Gomez Redux

I just got back from the Gomez concert tonight at the Newport so I figured I'd give a brief review considering I already wrote about their latest album, "How We Operate".

Matt Pond PA opened and gave a pretty solid performance. For those of you that aren't familiar with them, they are kindo of a dreamy-sounding rock band in the mold of The Shins and Rogue Wave. The highlight: they have a pretty cute keyboardist/cellist. The cello really adds a cool texture to their songs that feature it. The only songs of theirs I recognized were "Halloween" and "So Much Trouble" but everything they played was enjoyable.

Gomez took the stage to a packed house of people form ages probably 16 to 60, really wierd crowd, and rocked out. They were loud and they were energetic, but they only played a few songs from their new album. All the other songs were amazing too, so I'll have to get ahold of their older albums. "How We Operate" featured an extended jam at the end of the song which was pretty fun. Other than that, it was everything I expected. The highlight: singer Ben Ottewell apparently had a friend in the crowd whose friends he invited onstage for one song. Hilariously bad dancing ensued.

Next concert: Nov 5 Ben Lee and Rooney; Bhuddist acoustic rock and teenage garage rock, what's not to love! And tickets are only $5 at the Newport now.