Mark Gardener and the Junior Panthers
The Middle East, Cambridge, MA
April 15, 2003

This show was a religious experience. Mark Gardener, former guitarist and singer for godlike British shoegazing pioneers Ride, made a stop in Cambridge. He's in the midst of a small acoustic tour through the U.S., playing a collection of his songs as well as a smattering of Ride classics. For someone primarily associated with a band famous for its epic, enormous sound, the idea of doing a worthwhile acoustic set may seem an impossibility. The set opened with "See What You Get", a folky jam that works fine with just Mark and an acoustic guitar. The set evolved as alternations between Mark's solo material and Ride songs, and soon enough my doubts over representing the towering melodies and pounding drums of Ride with a voice and a twelve string guitar had vanished. In my opinion, Mark's voice has matured over the last ten years, so that he can carry with his vocals the emotion that was previously embodied in a wall of guitar effects and percussion. The highlights of Mark's performance were the twin masterpieces of Nowhere, "In A Different Place" and "Dreams Burn Down", "Chrome Waves" from Ride's pinnacle Going Blank Again, and his debut solo effort on Shifty Disco a few years back, "Magdalen Sky".

Making the night even better, opening for Mark were Junior Panthers, old friends from San Francisco. Their debut self-released album is terrific, and it felt great to go to a show and see familiar faces. They headed down to Providence with Rob and Roo after the show. I hope those two survived the drunken night that must've ensued.

login to submit comments