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Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Mark Gardener
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Club Sound
Salt Lake City, UT
9/16/2005
By: Meagan Rockne
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Mark Gardener was foreign to me before learning he would
be touring with Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. He is touted as
the former front man of Ride, but that meant nothing to me
because I had no idea who Ride was. To be honest when
Ride was reaching their distortion-filled, shoegazing glory, I
was still listening to Disney soundtracks, more than likely it
was Aladdin. However, by the end of the night,
I was happy that I had no previous knowledge of Gardener's
work. I experienced the new Gardener - a Gardener who
mumbles with a British accent, who drinks red wine between
songs and who has the ability to change the mood of a room
with a song.
The crowd was still small by the time Gardener's set came
around, but it did grow as the set came to a close. It's
unfortunate that so many people deliberately missed an
amazing performance. Gone is any inclination that he used
to play surrounded by heavy distortion, as now he prefers
an acoustic guitar or two, and a brand of music that is
seductive, emotion-filled and leaves the listener in awe of his
talent as a musician. It's acoustic indie rock without the
pretentiousness that is commonly associated with the music
genre.
Headlining the tour was Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, who,
like Gardener, has ditched their distortion and concentrated
on lyrics and a more simplistic and soulful music styling full
of acoustic guitars, pianos, tambourines and maracas. Yet,
they retain that same hypnotic sexiness that has garnered
them popularity overseas. This was the band that everyone
came to see, and rightfully so, they did an amazing job and
were able to mix old and new songs without it being
awkward. However, Gardener was the talk after the show.
For those of us who saw his performance, Gardener certainly
left us speechless. Let's hope that it doesn't take him
another 13 years to come back to Salt Lake City.
The theme for the show was definitely evolution. If you went
to the show expecting the Mark Gardener of Ride or Black
Rebel Motorcycle Club circa 2003, you were more than likely
remiss. The new albums from both of these talented
musicians are nothing like their previous work.
Mark Gardener's debut solo album, These Beautiful
Ghosts, will be released Oct. 11 on United For
Opportunity. This is an album that I highly recommend,
along with seeing him perform live.
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's third album,
Howl, is available now on RCA. I recommend
you catch them on tour before they go off to Europe.
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