Sarahindie

Drom is the weirdest venue I have ever attended. There is a huge VIP area, and then the first ten feet of the 25 foot space is filled with 12 very nice dining chairs that have Reserved signs taped to them and will remain 60% empty throughout the show.

In general, I find that I know the makeup of a show before I go. This is helpful when I am trying to find a strange place. “Oh, look, emos. Here is the Fall Out Boy concert.” Etcetera. This is the most ridiculous crowd I have ever been in. I think it’s primarily industry types (or at least I surmise, from the excess of VIP seats). The median age is north of 50. There are a couple of mousy girls (by which I mean that they are clearly fans from his Mouseketeer days), a lot of older men with ponytails and/or yarmulkes, and a clutch of older Long Island women that look like possibly they are there to see their grandsons play, but I am told are probably magazine writers. There is a man next to me at the bar ordering an Irish cream on the rocks.

There are ten people onstage, including two violins and three backup singers. It’s very … busy. But then he starts singing and you don’t much care. The Rufus Wainwright comparisons (made mostly by label honcho Justin Timberlake) are made apt by the clear tenor of his voice. But his live sequencing, in the first song at least, leaves his backup with little to do.

Did you know that Matt Morris wrote “Miss Independent”? It goes without saying that his orchestration is lush and he makes use of what his voice can do. How good is he? It takes me until the second song to notice that he’s wearing pleather pants.

He sings his banter during the first two songs. It’s very Peter Frampton, circa Frampton Comes Alive.

His backup kinda never has much to do. It’s more powerful when he uses the sequencer. Dear Mr. Morris: I think your show would be awesome with a stripped down band (drums and bass?) and a badass self-propelled sequencer. More stressful for you, but excellent visually for us.

Let me digress a mo about the band. Matt clearly sourced his violinists and guitarist from a New England college jam band and his keyboardist reminds me a little of Mark Valley. They’re very tight, but there are so many of them.

The music, however, is awesome! It is a little bit jazzy, but it is tuneful in a way that made me dance a little. I recommend it if you like people who sing well, or things with good beats, or music. If you like Rufus Wainwright or Justin Timberlake or anyone whatever just listen to it. Everybody liked it. It was like if George Clinton went on American Idol, and then became a singer-songwriter but only played gay nightclubs. (That made no sense. Just go listen to the album on Lala.)