Carlton Melton, White Manna, and Fribyttedrømme- Stengade 30, København Oct 3rd, 2013

This was a really fun night and a bit emotional for the Rich and Andy from Carlton Melton. It was the first time they had played back in Denmark since they were here with Zen Guerilla more than 10 years ago. they were good friends with Ralph Rjeily and had stayed in contact with Ralph via music and bands for all these years and Ralph as also the tour manager on the first Freeks tour, on which Andy played drums. Anyway, I arrived at the venue about 19:30 and the bands had just arrived from a long drive from Berlin. I hung out equally with Rich and Andy as well as the White Manna guys who were all super cool folks from Humboldt California (US Weed capital!).

          The opening band are a new young 7 piece Danish psychedelic rock band (yes.. yet another one!) called Fribyttedrømme, which means something like Pirate Dreams in Danish. I have to say I was really blown away by these guys. This is a band that really channelled a cool 70’s vibe with a mixture of like Pink Floyd (Obscured by Clouds era) and Alrune Rød (great Danish band from the 70s, who sadly don’t exist anymore). All the vocals are in Danish and well sung. They have three guitars but they were all playing different stuff and two of the guitar players did all the lead guitar work, with the singer having a really fuzzed out guitar sound at times. They played for about 45mins and were really excellent. I did not find a set list. I don’t think they have released anything yet. The guys in both bands checked out the whole show and really liked this band as well.

Set List: Fribyttedrømmen, Kosmonatuen, Ørken, De Konstruerede, Fem er det Magiske Nummer  

          It took 45mins before Carlton Melton hit the stage as they had all arrived too late to sound check and had to set up new drums and all the stuff now. I went outside for a while and chatted with my friends Sven, Tom, Anders and martin. It was a really disappointing turn out tonight with only about 40 people. Where was everyone? All these new Danish bands like Troldmand, Road to Suicide, Spörkratet, Spids Nøgenhat, etc.. who play psychedelic rock, none of these guys come out to see bands that they probably listen to and dig. A bit strange. Anyway, that is the way it is.

          Carlton Melton opened with a slow dual guitar space out as they always seem to do. I was supposed to jam with them this night but in the end, Rich (plays guitar, synths, samples) made the decision they were not prepared, so I was just a spectator. Next time we will do it for sure we agreed. Anyway, the opening piece was like 15mins and ended with Rich just letting loose with some killer guitar solos. Andy then switched from guitar to drums and things became much heavier. I think they play more or less the same songs every night from what the White Manna guys said but the way they play them is really different. Tonight you could tell that it was emotional for them at the end Andy yelled out “Ralph Rjeily” and a lot of people knew Ralph so they got a nice response back. Rich said he was thinking a lot about Ralph when he was playing. Cool concert of about 50mins. I am guessing they never play that long.

          White Manna used a lot of the CM gear so it was 30mins or so and they were ready to fly but it was nearly 1 in the morning now. Anyway, this band really blew me away with their high energy space rock with the hypnotic flavour or Wooden Shjips (it is mostly the cool hypnotic way the bass player plays and not the guitar and keyboard at all). They played mostly new material and only one song from the 1^st record. The opening track felt a lot like a long jam and I filled this track and Dunes. There is a great interaction within the band and after 2½ weeks on the road with a gig nearly every day they are flying high. They change the set every night to keep things fresh, which is the way it should be. The version of the Mick Farren song, I’m Coming Home (it is also on the new record) was really cool. A fantastic concert but too short at like 55mins. A very late night. Enjoy the videos.

Set List: Esu ra, Dunes, X-ray, Illusion of Illusion, Sweet Jesus, I’m Comin’ Home, Evil