Ash/Marah/Greenwheel/The Warren Bros.

THE TROUBADOUR - June 12, 2002

Arriving late to the world famous Troubadour, I was able to catch two not yet famous and one post famous super fun rock acts.

Ireland’s Ash, promoting their new Kinetic Records release Free All Angels, power popped their way through a number of cuts off their latest as well as favorites from their 10-year history including “Kung Fu” and “Ordinary Kind of Life”. The newer tunes crunch right in with the rest of their fun-fuzz rock catalogue. Commanding the stage from start to finish, Ash clearly enjoyed being back in Los Angeles “5,000 fucking miles from home”. At the end of an all-too-fast hour of pure pop bliss Ash put out their fire and promised to be back in town later this summer.

Philadelphia’s four-piece Marah wore their modern day Springsteen and Stones influences on their East-coast sleeves. Bashing through a blisteringly loud set of new material from their new CD Float Away and a few faves from their last album Kids From Philly, Marah won over some new fans and sent some old ones to their ear doctors the morning after. Marah continued to show their old-school roots with a new school attitude by instructing “all you mother fuckers to jump” prior to a new Street Fighting Man-era Stones influenced tune. ‘Chased off’ the stage at just about forty minutes, Marah clearly was having fun burning up the joint and it was a nice appetizer to their summer East Coast Residence in Philadelphia, Boston and New York. See the kids from Philly float away when they come to your town later this year.

I walked in a few songs late for Greenwheel, a Missouri band that is touring for their Island Records release, Soma Holiday. Greenwheel passionately played Pearl Jam and Alice In Chains inspired rock to a very welcoming audience. For a young band, they performed with confidence. Their honest approach brought great songs to life such as their very catchy single, “Shelter”. -Brendan McMahon

Greenwheel picture courtesy of Island Records