is provided but I am sure I messed a tune or two up since I am new.

Set List:
1. Intro
2. Jurassic
3. O-I
4. Dis Dots
5. Synth Jam
6. Tah Kut
7. White Rhino Tea
8. Coiley
9. Pyramidian
10. Sunscape
11. Plasmoid
12. Oakum
13. Kick Much
14. Tidal Convergence
15. Bolshem – encore
16. Sploosh! – encore


[Other Maximum Metal Columns]

<< back >>





RANDOM ACTS OF METAL
. HammerFall. Lost Horizon
. Scanner. Opeth
. Immolation. Tiamat
. Exmortem. Grave Digger
. Neck. Skullview
. Commit Suicide. Majesty
. Fozzy. Liege Lord
. Crematorium. Masterplan
. Firewind. Carnal Forge
. Circle of Nero. Goat Horn
. Tungsten. Exawatt
. Runemagick. Pharaoh
. Krisiun. Probot
. Fairyland. Celesty
. Jaw. downBleed
. Leash Law. Cans
. Outworld. Epica
. Disarmonia Mundi. Gamma Ray
. Nova Lex. Jorn
. Iron Angel. Hatework
. Destructor. Acrid
. Insomnium. Goatsnake
. Vox Tempus. Meliah Rage
. Occult. Katagory V
. Scavenger. Chris Caffery
. Marshall Law. Within Temptation
. Acheron. Ironhorse
. Made of Iron. Anger
. Seventh One. The 7 Method
. Napalm Death. Bloody Sign
. Divine Fire. Corrosion Of Conformity
. Crionics. Hibria
. Suidakra. Darkthrone
. Argument Soul. Freedom Call
. God Fear None. Pure Inc
. Holy Moses. Kinrick
. Strapping Young Lad. Ramesses
. Fastkill. Burden Of Grief
. Astarte. Manntis
. Sothis. God Among Insects
. Maximum Overdrive. Ektomorf
. Darkane. Testament
. Sentenced. Dark Funeral
. Circus Maximus. Dam
. Devil Lee Rot. Holy Blood
. Iron Maidens. Scar Symmetry
. Warchild. Overloaded
. Sun O))). Phantom X
. Even X. Spellbound
. Urizen. Skullshifter
. Khold. Dismember
. Taunusheim. Fallen Wisdom
. Mental Care Foundation. Blackmore's Night
. Leviathan/Sapthuran. Cataract
. Down Factor. Hate Profile
. The Strongest Proof. Abysmal Dawn
. Apiary. Michael Orlando
. Unsilent Phenomenon. Dendura
. Sahg. Shadows Within
. Woodtemple. I
. Hurt. The Ruins of Beverast
. Zero Hour. Jeff Walker und Die Fluffers
. Amputated. Isis
. Eyes of Ligeia. Biolich
. E-lane. Darkness Eternal
. Twisted Into Form. Omnium Gatherum
. Terry Sullivan. Crescent Shield
. Rob Zombie. Since the Day
. Manes. Tears
. Aborted. Wuthering Heights
. Malevolent Creation. Throneum
. Fight. Pathosray
. Frosthardr. Heresi
. Averse Sefira. Shining Star
. Bilocate. 40 Below Summer
. Gutted With Broken Glass. Trivium
. Pop Evil. Kreator
. Hacksaw Surgery. Equilibrium
. The Lamp of Thoth. Celestia
. Bible Of The Devil. Alestorm
. Deadsea. Son of Eric
. Winterfylleth. Mustasch