Mew gets creepier all the time. Perhaps just because this was their own show instead of an opening slot, we got a chance to see more of the weird and spooky visuals than before. But how incredible. Everything matches so well - they make so much 'sense' with the songs somehow. Things happen at key points, and the eerie vibe doesn't at all seem out of character with the music that's being played. Their set-ending "The Zookeeper's Boy" tune was monumental in this regard, with a chorus of spooky animal-person figures lip-synching along perfectly in time with the band, doing all the harmony parts. The tiger-in-a-dress creature was the most striking of the bunch. Cool.









Singer Jonas Bjerre has this odd and childlike demeanour about him - he looks innocent and bright-eyed, like he's seeing everything for the first time. The drums were uncharacteristically set up near the side of the stage, probably more just because of the screen for the visuals than anything else.

Okay so that's the visuals... certainly that's a huge part of their live show, but Mew is of course inherently about the music. And what music it is! Characteristic high-pitched and chilling vocals, songs that barely seem to start or end so much as ebb and flow, extraordinary and jarring juxtapositions of heavy and unique drum beats with saccharine pianos... if you don't know Mew's music, you really just need to check it out, because there's little justice that can be done just trying to describe it on a page like this. Nothing untoward happened at the show - the band members aren't particularly mobile on stage. In fact with the dark that's needed to keep the video projecting well behind them, and the distraction caused by said videos, you barely even notice the band members much of the time. A Mew show is like an art piece more than a performance. You just have to see it to believe it - open your ears. They'll change your musical world!

Elsewhere

By Andy Scheffler
Photos : Andy Scheffler
Published : April, 2007.