So Here’s Your Next Favorite Band…
In 2005, Ludo released a five song rock-opera entitled Broken Bride, in which the protagonist builds a time machine to go back and save his love from her eminent death. In 2008, I’d like to build a time machine and go back to the other night at the Trocadero Theatre in Philadelphia and save myself from asking five guys I’ve known for the last five years the wrong questions. It’s not about how they were raised or how they feel about the state of our union. At the core of it, it is really just about five guys from Missouri, Texas and Nebraska, (three of which are vegans and no one, tour manager notwithstanding, own an iPhone). It’s also about their music, and more specifically their live show.
Ludo’s new album, recently released on Island Records, You’re Awful, I Love You, is well-recorded and a lot of fun, but to truly appreciate the band you are hearing, you have to see them live. You’re Awful is on heavy-rotation in my life, much like the last three albums from the Flaming Lips, but like fellow Midwesterners, it is all about the stage show. Granted, Ludo does not currently have dancing Santas and aliens onstage, but I am not ruling out that possibility, nor something similar, for the future. Ludo will be on the road most of 2008 and you must go see them. Period.
On stage left, there is guitarist Tim Ferrell. Tim is what you might get if you cross the guitar genius of Eric Clapton with the lightning-quick fingers of Dimebag Darrell. His vibe is understated: “I’m Not Putting On A Show, I Am Playing My Instrument Because This Is Who I Am And This Is What I Have Always Wanted To Do.” His demeanor is calm and thoughtful. When we talked in their dressing room after the show, he wore a Frank Zappa t-shirt and feasted on vegan junk food (I was as shocked as you that it exists!). Someone mentioned Perez Hilton and Ferrell truly did not know who that was. However, he did graduate from Notre Dame. This is refreshing and without irony.
On drums and bass guitar are Matt Palermo and Marshall Fanciullo respectively. Matt is the youngest of the group and possesses the kind of dry sense of humor found in a Christopher Guest movie. Marshall might be one of the most polite men I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting. Their contribution to the Ludo Live Show is understated and completely perfect.
In the center of the stage is singer/guitarist Andrew Volpe. Another member of the band described Andrew to me years ago as a “human cartoon character.” He is indeed this, but it is not a slam. Gregarious, talented, and prone to the f-word and licking his guitar, Andrew is all that, and a bag of Wavy Lays. His way with words is humorously unlike any other modern band in pop music, case in point lyrics of single, “Love Me Dead”- ‘Kill me romantically, fill my soul with vomit then ask me for a piece of gum, bitter and dumb, you’re my sugarplum, you’re awful, I love you!”
On stage right is Moog player Tim Convy. In life and onstage, you get the sense that Convy is glue. He offsets the antics directly to his left with a sense of groundedness in introducing the band’s members, and saying hello to the city in which they are playing. He says to me just before walking onstage, “We’re in Philadelphia, right?” He is not joking or trying to come off as a rockstar who is too cool for school. Simply put, their tour in support of the Presidents Of The United States Of America, and the work that they and their label are accomplishing to fully break into the mainstream, is absolutely exhausting. Convy pulls double-duty as the business liason of the group, and the player of its quirky Moog. He works his ass off with a smile that cannot help but warm you.
If Ludo were a term paper, its thesis (like its press bio) would be “to entertain people without making them dumber.” The thesis is supported by smart lyrics and a solid stage presence. The conclusion is that they accomplish their thesis and the footnote is that you simply must buy their new record and go to a show.
