Manchester Academy 1, 6 September 2010

When I arrived at the Manchester Academy 1 venue I thought something was amiss. This particular venue’s capacity is around 2,200 and it’s usual to see a long line of punters queuing for entry. But not tonight. Jonsi’s solo abum GO flew straight into the album chart top 10 and if I’m not mistaken actually hit the number one spot. So where were the fans? Another sign of something being amiss was the sight of ticket touts desperately trying to sell tickets rather than buy them - a sure sign that this was not a sold-out show (as I had expected it to be). And sure enough, there were the ticket office windows open to take money… So, all kinda weird and very unexpected.

I walked to the front of the stage to find out from security that only 1,000 tickets had been sold, and then saw one the most expansive and complex-looking stage sets and range of electronics I have ever witnessed at a live gig. Add the large range of instruments which packed the large stage and the massive backdrop, and I began to wonder what Jonsi was about to spring on us - it was tremendously exciting and you could feel the anticipation and tension from the audience.

But first the very individual support act, Mountain Man, who are in fact three young American ladies fresh out of college. Molly Erin Sarle, Alexandra Sauser-Monnig and Amelia Randall Meath met at Bennington College, in the small town of Bennington, Vermont. They are from the West, Middle West and Eastern United States. It was not until Molly visited Bennington during a term off that the seeds of Mountain Man were set on the windowsill. At the sound of Molly playing a song in the living room of their shared house, Amelia rushed down the stairs and demanded it be taught to her. At this point, Molly and Amelia were not friends. But they shared the bond of mutual heartbreak, of having been left with space between open arms. Amelia trapped Molly in her room upstairs where she sang “Dog Song” over and over, bewildered and a little afraid, until Amelia felt she could remember it well enough to teach Alex. When Molly came back to Bennington in the spring, Alex and Amelia excitedly sprang into her room, and all three sang together for the first time. They were equally bewildered by each other and by the sounds they made together. Molly and Amelia are still in school, studying Performance and Gender, and Theater and Performance, respectively.

The music of Mountain Man is in the tradition of American folk. Their songs are shaped by three searching voices, encompassing harmonies and a shared belief in and love of the world. They are mutually moved to sing by their love for people, and for trees, birds and mountains, the ocean, the night, the moon, and being a woman. They all love the rambling, rumbling, rolling summer….

The group’s new album has met with acclaim from the music media but I had mixed feelings about it and hoped that this live performance would add a little more meat to the bones. I have to say that in terms of vocal ability and communication with their audience these girls are naturals. The a cappella solos and harmonies were some of the best I’ve heard, while the sincerity and emotion displayed could not be questioned. But, as I’ve often said before, you can be the most talented artist on earth but without great songs you are lost. Lyrically, the girls are on the button, however, the one vital element that is absolutely key to opening the door and holding one in a vice-like grip is strong melody, and I’m afraid it’s missing here. As live performances go, this was a very good one and I suspect the album tracks sound better live than on record because of what the girls bring to the stage. But it was all too nice for me, sounding as it did like one thirty-minute sermon rather than a compelling musical performance.

Here’s background to some of the songs performed:

Dog Song
Molly wrote the dog song while visiting her best friend Ally in New Orleans. She was feeling fairly lovesick and lost in tropical chaos. Ally’s living room floor was covered in potting soil, small seeds and larger green leaves (which could easily have been made into wings or a boat) and a guitar with only three top strings. With the help of the guitar, Molly’s questions came out to comfort her, to tell the fall’s unfamiliarly warm night air “I belong too”, making the Dog Song.

Soft Skin
Soft Skin is a series of questions following the first line of the song, “I’ve got soft skin, are you gonna let me in?” It plays off the associations between women, their soft skin, and vulnerability, or openness within (sexual) relationships (Molly’s generalization). Soft Skin is meant to question the origins and entaglements of the desire for violence in sex (socialization?), as well as the blurry lines between love, lust and gender roles as played out through ‘intimacy’. Enjoy.

Mouth Wings
Mouth Wings is a song about creating for the love you will eventually receive, as opposed to loving the creation itself. It is also about being a mother, or what amelia thinks being a mother might feel like. Amelia wrote this song in her backyard one spring afternoon while the neighbors were yelling and the cat would not leave her alone.

Sewee Sewee
Sewee Sewee happened to Alex in her sleep, at least some of it. She woke up in the middle of the night thinking she had written the perfect song, but all she could remember in the morning was, “sewee sewee, we traveled far on this road we’re on.”

Animal Tracks
Alex wrote Animal Tracks in her tiny, wonderfully bright room at Bennington College. Spring had finally arrived after months of cold and darkness. Fresh indoors from a twilight walk, she spent a lovely, solitary evening listening to the peepers near the pond, and to the wind rustling the dark night through the open window. And what popped out but Animal Tracks!