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Mute Math at Madison Square Garden – Valentine’s Day 2008
 

As I stepped onto the seventh escalator on my way to my seat, I asked myself a question: Is it the best place to see Mute Math? The answer: No. But the mighty Madison Square Garden is the granddaddy of all venues; the Mecca; the Icon of sports arenas, of entertainment events, and even sports/entertainment events (isn’t this the place where Hulk Hogan Body-slammed Andre the Giant?). The Garden is huge – cavernous – and Mute Math is visceral and funky – a band that wants their sweat to hit the first few rows. The 24-minute performance is wonderful: it’s everything you’d expect from this commando-unit of a rock band, even though, in the echoing recesses of The Garden, much of the subtlety of Meany’s Rhodes and Roy’s intricate bass-work is hard to appreciate – Greg’s unique guitar sounds ring out more in the high registers, but the subtle, underlying textures become more obtuse, while Darren’s drumming has more thunder than usual, but fights the natural echo-back of a huge hall. Still, there they were: Mute Math on the stage at what is perhaps the most famous arena in the world! Opening up for Alanis Morissette and Matchbox 20 on a big-arena tour is at the same time one step backward and several steps forward. As Mute Math has gone from being the opening act in small venues, to main attraction status at well-respected halls such as Irving Plaza, and now back to opening act – but this time in world-class arenas that hold tens of thousands of concert-goers, and scores of potential inductees into the Mute Math collective – and on Valentine’s Day, 2008, at The Garden, Mute Math made many new fans. 

“Madison Square Garden, man…” Paul Meany, the band’s front-man said the words slowly and with a sense of amazement. He didn’t have to finish the sentence. They had already been to New York City several times – did the important venues, did Letterman, did Conan…. But, The Garden is a big deal – a very big deal. As Mute Math dynamically performed the short, four-song set, which highlighted their first two singles -  ‘Chaos’ and ‘Typical,’ followed by their current single, ‘Control,’ and finishing up with the tour-de-force, ‘Break the Same,’ the crowd was still coming in to the building. The jaded New York concert-crowd typically arrives late at a triple-billed show: in classic New York fashion, expectations are automatically set to ‘low,’ and this was, after all, a work-night and an early start-time of seven o’clock, when many New Yorkers are still shuffling zombie-like through subway tunnels trying to get home from work. The jarring, pin-point end of ‘Break the Same’ thundered through the cavernous arena, signaling the end of Mute Math’s set as the lights went up to reveal many more seats now filled (but most empty because the audience was on its feet), thousands of New Yorkers shocked out of their zombie-state, and Paul Meany, Roy Mitchell-Cardenas, Darren King and Greg Hill walking off stage having conquered New York yet again.

Even while Alanis did her set, a long line of old and brand-new Mute Math fans lined up in the hallway outside of gate 67, standing there for an hour, waiting to see the boys from New Orleans. I noticed a mother and daughter from Long Island, who we met before the show: they had never heard of Mute Math – we told them that they were in for a great time. There they were, excitedly asking for autographs from Paul, Roy, Darren and Greg, as they clutched their new copy of Mute Math’s debut CD. I’m not sure who they came to the show to see, but they left as Mute Math fans.

Bert Saraco
http://www.myspace.com/expressimage 

Photo by Bert Saraco / Express Image Photography
 

 
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