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Concert Review: The Elms

Arlene’s Grocery, the Lower East-Side bodega and butcher shop turned rock club, no longer sells edible wares to hungry New York patrons, but played host to some pretty tasty music on a Wednesday night in August when The Elms delivered a short set of hot rock and roll to a small music-hungry audience. The Indiana quartette was in town to pave the way for their new CD, The Great American Midrange, a hard-rocking slice of pure Americana, and the next logical step for the band as they continue to create blistering rock songs and socially-aware pop ballads that chronicle the struggles and joys of life in middle-America.

The small but legendary rock club featured no less than six bands that night – one each hour, the final act taking the stage at midnight. The Elms, slated for ten o’clock, were re-scheduled to go on at eleven PM following Kou Chou Ching, a Taiwanese rap and hip-hop group, and The Hsu-Nami, a progressive instrumental rock/metal band featuring shredding solos on guitar and erhu, a two-stringed Asian fiddle instrument. The Elms followed, bringing things back to basics, with a six song set that was all about home-town, hope and rock & roll.

There is a noticeable absence of glam when The Elms mount the stage, rushing through a fast-paced, though well-practiced, set-up and sound-check. Owen Thomas makes the crowd feel like friends with his boyish charm and amiable manner; little brother Chris busily puts the final tweaks on the drum kit and looks ready for action; lead guitarist Thomas Daugherty makes adjustments on his Gibson Les Paul, occasionally breaking his concentration to acknowledge various audience members; Nathan (Nate) Bennett, looking as much like a soap opera star as a rock star, plucks a bass string and raises a finger, trying to get the sound man’s attention.

The moment comes when everyone onstage is sonically satisfied, and the band launches into the first song of the set (also the first track on the new album), “Strut.”

“I walk out and stand in my front yard,
It’s plain to see that the times are hard.
What’s a man to do when he’s had enough?
You put on your boots and you strut your stuff.”

The drums are thunderous, the bass churning, the guitars wailing torturously, while Owen puts his lyrical finger on the pulse of the American heartland – a theme previously touched on in “The Towers and the Trains,” from the Chess Hotel album. You get the feeling that The Elms are one of us – rooting for us all to get through this thing together. And meanwhile – while times are hard – why not pull the boots on, strut our stuff and rock out for a while?

It’s therapeutic, this rock & roll thing, and The Elms have their rock & roll credentials all in order.

Getting into his Mick Jagger mode, Owen leads the band through “Nothing to do With Love,” now a signature Elms number, and a real convincer for those who came to rock. The Elms hit this one on all cylinders, and pretty much show The Stones how it ought to be done….

Getting back to the new album, the band slows things down a bit for the socially-conscious folk-rock of “This is How the World Will End,” a country-tinged song about responsibility, actions (or lack thereof) and consequences. The song accelerates at the end and climaxes with a huge drum break from Chris.

A drum riff leads into “County Fair,” an easy-going country-rock tune painting a Norman Rockwell-like scenario of youthful good times in rural America. Slightly nastier is “The Way I Will,” from The Chess Hotel album – a somewhat twisted love song featuring some of Thom’s amazing Beatle-inspired guitar wizardry and some impressive full-band jamming at the end.

The set closes with the radio-ready “Back to Indiana,” a roots-rock anthem about going back to the one you left at home. The band plays the song with enthusiasm and a sense of knowing that this could become an important song in their repertoire and their history in general.

The Elms are a hard-working rock band that delivers the real deal each time they play. They know how to play hard- edged pop and rudimentary rock & roll with the best of them. Free of choreography and clichéd stage-patter, an Elms concert features the meat and potatoes of what a rock show is all about. Owen, unmistakably the front-man, wields a sturdy rhythm guitar and has a voice that shifts effortlessly from a hard-edged rock attack to an emotional falsetto. Thomas Daugherty is one of the un-sung guitar heroes of the day, able to squeeze bursts of energy from the neck of his guitar, creating inventive riffs and motifs born of his solid command of modern rock and classic blues. Chris holds down the beat with solid power and a classic rock style, bringing impressive technique and classy rock/pop chops to each song in the set. Nate holds up the bottom-end playing articulate bass lines that support the music without overtaking the sound, creating – along with Chris – the perfect foundation for Owen and Thomas, as they ride a solid rhythmic wave to the end of each song.

Even with a six-song set, The Elms leave you feeling energized and, yeah – I guess even a little encouraged. Ready to face a tough world again but ready to strut your stuff, too.
My advice: before they go back to Indiana, make sure you catch The Elms when they get around to your part of the country.