Last night we had the pleasure of stopping in at Mercury Lounge, and catching Nightmare and The Cat on the eve of the release of their debut EP. The band, a well oiled 5 piece who put a heavy emphasis on vocal harmonies, were completely on-point, and by the end of their set had converted a nearly-full Mercury Lounge into serious fans for the night.
We have to admit, we were a tad skeptical that the band would be able to pull off their recorded sound in a live environment. The EP is a carefully orchestrated piece of rock and roll theater, and pulling off its twists and turns in a live environ seemed like quite the challenge. Fortunately, it was a challenge that the band was up to, and they delivered their sound in spades last night.
No small part of the delivery rested upon the performance of frontman Django Stewart. Not only are his vocals spot-on, but he manages to parallel their theatrics with real-live theatrics as well. Prancing and jerking on stage, Stewart worked himself into a fervor that was less Bowie than it was Hedwig. Regardless, it was a performance that was well deserving of accolades.
Django was well complimented by his brother Sam, who delivered on lead guitar and backing vocals. The guitar was high in the mix, and with hollowbody twang, it offered up more raucous sounds than on the EP. This was particularly rewarding in a live environment, where drifting too far into rock and roll theater can be a slippery slope.
The brothers were backed by a ridiculously tight band, and the performance was nearly immaculate. Not only was everyone on stage well versed in their instrument, but there was an enthusiasm and drive that couldn't be described as anything but authentic. If you think that bulletproof three part harmonies over a killer rock band would be pretty damn amazing, well, you're right.
At the end of the day, Nightmare and The Cat's sound won't be for everyone. At times it can be eccentrically glamorous, and it's painfully conscious of what they're trying to achieve. That being said, they do manage to achieve it, and extremely well at that. Moreover, the band is pursuing a sound that is unique and exciting, without getting bogged down in trends of this week or next. Which is to say, we're quite pleased with what we got for our trouble, and we're guessing you will be too.
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