Bell X1; David Ford @ Bowery Ballroom

Bell X1; David Ford
@ Bowery Ballroom
New York, NY - March 15, 2008

On a night in which the Irish band of all Irish bands, the Pogues, played one of their sold out Roseland shows in honor of St. Paddy's, it was a bit o' luck to snag a late released ticket to this long sold out pop show by another Irish contingent. Unlike the traditionalist and feisty Irish bands of yore, Bell X1 is in the league of Snow Patrol and Vega 4, post-U2 and Coldplay (aye, a British act, not Irish) buzz bands tapping into heavily layered doses of deep pop music, the Grey's Anatomy canon of music. In a refreshing way, these bands bring to the table a very eye-awakening look at the new Irish, people almost completely removed from the old stereotypes. Rather than be whiskey-swilling punks waxing nostalgic on days of poverty and battle, these Gaelic crews sing very expansive, ultra-radio friendly bits of commonality, and they are beloved by the new Irish yuppies, benefits of the Celtic Tiger, who are immigrants to these shores highly different than the ones who came here generations ago.
If only any of this helped the music in someway.
Much like the aforementioned Snow Patrol and Vega 4, Bell X1 is riding on the strength of one immaculate song, in their case the one called "Rocky Took A Lover". Everything else is weak, meandering, aimless bits of melancholic drivel. Actually, that's not fair to Snow Patrol who do have a worthy runner-up in their catalog - "Run" is decent, though nowhere near as good as "Chasing Cars". But here, there is nothing else. Each song falls apart. Only "Rocky" has any substance, any merit. A full complete thought. But to give these obviously very nice guys some credit, they are not completely without some classic Eire spirit - the lead singer lamented how they lost their luggage in Toronto, and the bus caught on fire coming out of Philadelphia. Slainte.

David Ford - an Englishman blasphemously allowed to open this affair - was quite good. Though he appears to be associating with the mainstream pop crowd, he proves that kind of material isn't synonymous with 100% crap. Each of his works were compelling, his voice and lyrics working and weaving with his backgrounds. And he showed an exceptional bit of showmanship - taking the increasingly used concept of a one-man band looping each live instrument in order to create a full band sound - and ran away with it. In terms of content, he doesn't sound too different from another popular English popsmith named David - Gray. It may be a weekend for the Irish, but damned if Her Majesty's Empire didn't just weasel its way in. Bloody English.