Arts & Entertainment, The Muse

A synthesized spell

Gentlemen Hall’s Sunday night show downstairs at The Middle East was smoking hot, literally. Three songs into their nine-song set, the bass started smoking. Bassist Rory Given and his bandmates handled the glitch with a no-sweat badass attitude, which inevitably set the hyper-energized tone of their performance. Audience members sang and danced along to the Boston-based band’s synth pop/rock tunes.

The band was the highlight of the night sandwiched between two lackluster performances by Gold Star Morning and Atomic Tom. Gentlemen Hall draws much influence from 1970s funk and modern-day electronic/dance. They may sound very similar to Passion Pit, however the six former Berklee students have undoubtedly developed a style of their own. What sets Gentlemen Hall apart from the slew of other heavy-synth acts is its flautist, Seth Hachen. A flute among synths, guitar, bass and drums is quite the monkey-wrench, yet Hachen played with effortless gusto.

Gentlemen Hall began with a dramatic rendition of “How Long Have They Been Watching” from their 2010 self-released album, Give Us Roots, Give Us Wings. The song was introduced with a flute solo and Gavin McDevitt’s synthesized vocals. Jacob Michael’s rather deep soulful voice was the highlight of “Keeps on Coming Down” as McDevitt sang back-up.  At one point McDevitt sang “down, down, down” in tandem with the hi-hat cymbal, a small yet clever moment in the performance.

Along with recent material, Gentlemen Hall played “Stereo” from their 2009 self-titled and self-released EP. Philip Boucher added a heavier beat to the bass drum at the opening of this catchy-dance tune. A must at Gentlemen Hall shows, the band also performed their previously released single “Close to Me.”

The band reached its zenith with “Our Love is All We Have,” a song with anthemic lyrics and an intricate guitar solo played by Michael. They ended with “Gravity (will Break our Bones),” which was not nearly as outstanding as the previous song, yet once again spotlighted Michael’s stellar vocals.

Not once did Gentlemen Hall lose the audience’s attention. Possibly their rather unorthodox get-up attributed to this. McDevitt donned a white tie, while Michael wore leather pants held up by a metal-ringed belt and Given spiked his hair into a mohawk. During most songs McDevitt and Hachen stomped, danced, and jumped up and down. As he sang, Michael occasionally drew closer to those standing below.

“Entertaining the crowd tonight was so easy,” said Hachen minutes after leaving the stage. “The crowd and the energy were awesome!”

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One Comment

  1. I agree that Gentlemen Hall put on a great performance, but I beg to differ that they were better then the headliners, Atomic Tom – or that Atomic Tom’s performance was lackluster. Gentlemen Hall just helped build the energy in the room for Atomic Tom’s performance.