End Of The World!: Moby Concert In Baltimore

There I was...........it was a Thursday night........September 17th, 2009...........and there is Moby, signing a few autographs after his electrifying performance at the Ram's Head Live! in Baltimore, Maryland. For those that know me, I can imagine them asking "Moby?"......"He likes Moby?"

Well........no.......I was not there because of that........and for the record......no, I was not a Moby fan at all. Not that I had anything bad to say about his music, but just simply that maybe he appealed to a different generation......or so I thought. Musically, I really had no beef with Moby. I was at his concert because of my buddy George Harrison.....hehehe........who just so happens to be somewhat of a fan of Moby. He wanted me to go with him to the show........and I did.

Moby has this certain look about him.........something about his stare......he doesn't seem to blink at all. Needless to say, he was very kind and obviously appreciated the small handful of people that waited after the show for autographs.

More later about after the show...........I shall cut to the chase and tell about the show. Prior to the show, there was some strange music being pumped out over the sound system. Keep in mind that I had no real idea of what to expect on this night........but this music was rather irritating to me........it was very depressing stuff.......stuff you might want to listen to when you want to go to sleep. I was thinking that this was not a good sign of things to come. A female was singing and nobody seemed to know who it was. Oh well..........after about a half hour of this stuff it was showtime..........and this woman walks out onstage and picks up a guitar and starts layering her voice a few times and proceeds to sing along with herself. I then realized that it must have been this very same woman's music that was being played before the start of the show. Musically.....well......how could I describe her performance?...........maybe a touch of Bjork here or there? Needless to say, what she did, she did it very well. After she rattled off a few tunes, she then left the stage and the main attraction proceeded to hit the stage. Guess who was part of Moby's band?................yep.......that same woman that started the show. Her name is Kelli Scarr and she apparently also sang on Moby's recent record...........I can't say record.......I should say "cd".

Kelli Scarr kicked it up several notches as part of Moby's band. Her performance was brilliant and I am sure that Moby is glad to have her in the band.

So this Kelli Scarr person not only sings, and plays guitar.......but she also plays keyboards.

As I said before, I really did not know what to expect at this show. I was, for the most part, totally unfamiliar with the majority of the music that was being performed.........except for a few things I have heard here and there.......on radio......tv commercials...........and the only time I had ever seen Moby was on a music awards show. When I looked around at the audience, I saw all sorts of people.........people that were alot older than me.........along with people that seemed younger than some of the stuff in my refrigerator.

It took quite some time for the place to gather up a crowd............I was thinking that this show was not promoted very well, as usual for shows in Baltimore. By showtime, the audience had grown from about thirty or so.....to about half-full......maybe 500 people.....just a guess.

Moby showed himself to be very serious, and constantly busy onstage and regardless of the crowd size I could not detect any inkling that he or his band gave anything less than 100% of themselves.

The music was all over the place........all types of genres mixed up into one giant party.

The music was very loud.......the bass notes were rattling my chest as we stood right at the edge of the stage. I don't believe that Moby ever introduced the band except for his introduction of Kelli Scarr........and that is a shame.........this band rocked. The other female singer at the far end of the stage, I believe, is someone that has been performing with Moby for quite some time. She has one hell of a voice...........and yet I do not know her name.

Moby was all over the place........when not playing guitar, he was banging on the bongos or playing on the keyboards.

As I found out later, this show was the first performance of the tour for this particular band and from what I could see and hear, there were only minimal flaws. Moby himself had a few problems with his ear monitor, but nothing that took away from what the audience was experiencing.

Two female singers, a female violinist, a female bass player, a male drummer......and Moby. Oh......not to mention another dude than came out and played the bongos and keyboards for a song or two.

The drummer was fantastic........let's just say that he beat the crap out of those drums. After the show, we bumped into him outside of the venue. I got his autograph and he said that this was the very first time he had ever played with Moby. Wow! I would tell ya his name, but I cannot decipher his signature......hehehe.

Moby began this tour to promote his most recent CD entitled "Wait For Me".

I must mention the lights. Having been a sound and light dude for a rock band back in the day, I appreciate good sound and lights at a concert.......and I can say that this show was top-notch, visually.

Moby told the crowd about how he used to come to Baltimore back in the '80s and deejayed at some of the rave clubs here.

Even though I was not very familiar with Moby's music, it was all very enjoyable and I was pleasantly surprised.

I know that my buddy Dean Martin enjoyed every minute of it.

The only downside to concerts is that sometimes the performer finds some license to spew off some political views, which usually happens to be the polar opposite of my own political views. Moby is one of those performers. In this instance, Moby said something to the effect that it was nice to be back from Europe and not having to make apologies for our country. Obviously, he is an Obama supporter and is involved with MoveOn.org. When he said what he did, I, of course, shouted out "ACORN!" and pumped my fist up into the air. I doubt that he heard it.........he of course, had a monitor in his ear. I wish that musicians would just stick to what they do best and make the music. I do not think there is anyone that pays 50 bucks to go hear a musician denegrate their country verbally. Before anyone says.....well Signtopia.......you are wrong about that.........I agree.
As I think about it, there are alot of musicians that denegrate their country......in the lyrics of their songs. The difference being that a song is a song, music is music, and political bilge is political bilge. I would bet that there is a very good reason that Moby does not have a song that sings the praises of Obama, while shitting on the previous years post 9-11............it doesn't sell well.

All of that aside, musically, Moby and band were very entertaining.

Overall, I would recommend this concert. If Moby comes to your town, go see him.......even if his music is not your particular cup of tea...............nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Besides........if you happen to have a buddy, as I have, that just so happens to be a Moby fan........