An über packed house was to be found at Sauce on Lyn-Lake last night, swaying and gyrating to the jazzy electronic sounds of Mystery Palace.  The trio, comprised of James Buckley on bass, FoodTeam as Ryan Olcott on keys and vox, and Joey VanPhillips on drums, threw the crowd over the moon with a short and sweet set of both old and new material.  Being that it was my first time seeing them, I didn’t know the difference between new and old, but an acquaintance who knew a thing or two accurately pointed out that their newer stuff is becoming more melodic, which to me is rarely a bad thing.  The highlight for me, a Mystery Palace virgin, was the crazy improvised drum kit that continued to amaze me in the ingenuity of its sounds.  For the uninitiated, Mystery Palace is a must-see from an interesting musicality standpoint.  The similarities between Buckley’s jazz trio and this project are evident, but not overtly so.  I could only compare them to a refined version of the local ho’s of the hour Solid Gold, who were on the ones n twos (actually just a one…and a MacBook at that) for the last hour of the evening.  The selections were rock solid despite the fratty feel of plugging in a Mac.  Thankfully, their taste in music is far better than 99% of fraternity gentlemen.  I use that term loosely.  You can catch Solid Gold and Mystery Palace together in action at UW Stout in Menomonie, WI on Sept 10th, and MP will be opening for what is certain to be a debacle of the most epic variety when Har Mar Superstar lights up the Uptown for one of the last shows there (sniff) on Sept 13th.

 

On the Web:

http://www.myspace.com/mysterypalace

http://www.myspace.com/solidgoldband