Plumb 
UNH Field House in Durham, New Hampshire 
Saturday, May 9, 1998 
New Sound Concerts 
Concert length: Approximately 35 minutes 

Plumb is currently on tour opening for Jars of Clay, a pairing that makes sense  (as Dan Haseltine and Jars collaborator Matt Bronleewee produced Plumb's self-titled debut), and one that should prove instrumental in introducing Plumb's positive brand of alterna-pop to the masses.  Recently, I was among the  live initiates when this tour came to a town near me in New Hampshire.  Given their technologically-dependent sound, I didn't expect Plumb to be as good live as they are on CD.  Live bands often disappoint.  As it turns out, they were a satisfying surprise. 

Plumb opened their set with a moody rendition of "Send Angels," complete with effective red lighting and an appropriate costume piece (which I will leave to your imagination--why spoil the surprise?).  It was a tastefully done opening that could have gone on longer.  On the album, the song really starts kicking in the second half.  Regrettably, Plumb only offered the more mellow first half of the song.  They redeemed themselves, however, by segueing seamlessly and effectively into "Concrete," one of the album highlights, with lead singer Tiffany Arbuckle bringing appropriate encouragement and pathos to the plea: 

              Hold tight to your convictions 
              Hypocrites in all directions 
              Cling to the things your father taught you 
              Confess your sins to the One who bought you.
The third song, "Crazy," was the band's first single, and its spunky pop sound was a crowd- pleaser.  They were off to an excellent start, but I was worried. They had already played what I considered to be the three best songs from their album.  Was the quality of rest of the show going to slip? Gratifyingly, not at all.  They followed with "Who Am I?," which gave me the impression that Plumb is a bit of a Siouxie and the Banshees for the Nineties.  "Willow Tree" was next, and pleasingly proved to be more effective emotively  live than on the album.  Tiffany confessed it was inspired by the true story of her alcoholic aunt's self-destructive nature.  She then testified that only God truly satisfies, and promptly delivered the most tender, effective vocals of the evening.  It was a clear highlight, followed by another:  "Sobering (Don't Turn Around)," which proved to be more gutsy live than the album version. Plumb was currently pulling out the stops and commanding the moment, even though the trip-hop elements may to some extent call to mind bands like Portishead.  The abum's sneaky track, "Pluto," was delivered with another punch of good presence, powerful vocals, and a moment of giddy fun.  They concluded with "Endure," which proved to be not only a perfect ending, but a chance to musically morph into Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes" and create spine-tingling chills. 

Gymnasiums are infamous for their shoddy acoustics, and the mix unfortunately varied from song to song, but nobody seemed to mind much.  The energy and enthusiasm coming from the stage translated into active audience participation and packs of holy pogo action.   Tiffany commented at least twice on how wonderfully enthusiastic the audience was, possibly not realizing that the word "enthusiasm" in Greek means literally: "to be filled with God." 

For a few moments, Tiffany seemed less confident about her choices on stage than need be.  She really does have a great voice for this brand of music and should feel less apprehensive and tentative.  Besides rooting her confidence in God, she should be aware that Plumb has a great crowd-pleasing sound and an accessible message rooted in Truth.  Naturally, you and I might be nervous in front of about 2,500 people, but we expect confident showmanship from our rock musicians.  Tiffany and company will clearly offer even more of this, as time and experience prevails. 

Plumb's very, contemporary, trip-hop, happy, alterna-pop was not only played well to an appreciative mass of fans, but offered a wonderful opportunity to consider God's relevance in our post-modern world. 

I'd like to see them again. 

 Set list: 
          Send Angels 
          Concrete 
          Crazy 
          Who am I? 
          Willow Tree 
          Sobering (Don't Turn Around) 
          Pluto 
          Endure 

If you'd like to read a bit more about Plumb, visit my album review under past Reviews and the recent interview at Features. 

By Steven Stuart Baldwin