Mute Math – 2009 Memphis concert

If you’re wanting to see a good live show in a small venue, you’ve got less than a month to catch a MuteMath show in the States (tickets and dates on official site). I went to their Memphis show on Sunday 10/25/09 at the New Daisy with my friend Jason (who first introduced me to their self-titled CD).  This was my third time to see Mute Math in as many years and they never fail to provide perfect sonic vibrance. Arpit Mehta has a good review the LA show, so I’ll add a multimedia roundup to those thoughts.

Review

I’m kind of glad I didn’t read any reviews about the show (or see this photo of Darren jumping off his drum) before I walked into The New Daisy Theater. However, I feel it’s my duty to show you what a MuteMath show looks like. Multimedia and setlist to follow my review.

Quiet Entertainer is not on the regular Armistice Tour lineup (his MySpace page has more info). This Nashville DJ was invited to the Memphis show and he turned out to be quite a pleasure to watch and hear. His set was about 30 minutes long. See YouTube vid below to see the facial expressions he uses as part of his “quiet” act.

As Tall as Lions is the regular opening act for this tour. Jason really liked the band, calling it formulaic “pop rock” set to sell. I enjoyed watching each of the artists in the band, but they didn’t really grab me as a complete act. It looks like their complete discography is streaming at Lala.com. Additionally, Pitchfork has a couple of good album reviews. This sounds like the kind of band that grows on you, so I’ll be listening to them a little more. I’ve included a YouTube vid of a 2007 performance in their home turf, New York.

Mute Math put on quite an unforgettable 2 hour show. They retained all their stage antics from previous tours while managing to insert new ones into their repertoire. Most of the songs were performed similarly to the studio recordings, some better, some worse than I expected (see notes in set list). “Electrify” has been my latest sing-along favorite off the new album; that was the only track I wish they were able to fit into the set. I give the Armistice Tour a 9 out of 10, 8/10 for the show as a whole (Memphis venue + other acts). I know several of my readers are in the Atlanta, Nashville, D.C., and NYC areas, so you still have a chance to catch their show for about $25. There’s a reason that magazines are calling Mute Math one of the top “shows to see before you die”!

Extras

Flickr has a lot of great photos posted since the tour started. I’ve also uploaded a few of the grainy photos that I took at the Memphis show, with comments on them. Highlights:

In addition to my YouTube playlist below (none from the actual Memphis show, though), you can listen to most of their studio tracks by searching Grooveshark for “Mute Math” or “MuteMath”.

Since Twitpic isn’t as easy to search as Flickr is, here are some pics from the actual show for ya. I love the one where Paul is holding the hand of an audience member!


L to R, Twitpics from danewilliams, jakesligh, kimtoliver, and insideREV

Set list (Any idea what the notations are here?):

• The Nerve ****
• Backfire ***
• Chaos ***
• Clipping ***
• No Response *** Drum prop light effect video.
• Control ***
• Stare At The Sun ***
• Obsolete ****
• Goodbye ** Catchiest song on the CD, but it was somehow boring live. I was a little tired from standing for 3 hours at this point, but I got my second wind with “Armistice”…
• Armistice ***** Great extended jam at the end.
• You Are Mine ** Love this song, but lacked captivation of the studio recording.
• Odds ***
• Noticed ***
• Typical *****
• Burden ****

Encore:

• Pins And Needles ****
• Spotlight ***** Crowd went crazy. Good live, even though I don’t like the studio version much.
• Reset *** Still using their theremin-guitar hybrid “Atari” with the audience.
• Break The Same ***** SURPRISING coming right out of reset.

Event page on Last.fm with photos and reviews. The official MUTEMATH tour page has more video and photos, including Twitter stuff and other web 2.0 goodies.