Elbow at U.S. Beer Company - 1/27/01
Reviewed By	Eric J. Olsen
The Opinion
Do you like your music loud? Do you like your music powerful? If you said yes, you'll love Elbow. This trio is so powerful, they blew the power at the U.S. Beer Company more than a dozen times. These guys are so loud, they made the cartilage in the tip of your nose constantly vibrate. And they did all this while being limited to a quarter of their standard show. But they're more than just loud music. Elbow's about good music and a good time. The intensity with which they play forces the audience to be drawn in and swept away. Even with all the power outages due to the woefully inadequate power supply at the U.S. Beer Company, the energy level never waned. A lesser band would've let the persistent problems plague the performance. But Elbow would allow no such thing to happen. With Eddie "Elbow" Riley providing the bass and raw vocals, Brian LaFlamboy laying down the steady beat, and Craig Carey blazing the stage with his stunning fretwork, these guys produce more sound than should be humanly possible. It almost makes you want to wait around to see the other half dozen guys come out from behind the stage. But it's only those three guys producing the tremendous wall of sound. Your body is buffeted by the sonic assault while your mind races with the adrenaline stimulated by the massive amount of energy traded between the band and the audience. Their music is a throwback to the heyday of metal, when Anthrax, Testament, Megadeth, etc. ruled the world. If you could send Elbow back in time to 1987, they'd conquer the scene in about two minutes. Not that Elbow is stuck in a time warp, their music is still fresh. And with power, aggression, and fierce tunes, the crowd has no choice but to bang their heads. In addition to producing vast amounts of sound, Elbow provides a really great sound. Everything was where it should be and the mix was perfect. (At least when they could play, instead of waiting for the fuse to be replaced.) Throughout their two hour plus set, they kept the crowd energized with a good mix of originals and the occasional cover. If you either missed or miss the metal scene, Elbow is the band for you.
Nutshell Review
The power-trio redefined, their slogan says it all; Elbow Rocks.
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