The entire 200 or so crowd stood sheepishly away from the front five feet of rustic tile flooring that preceded the stage area. Thus implying that people had been informed on their arrival that if they trod on any of those tiles, then the locally famous cinematic screen that serves the dual purpose of entertaining and concealing pre-act preliminaries, would rise up and reveal a Cast covers band.

A relaxing opening by way of the hypnotic instrumental ‘Yoga Means Union’ introduced New York’s Ambulance LTD to an expectant crowd. The pungent previous single; ‘Primitive’ followed that represents one of the highlights on their self titled debut album. This number combines the caressing sound of Grandaddy crashing a private show by the Mar-keys, and was the perfect forum for the Elliot Smith and dash of Neil Young vocals of Marcus Congleton. The mid-tempo country fuelled indie on show, provided for a largely upbeat and relaxed set. The slower and laid back acoustic fuelled ’Michigan’ provided one of the main focal points of an illuminating and promise filled set. With tonight’s performance Ambulance LTD hit back at the stereotypes of the New York sound in the right way. I for one did not think about The Strokes or Interpol during the entire set!

www.ambulancenyc.com

David Adair