Ryan Bingham and Elijah Ford

If, a few years from now, you want to be able to say I saw one of the most influential rock and roll bands of our time while they were still playing in small clubs, you may still have a small window of opportunity.  I went to the show by Ryan Bingham and the Dead Horses at TT the Bears, a fairly small rock club in Cambridge, Massachusetts on Tuesday, and walked away thoroughly convinced that they won’t be playing places that small for much longer.  They are definitely among the best bands I have ever seen play live, and word spreads fast about something like that.  Bingham already has an Oscar for best song and the tracks they played from the upcoming album to be released in September lead me to believe it may well be showered with accolades, as well.

If you didn’t already know the band, you might not have expected much had you been there when they walked out on the small stage. They came out into this small dark club, having to duck so they didn’t hit their heads on their way to the stage. They were dressed unremarkably, with only Elijah Ford, the bassist and keyboardist looking like he’d made any effort at all.  The rest were dressed for work in jeans and work shirts.  Ryan wore Carthart work pants.  It turns out that this was appropriate attire, because go to work they did!  They played hard, loud and superbly, really into the music and committed to giving the audience the best show they could.

(Here’s a video of their performance on The Late Show with David Letterman, to give you a little bit of a sense of how they sound.  More on the show and the band, after the clip.)  Continue reading →