Pond
Perth psych band Pond performed to a sold-out crowd at the Casbah on Saturday and it blew our minds.
Fronted by Nick Allbrook and Jay Watson of Tame Impala, the boys stopped in San Diego in between Coachella weekends to wow us, playing songs a few years old and brand new tracks off the upcoming album The Weather.
Before they took stage, The Incredible Shagatha and His Moog delighted us with just that; a moog synthesizer on top of a suitcase covered in LAX stickers. The mysterious dark, longhaired man played electronic space jams and wore a hobbit-style leather jacket, conjuring images of Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure in my mind. Medieval, Led Zeppelin-esqe flutes mixed with outer space beats, confusing and delighting the crowd at the same time.
It was getting deep as I spotted Tame Impala’s lead singer Kevin Parker in the crowd. I told him I thought he was the one performing and he responded, “I wish I had a body like that.” The Incredible Shagatha had in fact removed the jacket and proved to be ripped. Anyway… Pond’s sound team did an excellent job tuning and the five piece took stage.
This show kicked off their North American Tour in support of new album The Weather, releasing on May 5.
They started with “30,000 Megatrons,” as well as “Sweep Me Off My Feet” and “Paint Me Silver” off The Weather. They dove into “Elvis’s Flaming Star” and “Waiting Around For Grace” off 2015’s Man It Feels Like Space Again.
Lead singer Allbrook pranced around the stage in usual fashion, with baby blue dyed locks and flowers in his hair. They were epic, ripping from one single to the next. The sold-out crowd lost their shit with Allbrook jumping into the crowd and peering into their souls with his day-dreamy blue eyes.
As Australians, each member of Pond had a quiet confidence and politeness to them, subtly alluding to America’s bat-shit crazy politics, without saying anything. They welcomed fans from Mexico. Nick asked us to pretend they left the stage for an encore and just kept playing, ending with the oldest track of the set “You Broke My Cool” off 2012’s Beard, Wives, Denim.
Their set was so good, I feel jealous of the Sunday Coachella attendees who get the pleasure of watching them amidst those magical desert breezes. Enjoy!