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Perpetual Groove true to its name

1•29•2007

Amid the swirling synthesizers and eye-catching light show, Perpetual Groove stays true to its name. The quartet, with originated at the Savannah College of Art and Design in 1997, rides the jam band wave that crests at Penn's Peak from time to time, but the band's sound is unique unto itself. Perpetual Groove made a return engagement to The Peak Friday night for a rousing performance that lasted nearly three hours, including an intermission to allow the crowd to catch its breath. PGroove's monicker suggest danceable jamming, and the band delivers on that account, thanks to the versatile rhythm section of bassist Adam Perry and drummer Albert Suttle, who team to handle whatever intricate time signatures the group cooks up, often shifting in midsong. The mix has some 60's era classic psychedelia, but there are elements of other influences on display as well. Guitarist Brock Butler claims to be a reluctant frontman, but his six-string work bends and shapes the PGroove sound from behind his array of foot pedals and other technical wizardly. Butler says PGroove is first and foremost a rock band, and his heavy metal fretwork on "Speed Queen", which opened the second set, proves his point. Butler also handles singing chores when necessary. With all the instrumental firework, the vocals sometimes seem an afterthought, but Butler manages to make it work in a seamless fashion. The music took twists and turns in different directions, but the effect was the same for the audience, a good number of whom kept in constant motion throughout as the rhythms washed over them. On keyboards, Matt McDonald filled in during extended Butler guitar solo excursions with some spacey synthesizer work of his own. PGroove also has a new album coming out in March, called LiveLoveDie, and it mixed three numbers for that upcoming disc into the set. Coming up with an encore could be a challenge, but PGroove was up to it. McDonald played the unmistakable keyboard intro to the band's cover of The Verve's smash '90's anthem "Bittersweet Symphony", bringing the performance to an uplifting coda. It was a cool cover from a band that branches out musically with each concert. Kicking things off was Liquid Sunshine from Monroe County, which fit it well as a Perpetual Groove opener, throwing in a version of Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues" for good measure.

Original Article: http://www.tnonline.com/node/119287