Live Music Review // XÉNOS / James Burke / The Forest Room / Niko Severino at The Whale Tail, New London CT June 21st 2024 Make Music Day 2024
Additional photos can be found on Facebook right here :::
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1507476589982557&type=3
As it got closer to June 21st, I kept checking the various sites throughout Connecticut to see who was playing where for Make Music Day 2024. The one name I noticed on the southeast site was James Burke, who I've been meaning to see, and so when I clicked on the event info and also saw that The Forest Room was playing I knew this would be my destination.
The weather was all right, but going into it we knew two things: it was hot and it was going to storm through. Since about Monday or Tuesday we'd been in a heat wave and this storm was coming through around Friday (and through the weekend) to break the heat. I told Quentin if it got too hot, we ran out of water, etc. we would leave because I didn't know what this situation would be like, but it did not come to that.
The first thing I need to say about this show is what a unique place this was to play! While I understand that there are places out there like Toad's Place which are designed for performance, I do enjoy when music happens in place where you don't think about music happening but also places that have all of these other outside factors to think about. For one thing, the Whale Tail is in a somewhat busy part of New London. It sits right near the train station and waterfront.
We saw several trains go by while we were there, but the amount of foot traffic and cars going by was also just a lot of fun. People would be walking- even coming from or to the train station- and just stop, enjoy the music for a little bit and then keep going upon their day. Being in such a busy spot but also it being nice outside (it was hot but there was a breeze) brought people through just because it was outside and near other things.
Another fun part of this was the cars driving by in a one way, slowing down to listen, honking their horns and sticking their thumbs out in approval. When Quentin and I had got there, the band The Whales was finishing up their set (we hit traffic on 95) and so as we drove by we could hear the music fairly well. It was one of those things where if you didn't really have other plans, you might find a place to park and stop to check out this music. We ended up in a public parking lot that charged us $5, which is not bad at all.
When we got in and settled we found a place to sit as well as sort of shade and the first artist we saw was Niko Severino. This was described by rhe Make Music Day site as "jazz / funk" and the sound was purely instrumental. It was a bass, guitar and drums and it was really closer to that classical jazz type of sound. I really enjoyed it and they played almost an hour, doing covers of songs such as "Isn't She Lovely" by Stevie Wonder.
The Forest Room was the second set we saw and this was one of the ones I was really looking forward to seeing. An audio clip started about how to sell beets, by Dwight Schrute, but it was really turning into this sound about beats, see, it was like a play on words. The music was filled with dance beats and electronica, but also guitar looping and at times the guitars even got louder and crunchy.
In a lot of ways, The Forest Room made me think about when there was this crossover between electronic artists and rock bands (which were closer to nu metal also) and you can really feel this around 1997 with the "Spawn" soundtrack, which brought out that Crystal Method / Filter song "(Can't You) Trip Like I Do". The Forest Room would fit on that soundtrack very well or just some video game like Resident Evil. I don't think people driving by or out walking expected this dance show, but they seemed to dig it.
James Burke was the third set we caught and ever since he released "Here, Right Now" last year I've been trying to see him live because it's just one of the best albums out there still. This went really well with The Forest Room, as it was that electronic / dance time of the show. With the beats and synths, James Burke also sang songs in the way you might hear an artist like Hellogoodbye but with less pop.
For me, a lot of artists are out there doing what James Burke does but they overdo it. It's like they take it one step too far and it becomes either too over-produced or there's too much autotune or it just feels not natural in some way. But what James Burke does feels more natural, feels more like he's not going that extra step to make it where I can't really listen to it a lot. More artists need to find this pure sound that James Burke has tapped but I honestly just don't think they can. Artists like James Burke are anything but common.
After this we took a quick trip into the Amtrak station because they said their restroom was for patrons only but when you have to go, you have to go. We got back and were ready for XÉNOS to start. When I looked at the list of performers for this day, for this event, James Burke lured me in and The Forest Room sealed the deal, but I had heard of XÉNOS as well as Bards of Gungywamp-- those were the other two artists I knew prior to this whole thing.
What's funny is, when I went to go follow XÉNOS on Instagram because I thought if I saw them I'd tag them and just to check to see if anything happened with the weather, but I was already following them! The CT scene is strong! So seeing XÉNOS felt like such a treat because here was a band I'd heard about but never seen and I was not prepared for it to be this good.
If you want the broad comparison, which I feel works best for most people, XÉNOS has a sound where it crosses over somewhere between prog, metal and just that experimental / psychedelic rock n roll. To use the most known elements, somewhere between Gogol Bordello and Black Sabbath is where XÉNOS would be on the musical radar and it is just fantastic.
And I feel like a lot of times with music related to punk or metal you feel like there's a simplicity to it and it is easy to play. XÉNOS did things with their instruments I didn't know were possible and they just had those complicated riffs down tight. XÉNOS easily became one of my favorite live bands after this set and you should go out of your way to see them as well.
After XÉNOS, it was announced that there was a storm front coming through so the rest of the music in front of the Whale Tail was being canceled. There were three sets left but I'm sure we'll see them again one day. As we left, we drove up 95 to get to 9 and we hit a huge downpour and saw lots of lightning. It was smart to stop the show at this point because as soon as that storm hit, it was over. I wouldn't have wanted to be out and caught in it, much less with electricity.
I don't really know anything about what booking at the Whale Tail means or how one would go about it because you're essentially playing in public, but even if they only do this once a year for Make Music Day, it's definitely a day where you should be in New London for it. I don't think there is any other experience like this in music. From the sound of those involved to the location and all which surrounded it, this was just such an experience that you can't really recreate anywhere else. I was so happy Quentin and I got to be a part of what we were.
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