[ATTENDED: May 29, 2018] Pond [rescheduled from January 12]
Pond was supposed to play here back in January. But because of our corrupt leader’s immigration policies, they couldn’t get visas in time. They had to postpone the tour. Luckily they made it back in May and the opener, Fascinator, remained the same.
I didn’t really know Pond all that well, but I knew they were connected to Tame Impala and that was a good thing. So I listened to a few songs, decided they were pretty good and decided to see them live.
Well, apparently they have a massive fan base because the crowd behind me (I was pretty close to the stage) was berserk for the band, especially singer Nick Allbrook who was a bundle of energy.
When they came out the crowd freaked out and there was much shrieking and yelling behind me. Nonplussed by the yells, the band started with “30,000 Megatons” the outstanding first track off of their new album The Weather.
They wound up playing 8 of the 11 songs from the album with a sprinkling of their previous releases as well.
They followed that up with “Waiting Around for Grace.” Allbrook more or less sat right in front of us to sing this Flaming Lips-esque ballad. It was crazy being quite so close to a band that people were going crazy for. I loved being able to see the characters on Allbrook’s guitar and the stickers all over his face.
And yet, the screaming behind me and the constant knees and other things in my back made me have to move my place. Actually, the pogoing during one of the next two songs is what finally got me to move to the peaceful sidelines.
When I got settled, the started “Zen Automaton” which featured a flute solo that was really cool. he even did some Ian Anderson poses.
One of my favorite songs came from their early album Psychedelic Mango (what were we smoking then?). “Don’t Look at the Sun or You’ll Go Blind” had some great rocking moments and transitions from synth to guitar.
The awesome loud riff og Giant Tortoise that got everyone singing along.
Bassist (for this show) Jay Watson asked how you pronounce Yuengling (which he was drinking) and as if on cue, someone threw him a Yuengling hat. he wore it while singing “Sitting Up On Our Crane.”
Nearly 12 minutes of the show was taken up with “Edge of the World, Pts. 1 and 2” which don;t go together on the album, but which work very well together here and do seem to cover every musical terrain of the world.
A major highlight of the show came with “Giant Tortoise,” a terrific song with a gigantic oversized riff that the whole crowd was ready to sing along to. They ended the set with the title track to The Weather.
And then the came back for the encore with the dramatic build up of “Midnight Mass (At The Market Street Payphone).” They followed this with the quieter “Holding Out for You” sung by Shiny Joe Ryan.
The show ended with the long, trippy, fan pleasing “Man It Feels Like Space Again.” Despite me being annoyed by some of the fans (and it’s pretty churlish to be mad at fans who are really into a band), Pond really impressed me with their sound, stage presence and overall coolness.
Setlist
- 30.000 Megatons
- Waiting Around for Grace
- Sweep Me Off My Feet
- Fire in the Water
- Zen Automaton
- Don’t Look at the Sun or You’ll Go Blind
- Sitting Up On Our Crane
- Paint Me Silver
- Edge of the World, Pt. 1
- Edge of the World, Pt. 2
- Giant Tortoise
- The Weather
- encore
-
Midnight Mass (At the Market St. Payphone)
-
Holding Out for You
-
Man It Feels Like Space Again
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