Gnomonaut
June 02, 2011
The Earl – Atlanta, GA

Gnomonaut has managed to master the art of taking what can sometimes be a hard genre of music to swallow and turning it something that’s easy to digest.  As the house lights went down in the already dark, back room of The Earl, the media screen behind the band was brought to life as the image of the bands Space Gnome appeared as opening tune “Bekajamir” faded in.  I had already seen them live once before and while they made a really strong impression on me, I don’t remember being this blown away.  They were so tight and fluid right off the bat only to kick it into interstellar overdrive with my current favorite “Celestial Dirt Nap.”  Guitarist Patrick Marshall and Jeremy Adams seem to at time communicate telepathically as they rarely make eye contact with each other yet manage to compliment each other and zoom in and of each others way as they each take their solos.

Performing a sonically face melting set, it was also nice to see a band put some effort into their performance.  Don’t get me wrong as I’d love seeing this band live anytime but performing in front of a screen psychedelic fractals, creepy cartons and Nosferatu made it more than a performance.  Much like the late great Pink Floyd, Gnomonaut created a live experience that was as visually exciting as it was musically exciting.  The set was made up of material from Gnomonaut’s debut album “The Chronocosm” such as “ManBearPig” and “Beard Mudding” but it was “Gnomonaut” that really brought it all home for me.  Bassist Jeromy Dooyema and drummer Andy Snedden create a complex and tight yet fluid groove throughout as Dooyema loses himself in the moment and physically grooves along while ripping through the Black Sabbath classic “The Wizard.”  Closing out the night with “The Chronocosm” is best described as the ending of “Empire Strikes Back” as I didn’t feel the resolve of an ending yet I just know that more cosmic awesomeness lies ahead in future episodes.  Trust me folks.  This is a good thing.  I truly felt I had seen a show that far surpassed the average $5.00 local band show.  It was a truly cosmic foray into the depths of music that managed to engage and entertain without losing me or leaving me lost in space.