 "Photo: Courtesy Photo")
While talking heads in the news media obsess over an alleged "brain drain" in New Hampshire (UNH grads are accused of mutiny as they accept out-of-state jobs), the notoriously party-hardy Dover area has seemingly suffered a "fun drain" in the last year.
Such was my assessment until I stumbled into the basement of Hill Street's "Gnarl House" last Friday night. The following account of the seven-piece UNH band Gnarlemange's house show reads word-for-inscrutable-word from my irrational notes, which can read alternately as a tribute to Gnarlemange's indubitable magnetism as a live band, and possibly as an indicator of this reviewer's drinking problem.
Band is neither restrained in its sound, nor in any way presentable compared with the standard appearance of a traditional "soul" ensemble. Gnarl hardly represents a proper "soul" revivalist act - more than anything representing an incidental circle of instrument-clad bodies rivaling the squeaking of box springs overhead at a frat party. Then again, I can't remember who called them a "soul" band. Probably no one.
Am I hungry? I forget.
Party's "Bright and Tight" theme (as advertised on the event's Facebook page) seems to have paid off. Everyone's checking each other out, with most party-goers taking the theme to either extreme: if not dressed tightly, very brightly; if not brightly, impossibly tightly.
Stu's (singer/guitarist/ "Gnarl House" resident) room has really cool posters, all of which confirm the band's influences as listed on their Myspace page (The Blues Brothers, Wilson Pickett, The Roots, etc.). Stu's Itunes collection further verifies this list (sorry for the invasion of privacy, Stu).
There are two kegs on the porch - both of which are already, reportedly, empty (time-check: 11 p.m.)
Band's set alternates between covers, hip-hop interludes and extended jams - one of which is accompanied by choreographic knee-jerking among brass section. Coolness of knee-jerking presently in question.
All band members are clearly in their element. All audience members are smiling way too hard. One time I dreamed that I invented a drug called "puffder," and this is what my customers looked like.
The same girl keeps bumping into me. She says her name is Sophie Lightner from Boston. Lightner doesn't know it, but she's being wicked annoying.
Songs Played: Stevie Wonder's "I wish;" Wilson Pickett's "Mustang;" a rap medley of The Muppet Show's "Mahna Mahna;" Jimmi Hendrix's "Crosstown Traffic;" The White Stripes' "Doorbell;" The Grateful Dead's interpretation of the traditional folk song "Love Light;" and two originals titled "Funky Free" and "Jive Turkey."
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