Marianne Makes a Comeback

I decided I will start blogging again...mostly because I'm supposed to be studying for my exam that's in a week. Anyway, imma start with a fresh new look here and get this ball a rollin'.

Stay tuned non-existent followers.

The Temper Trap, a concert review

I'm quite proud of this review for a concert I wrote for one of my subjects so thought I'd share it with ya here. Also the aim of the review is to tie it to the characteristics of rock and other genres we learnt in the subject, audience, song structure and stuff like that so if you're wondering why I get all specific about certain things that's why. Even though I stayed up till 4am trying to edit/cut it down to the word limit I actually did enjoy this assignment since I really love The Temper Trap and trying to analyze their music really helped me appreciate what great musicians they are. I mean, I know I love music but trying to understand the root of it all really strengthened my relationship with it. It also helped me brush up on my writing skills and creativity since me no do proper writing anymo coz science.

Concert Review: The Temper Trap

written by Marianne Nguyen

When a band that has toured the world arrives back home to perform in the humble city of which they began, there is an apparent gratitude and enthusiasm that exudes from the musicians’ performance that makes for a momentous experience. Such was the case for the rock band The Temper Trap when they performed at Festival Hall on the 24^th of April. This Melbourne band comprises of four key members assigned to typical instruments involved in the rock genre; drums, bass guitar, guitar, and vocals (with occasional keyboard). Together they played a combination of tracks to achieve atmospheric music distinct to the band’s sound. This partly goes to the lead singer, Dougy Mandagi’s, unique virtuosic falsetto, a signature trademark attributing to the band’s success.

The atmospheric sound was established from the first note of the opening song ‘Love Lost,’ played from the echoing organ sound of the keyboard filling the room, comparable to a gospel song. Building upon this allusion, the congregation of music-lovers united in a participation of syncopated claps to provide the backbeat. The ecclesiastical lead singer preached in his ethereal voice messages of hope and love in his lyrics, a universal relevance especially among the youth. The song then erupted into a polyphonic symphony of rock instruments bringing in the guitar, bass and drums entering the chorus. This pattern was repeated until the layering of guitar and drums built-up to the bridge where the pattern was broken with increasing crescendo of vocals and faster paced rhythm provided by the instruments. Most songs followed a similar trend of a verse- chorus -bridge structure. The night reached its pinnacle from the encore, the fan favourite “Sweet Disposition.” The loudest reaction came as soon as the recognizable guitar line echoed. The audience sang along to the well known short-phrased lyrics like an anthem as Mandagi directed his microphone back and forth to the crowd, a connection between the performers and listeners established in call and response.

The guitar drove the melody for most of the songs, as heard in the song ‘Soldier On,’ whose haunting repetitive rhythm of the guitar complemented Mandagi’s equivalently eerily sung lyrics. This, coupled with Mandagi’s vast vocal range laced in powerful emotions expressed in high pitch florid vocals was reminiscent of the moaning and wailing often heard in country blues music. Other uptempo songs with a cheerful melody were juxtaposed with bleak lyrics, which gave greater depth to the songs. The drums played an important role in many songs giving powerful energy by providing a pounding backbeat, an attribute of rock music.  Guitar solos were also a common feature in the songs. Differing from the classic rock genre, the band occasionally played synthesizers from the keyboard recognizable in the pop genre. This added another layer to achieving the atmospheric sound and allowed songs to become more appeasable to the wider younger audiences who grew up listening to popular synthesized music.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Temper Trap’s concert and was impressed by their stage presence by their ability to express heartfelt emotion. I was reminded by how much I enjoy the beaming energy of live music that cannot be encapsulated in a recording.

As I was more attentive than usual at this concert, I became more appreciative of the attention to detail that musicians have in creating a song; from the lyrical musings to the thoughtful melody in order to convey a story or evoke an emotion. This appreciation was felt unanimously, as I looked around a venue filled with gleaming strangers singing, dancing and jumping with one another united by the euphoric atmosphere created by the music. It was then that I was reminded by how powerful a connection with music could be. 

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