The Dambuilders

at The Middle East Cafe
by April Mosqus

“…and in my closet, I found a dambuilder!” exclaimed the announcer before the show commenced. The crowd seemed so awestruck by the appearance of The Dambuilders that they just stood still for a few minutes, beers poised at their lips, then the bobbing up and down slowly began. As the music progressed, I kind of got the idea of what a Pixies show would have been like back in 1988, but I was only ten years old then and too young to understand.

Their sound was steadfast and tight, and each instrument stood out on its own. The strong bass of Dave Derby climaxed on their second song, a cover of New Order’s “Age of Consent.” Guitarist Eric Masunaga reminded me of Thurston Moore as he seemed to get lost in his own distortion, and would then quickly change over to a mammoth groove. Violinist Joan was absolutely hypnotizing. She plucked her violin Jamaican Quad-style, at times emitting ear-piercing scratches (especially during the song “Copsucker” which was included in their encore).

Each member pushed themself to their musical limits, and was able to fall back into harmony together on songs like “Slo-Mo-Kikaida,” and their big radio hit “Smell.” After their set ended, I overheard a few audience members commenting on how good they were. They were better then good, they were exemplary!