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Echolyn

Live at NEARfest, 2002

Review by Stephen Ellis

I've tried very hard to like this band. And to their credit they put on a very good show at NEARFest 2K2. They played the songs I had anticipated they would play -pretty much the best selections from Suffocating the Bloom, As the World, and Cowboy Poems Free.

The guys were tight and precise almost as if they had never stopped touring and playing. You've got to love the quality of this bands playing, and Ray Weston has a voice that demands to be heard by one and all. Still… they just worked no magic on me this day.


Stephen Ellis
 
Stephen Ellis
   
As their set was concluding, I kept wondering if they were going to play anything from their new CD, Mei. Having heard nothing of or about this new release I was totally unaware that Mei was simply one long song.




Dan Robinson
 
Dan Robinson
   
As they kicked into the opening salvo from Mei I was suddenly sitting on the edge of my seat. Is this the same band that had just been playing? To my ears the song structure, the feeling, and the overall attitude was very different from all their previous work. I was caught up in each and every progression of Mei. I could sense the music flow, even ebbing back and forth like gentle waves softly caressing the beach on one of the Florida Key Islands. Mei would slowly build as if to say "Watch Out" here we come and ultimately would break out into a full-blown rock and roll romp, only to gently return to where they had just been. At times I felt the music should have ended, yet I kept my mind focused and could "get" what they were trying to do and say.

Dan Robinson
 
Dan Robinson
   
I came away from their set feeling good and cleansed. I, in fact, have enjoyed Mei even more since purchasing it at NF and listening quietly at home. I hope there is much more to come from these guys. Not my favorite by far but clearly a band that deserves the worldwide praise they have achieved in their short career thus far.

This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2002 Year Book Volume 3 at  garyhillauthor.com/Music-Street-Journal-2001-and-2002.

Dan Robinson
     
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