It’s been several years since Dave W. and Ego Sensation made it across the pond, but the New York pair are still going strong. Last time, at Nice n Sleazys, they played as a duo and while a good show, the pair impress more with other musicians in tow.
However, tonight they’re scaled back again, down to the bone and flesh of this animal.
In this room it’s a full-on PA system, so the sound that pumps through these wooden cabinets is not for the faint hearted; the venue more accustomed to the sounds of its usual clientele of death and thrash metal bands passing through town.
However, there’s no escape through the 20 foot arches that hold the bridge and Central Station above it, making for a thicker stronger sound.
Never since the early gigs of the White Stripes have we seen two people on stage merge like two colossal planets colliding, immersing the audience in an acid bath of punk stoner rock slabs of Sabbath, with dashes of Kraut and full-on space exploration. Continually shapeshfting, buzzing away like a fine 2000-grit grinder, they wear you down, but in a good way.
Dave and Ego have poured their lives into this with a prolific back catalogue, yet with not much to show for it, but still remain leaders at the edge of this dark, vast, fragile universe.