Show review: Gosh Pith, Nigel & the Dropout and Marcus Alan Ward

Most nights I have to drive at least 30 minutes to get to hear some local music I really love. The suburbs of Oakland County just isn’t the place to catch indie dance synth bands. Thursday night though I got lucky and was able to see three bands bring their unique versions of indie, dance and pop to Keego Harbor’s B One Ballroom.

Marcus Alan Ward  photo: MPAD Media

The opener of the night was Marcus Alan Ward who drove up from Cleveland for the show. He started his set with an amplified version of Elton John’s “Benny and the Jets.” MAW then followed it up with a short set of R&B and funk all with a gritty rock edge. With his talents on full display, playing synth, guitar and singing, I could hear Prince, Hendrix and a more current R&B influence in his songs.

Nigel & the Dropout photo MPAD Media

Nigel & the Dropout were on next and honestly I hadn’t heard much about them before the show but one guy told me they were his favorite local band. From their first song I was immediately blown away with their sound and visuals. They play a mix of indie electronic with soaring guitars. I would say they sound like MGMT, if they never ended up self indulgent and sucking, so that’s not really a good comparison. On most the songs they share vocals with the guitarist doing most the vocal chores. For only two guys they effectively make a lot of wonderfully, blissed out noise. Towards the end of the set one song had an epic intro that transformed into a punky, electric track. They have plenty of potential to get places and I could imagine their songs used in movies for indie club scenes.

Gosh Pith photo by MPAD Media

Last up was Gosh Pith. A band I have heard a lot about but never seen play. Again just 2 guys, but the sound is a complete left turn from Nigel & the Dropout. They play an original mix of dub, psychedelic and indie dance that comes across as hazy, mysterious and kind of sexy. Under dark lighting, they both sing different parts in each song but the guitarist probably sings the most with his distinctive voice. When I met him he was kind of a low spoken guy but on stage his voice takes on this strange quality, a sort of a reggae chanting, very rhythmical and hypnotic.

My only disappointment with the entire night was there weren’t more people to make the trek out to B One because they missed a high quality show. Who knows how many more we’ll get in the suburbs of OC?

You can see more pics of the show at MPAD Media