I hadn’t been to the Woolly Mammoth, and when I realised it was just a refurbished Mustang Bar I was reasonably concerned with the size and quality of what was to come for Albert Hammond and co. Surprisingly, though, it’s a perfect sized venue for acts of this scale in popularity. The sound quality is great and, for those who have a tendency to sweat uncontrollably (me) when they go to bars, the air conditioning put on an award winning performance.

The opening band, Gunns, is self-described as “Garage surf pop” and their performance delivered this nicely. Their thirty minute set was a good introduction to their soon to be released EP She’s A Rainbow. There are some good hooks in the guitar work and it was overall an enjoyable performance, however, the songs did start to sound a bit similar.

Albert Hammond Jr. and co. came on at the family friendly weeknight time of nine thirty and I’m sure all those who had work the next day were thankful, God bless him. From the moment Hammond came out on stage dressed in all white with matching white Stratocaster strapped to his back like an indie Springsteen, he had energy to give and it showed. Hammond’s intensity in his live performance compared to the albums brings a whole new energy to his sound. The slower songs off his three solo records for the most part were left out as they punched through a solid set of fast danceable hits. The songs really became another type of beast live with three guitarists with Hammond alternating between his guitar hanging off his back while he sung, to doing the majority of guitar solos. There did appear to be some sound troubles for him during the show most noticeably during Momentary Masters opener 'Born Slippy'. They tried to take things down a notch with the lush instrumental of 'Spooky Couch' only to be plagued by the out of time clapping of audience members. Hammond handled technical and audience issues pretty seamlessly by interacting with the crowd in the interim. “Play Bob Dylan,” one cheerful member shouted in reference to his cover of 'Don't think twice its alright' which was politefully shot down with a, “This isn’t a karaoke show,” which seemed funny at the time until later on when they jumped into an out of place rendition of the Misfits punk 'Last Caress'.

Comparisons will always arise for an artist who has had great success with a former band. In Hammond’s case it is easy to compare his sound to The Strokes as he is still making solid danceable indie rock but his performance delivered a new element that we haven’t seen in his previous fame. Hammond’s vocals are much more pleasing than that of The Strokes and it was great to see his solo work getting attention. If there is no future left for The Strokes, I don’t think Albert Hammond Jr. is going to lose much sleep as he has a great future in making and sharing his music. It was a really enjoyable mid-week concert and it deserved a lot more attendance.

- Thomas Harrison