GOMEZ
at House of Blues, Sunset Strip
1/17/05

Split The Difference is the first and only album I have ever heard by Gomez and I enjoyed it a great deal. Admittedly, I don’t know a lot about the band’s history, but the current album seems to be their most popular because those songs drew the loudest reactions of approval.

The very enthusiastic audience danced through all the up-tempo songs and even joined in the singing of some numbers, during the close of “Me, You & Everybody” and the funny, first-set closer “Get Myself Arrested.” Interspersed throughout the dance floor were a smattering die-hards who obviously knew the band’s entire catalog because they shouted their approval after a couple of notes while the majority acted as if it was a new song.

The only problem of the night was that the encore started very poorly. Ben came out alone and performed a slow acoustic song. Ian joined him for another and then Ben left Ian to play a horrible song he wrote to his wife entitled “Failure,” which was aptly titled based on the crowd’s reaction as it sapped all the energy out of the room.

I was ready to walk out, but then they started one of my favorites, “We Don't Know Where We're Going.” Olly and Tom encouraged the crowd to clap in tandem with the strumming of the acoustic guitar. Then they blew the roof off the house as the whole band joined in and got the song rockin’, leaving the audience no choice but to dance.

A great time was had by everyone in attendance, including Tom, who was having so much fun that he sang the songs even when he wasn’t miked. It was good seeing a band member enjoying the music as much as a fan would. I only knew four songs that were played during the concert; however, Gomez are very talented musicians and songwriters, so the night was full of many pleasant discoveries. Their songs and performance are so upbeat and entertaining that I would recommend the concert even to people unaware of the band. Considering the psychedelic sound of the current album, I was surprised that there weren’t more to the visuals other than the standard colored lights; however, the music is good enough to stand on its own.

This concert at the House of Blues was the first of a two-night stand. The band had been performing multiple nights in cities on this tour. They offered a discounted two-night ticket for the hardcore fans and only repeated five of the same songs the following night. The band allows tapers so this show might turn up on the Internet.

Here's the full setlist:

Bring It On
Love Is Better Than a Warm Trombone
Las Vegas Dealer
Nothing Is Wrong
Ping One Down
Going Out West
Make No Sound
Sound of Sounds
Me, You & Everybody
Here Comes the Breeze
Blue Moon Rising
In Our Gun
Bring Your Lovin' Back Here
Detroit Swing '66
Get Myself Arrested
Encore:
Get Miles
We Haven't Turned Around
Failure
We Don't Know Where We're Going
Silence
Whippin' Piccadilly