In Tall Buildings, Nomo at the Grog Shop

First off I will say this had it not been for the fact I was taking Monday off for opening Day I probably would have been irritated at the start time of the show.  Grog Shop, seriously, I absolute love you but at times you frustrate me to no end with your start times.  It is a Sunday night there is no reason to start a show with 3 bands after 9pm.  I get it.  I understand why you do it.  You need to make money at the bar.  I understand but there are multiple bands I would come to see if you just had an earlier start time.  Working folks in Cleveland do not go to shows at the Grog during the week for that simple fact.  All my friends say the same thing to me.  I feel better getting that out in the open though.  It needed to be said.  You are an incredible venue rich in Cleveland music history.  You have an awesome place.  Your sound is great.  Your late night weekday shows kill me though.  It seriously has to be a HUGE band for me to come on a weekday though because I have to be a functioning adult the next day.  The venue itself is a nice small rock club.  They serve great beers.  The service is always excellent.  I have never had a bad time at the Grog Shop.

So on the bill for the night was Nomo, Cleveland Zoo and In Tall Buildings.  I have been wanting to see Nomo for a couple years but the timing never worked out until Sunday night.  I am very glad I was able to come to the show because they were great.  The first band went on some time after 9pm.  In Tall Buildings is a melodic indie rock band out of Chicago.  The band itself is the solo brainchild project of Erik Hall who just so happens to be a touring member of Nomo.  Without getting too obscure I was thinking something along the lines of the pop of The Jim Yoshii Pile Up with a little of the drone of Explosions in the Sky.  The touring band was comprised of Jake Vinsel on bass and Quin Kirchner on drums who both are in Nomo as well.  They had a nice tight set that went on a little over a half hour.  The crowd was a bit sparse through the set, oh who am I kidding the crowd was sparse through the entire show.  I was kind of in disbelief because Nomo is usually a decent draw here in Cleveland.  So lots missed out on getting turned on to In Tall Buildings who were really damn good.  Given time these guys should gain some major buzz with the talent they have backing them up on stage.

Kids, here is where it may get ugly.  I feel horrible about saying this because the next band was Cleveland Zoo.  These are super young area kids trying to do some music so I am going to be as nice as possible.  I guess the easy way to say this is they really weren't my style of music.  It was just this really messed up concoction of reggae, punk and hell I don't know.  I just could not get into them at all.  It was like listening to a record of Sublime B-sides or something. They had some fans in the Grog though as most of the people there were actually there to see them.  So hey more power to them.  They obviously have a decent fan base and don't need my approval.  However that being said I think they need a lot of work.  It seriously was like listening to 3 different bands at the same time.  The main thing I didn't get was how exactly did they get booked on to this line up?  It didn't fit at all.  It was nothing like the style of music that was to come.

After a short break and a pretty drawn out set by the Zoo Nomo started setting up the stage.  Nomo is an afro beat band that hail from Ann Arbor Michigan, or used to as they all seem to be based out of Chicago now.  They are anywhere from a 5 piece to a 9 piece band.  When I first heard Nomo it was the track Nu Tones from the album of the same name.  First off do yourself a favor and you tube that song to see them in action.  I assumed they were some prodigies of the late Fela Kuti in Nigeria that I would never see in my lifetime.  Little did I know they were just some white boys from Michigan.  I was absolutely floored by the professional sound of the music they were creating.  Genius would describe the sound more than anything.  Mix in tribal grooves, funky bass, some guitar licks and two of the most amazing horn players and you have Nomo.

Nomo is fronted by Elliot Bergman who is a multi instrumentalist (as are many in the band).  He creates some of the devices he uses on stage and makes more to sell for fans and musicians.  I won't lie here because as you can see in the picture the cat has the charisma of the Jesus.  He seriously looks like if Jesus moved to Soho.  Get over the Jesus look and move on to the music where he is nothing short of flawless.  Drum details were handled by Kirchner and Hall with Hall doubling down on guitar.  The double drum thing was incredible.  It is always amazing to see drummers go head to head, and it was especially cool to see it with that afro beat sound.  Vinsel slapped the bass around like it was some rag doll busting out funk grooves that would make Bootsy drool.  Justin Walker did double duty on trumpet on some digital synth device that was part theremin and part space horn.  It was amazing and I still have no clue what the hell it was. 

The set was short but I can't blame them due to the small turn out.  They kept the music pretty solid for about an hour with little between song banter.  I would imagine it would be hard to come from a venue in Ann Arbor with about 1,500 to play for less than 50 in Cleveland.  I will give it up to the Cleveland Zoo fans and band for sticking around to check out the Nomo set.  I don't know why it was so dead.  They have a new(er) record out.  They area phenomenal band, but Sunday night at the Grog I don't know if people are afraid to risk getting out at 1am or what.  Nomo closed out the set with Nu Tones and it was a great way to end the evening at the Grog.  If folks weren't already shaking and dancing they were at the end of that cut.  I certainly hope they do come back so more people in Cleveland can get hip to their afro beat sound.