OURS @ Diesel

June 16th, 2008 - by rmlevis

Pittsburgh, Reviews, Rock, Shows

Pittsburgh is notorious for never bringing good bands to town, but last month (May), OURS made their first appearance in years in the Steel City. The band, out of the New York City/Jersey area opened their headlining tour at Diesel on the city’s eclectic South Side in support of their latest release, Mercy… Dancing For The Death Of An Imaginary Enemy

I’ve been meaning to check these guys out since I first heard of them in 2000, but they never got close enough to Pittsburgh. Cleveland was a fair bet, but within days they had booked a show in my hometown, sparing me a road trip to the Mistake by the Lake and gas at $4.00 a gallon.

The band mix tender, falsetto vocals with rather dark themes of love lost and self-worth. Most of the guitar lines are washed with delay, giving the music a spacey sense of depth and atmosphere, even when the lines are simple.

The band opened with “Willing” from their new record, but soon threw the set-list to the wind as the rather thin crowd yelled requests at the band. Instead of being pompous and ignoring them or frustrated with a sparse room, the band took everything in stride and indulged the audience with their requests. The crowd was exceptionally supportive and sounded as if they were twice their size. And the band didn’t let them down, playing every song as if they were rocking a capacity crowd.

Having all of their records, I was familiar with their song style, but wasn’t sure how everything would come across live, especially vocally. Vocalist and chief songwriter Jimmy Gnecco’s voice is everything it is on their records and more live, a feat not often met in these days of bogus rock stars and studio magic. Every note was met with force and passion, and it wasn’t hard to tell that this guy meant it.

Gnecco effortlessly slips from soft, whispered falsetto to full-on, blood-curdling screams. The two guitarists, Locke (occasionally on keys) and Static, build walls of swirling distortion and rhythm while Race holds the bass line down and Pit Orbach moves the songs with the drums (yes, those are their professional names). Gnecco occasionally grabs an acoustic or electric for a few songs, but focuses mainly on his crushing vocals and eerily dominating stage presence.

On the track “Murder” from the latest release, Race grabbed a trumpet that was on stage and replicated the brass lines from the record. A really nice touch, and refreshing to see that they didn’t try to fake it with a recorded track.

Between songs, Gnecco explained that the nearly six-year lapse since their last release, 2002’s Precious, had been met with many battles. The band really wanted to capture what they do live on the record without being over-produced and maintaining their raw edge. It’s been a long, patient wait but Gnecco confessed that this is the record he has been wanting to make his whole life.

With the legendary Rick Rubin at the production helm, Gnecco says they took their time perfecting each track without outside pressure from label reps and time constraints from promotional ventures. They simply sat back and made sure everything was right by them. It definitely has paid off on “Mercy.”

Gnecco also told the crowd that they were still working songs out live since this was the very beginning of the tour. From my perspective, it didn’t seem that anyone was lost or struggling to find his part. Gnecco’s falsetto was flawless and he nailed every scream. Everything came across very tight and polished.

Actually, I would prefer a band take some liberties during their live show and explore a little bit. It’s much more exciting to me than listening to something that has been rehearsed and doesn’t take musical risks. Keep it a little rough and unpredictable. The whole experience is more live and organic that way, and he definitely has the band that can do it.

I was very interested to see if and how the band would perform “Black” from the new record. The song ends in a spoken tirade in which Gnecco calls out an unnamed aggressor for deceitfulness and taking advantage of sincerity. It worked great live and the sound guy did his part to make sure Gnecco’s low spoken growl was audible to everyone in the room.

Unfortunately, the night was rather brief as the band told the audience they had to be out by 9:30, after just an hour set and two brief openers. This seemed to be a shock to the band, but was all too understandable for me. Pittsburgh is just not up on culture and the times.

In a city absolutely dominated by hip-hop clubs, brawling no-necks, and ladies who get their fashion and lifestyle cues from the Hills, the city struggles to find any sort of original identity.

I can’t blame the club, though. They have to do what they can to make money, and live music is struggling in this town. So they book early shows and then clear the place out so the 40something divorced women in mini skirts and hoards of college kids can start filtering in to get their ears blown out by tired remixes.

Hey, at least Diesel is trying by keeping live music on the bill, but it’s a shame to see an extremely talented band get a crappy time slot and do dismal numbers. I’m getting off the subject here. Perhaps a topic for a later blog.

Ours finished up the set with “Live Again”, an explosive rock song that takes turns in and out of serenity and sonic destruction, augmented by an explosive drum pattern that builds and dies through the song.

With such a powerful tune, it was good to see that the performers didn’t do anything over the top. Absent were the cheesy rock stances and choreographed acrobatics that so often plague a live show. It was just five polished music veterans communicating their emotions to the audience through their music. Even Gnecco’s gyrating dancing toward the song’s finale was fluid and proper for such a dynamic ending.

But one of the biggest highlights of the show for me was when the band finished, they began packing up their own gear. Even with moderately popular bands, you rarely see the musicians humbly wrapping cables and carrying out amplifiers—and these guys are by no means up-and-comers. But they sucked it up and did it themselves with a little help. No grandiose stage exit or breaking of guitars. Just a very honest and sincere Thank-You to the crowd and a humble bow. I got the sense that they all were genuine people and not self-absorbed faux-rockers. They even hung around on stage afterwards to chat with fans and take pictures.

I’ve met and played with a lot of national touring bands over the years and it is rare to meet ones without egos bigger than their tour bus. I’m often disappointed by going to see my favorites bands and then finding out that they are a-holes in person. I’m glad that wasn’t the case this time.