New York – When the bass is literally the base of a band, what everything else gets written around, you know those grooves are going to be good. Russ Manning is a formally trained jazz musician, has played bass in Twin Shadow, and is now making some serious moves with his solo project Rush Midnight. He describes his own music as funk/R&B with a minimal palette that’s romantic dance music, and that’s pretty on point. When I saw his live set at Santo’s Party House, he had a live drummer and guitarist with him, but it was all about Manning’s bass lines and smooth as hell vocals.
During most recent single “Don’t Give Me Your Love,” it was all in the way he sang the “please, please,” and as for his instrument, it wasn’t just the bass lines but the way he played them. He had delay and reverb in all the right places, so he could do something as simple as aggressively pluck one note at a time, and the way it echoed and fuzzed out was worth a whole phrase. The whole feel in general was a direct reflection of late nights and adventure around a city like New York, both stylish and mischievous.
He had backing tracks with the invisible but audible synth sounds, and his guitarist had minimal parts that hit in all the right places. The live drummer kept it up with the two handed hi-hat beats that were the perfect accompaniment to Manning’s groove, all of which should have gotten people up on their feet and bumpin’ it on the dance floor. This time, it was still a little early in the night, and before most people had shown up to the show, but I have no doubt that the more Rush Midnight plays out, the sweatier their shows are going to get.
After Rush Midnight’s set was Asbury Park, NJ duo Brick + Mortar, who played indie rock with a f*ck all attitude. All though their set I was just thinking, these guys would kill it on a college tour. They were like the new generation of bands like Motion City Soundtrack, which then makes even more sense when they really gained decent critical buzz after their single “Bangs” was featured as one of Motion City Soundtrack’s favorite rising artists in their Making Moves series.
Frontman Brandon Asraf started right off by goading people to come to the front of the stage, telling everyone that if they didn’t like it, they could spit on him. “I mean it, I don’t give a f*ck,” he shrugged matter of factly. Everyone took his word for it because no one seemed even the slightest inclined to take that route, but Asraf and drummer John Tacon fully succeeded in herding the small crowd to be right where the band wanted them, and getting them to participate in the songs like they were already longtime fans – which it was clear a handful of the kids definitely were.
Australian new wave hypnotic pop five-piece Gold Fields was the headliner, who played a shadowy, smokey set and got everyone dancing in the dark. Quite the opposite of Brick + Mortar before them, there was more of a separation between band and crowd. Everyone was into it, but it was more like the band was performing on the stage behind a cloud of dim lights and sonic density. Instead of banter and enforced coercion, Gold Fields let their music grab the bodies for them. The musicians were merely black silhouettes, conduits of feeling.
