NYE all over again!!

NYE all over again!! set 1

Here we go again, one year later Luau Cinder, with the same line up and same venue for New Year's Eve, was poised to tear the roof off again. Lately seeing the shows seems like Luau Cinder is evolving into a more focused beast that still at any moment has the potential to throw you into a 30 minute musical segue roller coaster that somehow winds it's way back to where it began. This being said the band has been going strong and coming into the new year's blue moon celebration well rested, laid back and ready to rock. Building off of close to 200 shows now, and an album that is nearing completion, I was excited to hear what the band had in store for us all.
Luau Cinder took the stage with a confident swagger at about a quarter to 10, this being the 3rd NYE show so far for them, and after many nights in this venue before they showed us why people keep coming back right from the get go. The first song of the night, nice mellow island groove of DSP hasn't been played been played since 2007, sounded well rehearsed and had a nice gradual build to the fitting Blue Moon. Great to hear this original Luau reggae vibe again, hopefully it will stay in rotation and was not just played for the special occasion, played for only the third time since 2007. A nice nod to the old school days of the band to start the show. From there they played solid versions of Walkabout and then the newer original Franconia with it's easy groove the energy was patiently building into the first feel good peak of the show then smoothly back to the original melody before straying from it to much. The next song contained the only real type 2 jamming of the 1st set and was quite a little ride for being that early in the set. Lead Pipe started off normal but as soon as the the jam began they quickly set loops that sent them into a whole different orbit foreshadowing some of the craziness that was to come later. With tweaked out synthesizers coming from Lance on the keyboard while putting aside his usual guitar for a minute as well as lead synth bass from Nate kicking in heavy, all of a sudden the rock tune found it's way into Drum and Bass mania with Aaron swithing to a grinding techno rythym. After adding guitar back into the mix of loops the wave peaked up and had a nice evolution of aftershocks until the "Blizzard Jam" segued into the quiet intro to Bug. Much better then the only other previous version played about a month ago, all in all a nice landing pad for the first real serious jam of the night. Next came a nice version of Winning Losers another newer song that has been gaining power lately. A decent clash cover followed, nice but not a whole lot of energy put into it. The always fun Rusted Razor put another mark of glory in the set, could easily be the set closer or 2nd set closer, but getting to hear this tune early is a good sign of things to come. Three different pieces of music composed fluidly together in one song is how I think of it, a masterpiece every time and this is no exception. The first set came to a close with straightforward versions of Laustin Texas, Say Hey, and Cortez the Killer, seemed like Luau Cinder needed to take a break and get ready to ramp it up for NYE, and that they did.

On the Road to New Years Eve

Reflecting on the last four years of getting to see this band rise from the Missoula underground scene to playing venues by the sea in far away states, steeped by legends from generations past. I decided it was time to go on a short road trip with the band from a journalistic point of view, this time more as a critic than a fan. Not a better time then now either. Hot off the road from epic shows at Owsley’s in Denver, and a packed house at the First National in Pocatello. I thought it would be great to hop on the Luau Cinder train in Missoula, then head to Moscow to John’s Alley for a NYE extravaganza. So I loaded my bags into the rig and saddled up for the ride.
Spirits were high upon departure despite leaving town in a torrential downpour which quickly turned into a blizzard. Lucky enough, easing up on us after the pass it was smooth sailing until we were about 40 miles from our destination when the snow starting dumping again. Upon arrival at our hotel we found out the heavy snow had caved in part of the buildings roof, not so lucky after all I guess. After relocating to another hotel we finally arrived.
John’s Alley was abuzz, the crowd growing with anticipation for the final day of 2008 to come to a close, and the first hours of a promising new year beginning. I got to catch up with the band, which is currently Aaron Talley on drums, Nate Talley on bass, and Lance Irven on guitar, just after their sound check. They seemed a little tired and rough around the edges from their travels in the month of December, but clearly their sights were set on tonight. “Just wait, it’ll be good”. Was all I could really get out of them, not wanting to give up any clues of what’s to come.
The time spent toiling around bars and strange venues for the last few years have paid off, even since the last time I saw them which wasn’t too long ago. From the opening notes of the first set, a new song I had never heard before, to the decay of echoes and feedback from a cover of a Modest Mouse song to end their final set. It felt like a journey that can only be summed up by the exclamation of a grey bearded hippie in the front row at the end of the night “…that was intense!”.
This band seems to transcend the jam band stigma of that of a rock and roll band that plays songs that last for more than three minutes, and seems to appeal to a much broader audience. That seems evident by the types of bands that have shared bills with Luau Cinder over the years and the types of folks that show up in the crowd. Indie rockers, jazz fiends, reggae fans, other musicians, college kids and old hippies alike shared equal parts of the stew that was created on the dance floor this and most other nights as well.
First set: Started off with an upbeat original tune that seemed to have a prog rockfish feel to it, a good opener. That was followed by a smooth version of a Cornell Campbell song which always seems appropriate. Then another Luau tune called Rusted Razor, a multi dimensional song that has really evolved in to some sort of masterpiece. An always rockin’, but now pretty rare Psycho Killer came next and really energized the crowd, the band seemed to feed off this energy more now and ripped through a couple more originals. Building steam as they went, they ended the latter song with a long, deeply textured funk jam that turned into an all out frenzied rocker and peaked about fifteen minutes into the jam. Then it was quickly deconstructed and morphed into a dub heavy version of the Clash’s Armagideon Time. What a way to start! I thought they were probably close to done with the set, but it just kept going. Next was a flawless version of a Chili Pepper tune, then another Luau Cinder rocker, followed by a sandwhich of songs segued by some good ol’ fashioned Luau Cinder psychedelia, reminiscent of their 2nd sets that sometimes never stop. David Bowie’s Golden Years, Cinder’s Laustin Texas, and Come on Baby Let’s Go Downtown from Neil Young’s catalogue to end the first set. Wow, the crowd was fired up and ready for the New Years countdown.
NYE set: After a shorter than expected set break Luau Cinder returned 30 minutes before New Years to get the crowded venue even more fired up. After blistering versions of Handshake Drugs, Williams & Sons, and 1st Tube, the band starts tweeking knobs and the delays and vibrations are building into what starts to sound like a mad science experiment, then just when I was expecting the countdown they broke into a very heavily dubbed out, old school version of Inversion. One of the original batch of five tunes. Then the countdown began out of the middle of the swirling delays of an unfinished Inversion. HAPPY NEW YEAR, a champagne toast was commenced by the capacity crowd and we were serenaded with Auld Land Syne by Luau Cinder, amidst delays and mad science countdown sound effects. When the spaceship landed they brought the funk with Simple Twist Up Dave followed by a nice chunk of dubbed out dark side of moon with electronic and drum and bass takes of On the Run. Then another electronica tune called NINA, complete with samplers, loops, and some nice synthesizer work from every different part of the band while holding down the original groove, they had that place bouncing around like crazy. After what seemed like 15 minutes the wedge drumbeat kept getting teased into the mix and then sure enough as the song began to come to an end, the first notes of The Wedge emerged through the last samples of NINA. As I thought the set was ending again with the held out chord at the end of the song that usually signifies set’s end, Luau Cinder broke into an original funky, hip hoppy number called Falling North which was a spring board to one of the longest and craziest improvisations of the night, rolling through square waves of tripped out electro funk to mellow sweeping textures of octaves building right into the finale, Say Hey. Another original 5 tune. Seeming to have gone full circle through their career and touching on all aspects of what makes me like going to a Luau Cinder show, I’m wondering what can be left. One more set to find out I guess.
Third set: After almost 3.5 hours of music already played and a champagne toast, Luau Cinder came out looking pretty loose, and the crowd probably even more so. At this point, I was wondering if either one could keep up with this pace. Sure enough the momentum kept building. Another David Bowie song captured the crowd once more as the set got underway, with the weird pressures and stresses of NYE over now, everyone seems to be letting their hair down so to speak and really starting to rock out. With my memory becoming less and less distinct as the night goes on, Luau Cinder kept bringing the fire through their 6 song final set and the crowd kept lapping it up. It was a great night to spend in Moscow with a great up and coming band. Once again the music turned me into a fan, and I’d have to say it was priceless to watch the couple of old hippies amongst the crowded dance floor at the end of the night jumping around and singing along to “Doin’ The Cockroach”.

Reporting by: Robert Elof

12/31/09 Luau Cinder at John’s Alley

Set 1.
F3 > 100lbs of Collie > Rusted Razor > Psycho Killer, Franconia, Lead Pipe, Armagideon Time, Walkabout, Nemo, Golden Years > Laustin Texas > Come On Baby Let’s Go Downtown.

Set 2.
Handshake Drugs > Williams & Sons > 1st Tube > Inversion > NYE Countdown > Auld Lang Syne > Simple Twist Up Dave > Breathe > On the Run > 12.14.1772 > Aesop Rock > Time > Breathe Reprise > NINA > The Wedge > Falling North > Say Hey

Set 3.
Ziggy Stardust, Chyna, Disfunkt > Autumn Waltz, Highway 83 Blues, Doin’ the Cockroach.