Review: The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger @ Waiting Room

Charlotte and Sean from The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger 5/28/14 @ Waiting Room, Omaha

 

Caught the Omaha debut of Sean Lennon's new band, The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger, last night at The Waiting Room. It was a good show. There was absolutely no rock star pretense with Lennon and his band. Sean did most of the talking for the group, and most of that was thanking the audience for coming out and introducing the songs. 

Before the show, a friend and I tried to discern exactly how much of the audience was there because they were GOASTT fans and how many were Beatles fans who wanted to see Sean Lennon. Nothing scientific, but I'd say it was about 70/30 - with the 70 being folks curious about the rock legend's son. That's probably average for Lennon, and something that he is, no doubt, used to at this point. 

For those, like me, who were familiar with the music of GOASTT, we were treated to an hour long set that featured most of the songs from the new album, Midnight Sun. In a live setting, the songs took on a whole new level of musicianship. What I mean by that is simply that Sean Lennon wailed on lead guitar in a fashion that I did not notice on the record. The guy is a truly great player. I was very impressed.

The other co-leader of the band, Charlotte Kemp Muhl, played bass and keyboards, and also sang a few of the songs. She has obvious talent, but was a little overshadowed in the live setting. The rest of the band were great players, as well, but most of the focus was on Lennon and Muhl, for obvious reasons.

After the show ended, Lennon announced that he would be back at the merch booth if anyone wanted to stop by and say hi. This was a pleasant surprise. I had imagined that he might be a little more guarded in terms of meeting strangers in light of his father's murder. I was glad to see that he was willing to shake hands, pose for pictures, and sign autographs with the fans. Unfortunately, all the vinyl was sold out before I got there, so I didn't get anything signed. 

Later on, Sean Lennon made his way to another Omaha bar down the street called The Sydney and surprised folks down there. Overall, the night wound up being much better than I had imagined. 

The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger TONIGHT at Waiting Room

Tonight is the Omaha debut of Sean Lennon's new band, The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger. The band will be performing tonight at Waiting Room. As of now, tickets are still available.

I've been playing cuts from the band's new album, Midnight Sun, on my radio show, and am digging the record. The music is hard to describe. There is a strong pop sensibility, as well as a decent amount of psychedelia. 

There are obvious similarities to The Beatles, but no more so than a million other bands that mix pop and psychedelic music. Sean Lennon's DNA shouldn't preclude him from making music that - sometimes - sounds like The Beatles; nor should it make people automatically assume they know what GOASST will sound like.

It's good stuff, and I am looking forward to checking the band out tonight. Tickets are $15, and the show begins at 9pm.