The Village,Dublin 29/01/05
For a man who says about three songs into his band's set that they "don't rock", Mark Eitzel and American Music Club act like a band who rock only too well.
AMC are one of American music's many unsung heroes, although the enthusiastic crowd at the Village gig was definitely willing to give them their due. They've been playing their deceptively epic folk-tinged rock for over two decades, but on the evidence of the Village gig they're now rocking harder than ever.
Eitzel is an intensely charismatic frontman who could probably hold a crowd's attention if he was playing nursery rhymes. Luckily the powerful, jaggedly sweet music lives up to his personality.
Although the band "imploded" (Eitzel's words) 10 years ago and only got back together last year, their onstage chemistry is evident and the gig's atmosphere was electric.
American Music Club seem as comfortable with each other as if they had never taken a slightly acrimonious 10-year break. Eitzel and guitarist Vudi bantered in a snarky but good humoured way, and youthful new member Jason Borger seemed to have been warmly welcomed into the fold.
The band also seemed to return the audience's affection - at one memorable moment Vudi handed over his guitar to an audience member who played it wildly for the rest ofthe song.
And when Johnny Mathis's Feet prompted a mass singalong, bassist Dan Pearson turned his microphone and its stand towards the crowd.
By the time the band left the Village stage for the last time after their triumphant three-song encore, it was impossible not to be glad that their 10-year exile was over.
Review by Anna Carey for The Irish Times Monday 31st January 2005
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