Murder at the Well visits USC

For many starting student bands, Ground Zero Performance Café is one of the places to be to get your music out to a variety of fans.

Ground Zero radiated a relaxed atmosphere Saturday night for the Murder at the Well concert.

To start the show, opening act Carl Grey sat onstage with Murder at the Well’s drummer, who played the bongos with him for the first few songs. Grey looked perfectly at home in the dimness of the milkshake hub. The lighting was simple and warm, and Grey, clad in a fedora and vest, added to the SoCal calm of the beginning of the evening.

Matthew Wunderlich | Daily Trojan

Grey’s songs were both upbeat and intense, a kind of Jack Johnson sound mixed with a Smashing Pumpkins edge.

Smooth guitar strumming paired with the eclectic bongos soothed the audience in the first few songs, while a simply earnest message was heard especially in the song “Sweet Girl.” Grey’s performance was genuine, and a mellow song dedicated to his father rounded out his set with a similar vibe.

Murder at the Well took the stage after a short break, and didn’t hesitate to completely alter the tone of the concert. The café went dark and was forcefully lit with bright, white light as heavy guitar riffs shook the floor. The band members threw themselves into the music with pounding drums and lightning-fast bass riffs.

The band’s power was a combination of the skilled instrumentals, reflecting an overwhelmingly metal sound, and smooth vocals that carried well over the escalating passion and volume.

This clarity sets Murder at the Well apart from other wannabe metal bands. The audience could feel influences of rock in the music, with soulful lyrics and impressive projection. There was no jumbled confusion or unintelligible vocals buried beneath overpowering guitar and bass.

Lead singer and bassist Dave Tomkins’ vocals had a similar tone to that of Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys, a bluesy sound mixed with the gritty influence of heavy metal, with a similar unyielding power and projection. The mixture of genres made the music accessible to blues, metal and rock fans.

Though a powerful, heavy metal performer, Tomkins is also a lecturer for USC’s beloved Writing 140 program. It’s initially difficult to picture this black T-shirt-clad singer lecturing in front of students, but the care Tomkins puts into his lyrics and his performance reflects this intelligence. His impressive energy and intensity throughout the performance kept the audience glued to the band’s set.

The band played from its self-titled debut album Murder at the Well, proving its ability to dabble in a variety of textures and genres with the sampling of tracks. On one extreme, screaming guitar riffs paired with flashing strobes and blindingly yellow lights carried the dark, coarse “Night & Day”, overtaking the small venue.

On the other, “Up High” proved to be a more mainstream mix of metal and rock, with escalating arpeggio lines and layering of guitar, bass and drums.

Murder at the Well kept up the pace of the show without much interaction with the audience. The band members played off one another; guitarist Reza Moosavi and drummer Mike Dorado were key to the continuing balance and endurance of the performance. Dorado was constantly pounding forcefully at his drums, Moosavi filling in silences with the vibrating sounds of electric guitar.

The audience and venue were small, but Murder at the Well brought a power better suited for somewhere like the Music Box. This band brings a sound suited for a large, packed crowd that can fall into the intensity of the music.

It’s highly recommended to anyone who wants to hear a unique combination of smooth, melodic lines with intense metal lines.