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Medeski, Martin & Wood play for today

Medeski, Martin & Wood
The Rave
Milwaukee, WI
Nov. 13, 2004
M, M &W M, M &W

Story and photos by Matt Schwenke

With plenty of instruments and handfuls of sound, Medeski, Martin and Wood seemed to be searching for something early in their first set at the Rave. M, M &W The pulse was strong, but the band was laying back a bit. Reclining, so to speak. Playing four songs off of their new album End of the World Party (Just In Case) and some interesting versions of PJ Harvey's "The Letter" and "The Pocketknife," MMW were as technically tight as ever in the first set, but the crowd was a little hesitant to cheer and dance to the new material. It wasn't until MMW played "Mami Gato," that the crowd started to warm up and the band started to raise the energy level at the venue. "Paris," a salsa cover by Cachao that featured Billy Martin on vocals, finally got the crowd going, and "Sasa" did well to close the first set as a new song.
Coming back to start off the second set, MMW played "Curtis," another song off of the new album, and basically picked up where they left off. The second set was full of amazing rhythms, funky sounds, amazing sounds, and, yes, funky rhythms. The bass solos by Chris Wood stood out amongst the others as they were searingly intense. As the band ended the second set with yet another new song "Queen Bee," the crowd was fired up and later treated to a double encore. The first encore was a strong version of "I Wanna Ride You" from Uninvisible, and the second was an excellent version of "Chubb Sub" from Friday Night In The Universe.

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