Review: Jaill

How much does the setting for a gig influence your impression of the performance given? Arguably a lot. 

I fell in love with Jaill's songs a little while ago when researching upcoming gigs for the year. The material I found online invoked nostalgic memories of the music of my mid-90s youth, yet got me excited about the here and now and a wave of good bands rediscovering fuzzy indie guitar rock music. Nothing that they do is new but their sound brings me comfort. Hence, I was very much looking forward to seeing this played live.

I arrived at Comet just when the band was ascending the stage. And the room was almost empty. My heart sank. I have witnessed a few practically unattended gigs at Comet. It does not matter how well the artists perform, there is energy lacking when there is no audience to play to. Sure enough, the first couple of songs felt lifeless. To my surprise, one of the group plays a Korg, something I couldn't really hear but may explain why they feel modern on record despite their obvious references to music played 20 years agos. To make matters worse, there seemed to be technical sound troubles. It felt a little bit like this was a rehearsal with a few folks watching.

The set picked up engery as it progressed and people started dancing a little. A couple more couples (it looked like date night in there) turned up. Things were getting better. Unfortunately, I had lost interest a little by then.

There is American music that does not really translate well to Europe. A lot of classic rock feels that way, and so does college rock. This particular performance implied that Jaill's punked up college rock might fall victim to that problem. But the recorded material convinces me. And so I suspect that the setting tainted my view of Jaill and their music. Therefore, I shall persist in listening to the songs until next time when they hit this town. I shall go again and I shall see what to make of it then. Until then, I shall pretend Monday night did not happen.

P.S.: No pictures as I forgot bring my, ahem, camera.