Ring fullls its Promise

On second thought, spirited doesn't even begin to describe the P-Ring's hour-long set. Being the first show of its latest tour, the Wisconsin quartet hit the stage with more energy than a 6-year-old with a sugar high.

In fact, the band started the show with the mentality of hyper youngsters, each member sporting a different heavy metal long-hair wig for the first four songs. Guitarist/singer Davey von Bohlen hammed it up the most by frantically running through one arena-rock move after another, from pumping his fist in the air to the synchronized sway with bassist Tim Burton to the playing guitar between the legs stance.

Between songs, von Bohlen played the role of the stoner rock star, promising to "turn Detroit into Weed-troit" to the amusement of the crowd.

But the music was nothing to laugh at. Anchored by simplistic guitar chords and riffs, the Promise Ring's songs put the emphasis on Burton's melodic bass lines and the complex drumming of Daniel Didier, supported by von Bohlen's enthusiastic delivery of his cryptic lyrics.

Where the band alternates between poppy tunes and more subdued, melancholy tracks on record, its live set focused almost entirely on the former, with songs such as "Everywhere in Denver" and "Perfect Lines" quickly inspiring random fits of rocking out in the crowd. Even the one representative from the P-Ring's slower side, "A Picture Postcard," was given a slightly faster arrangement, and lost its pleading tone beneath von Bohlen's smiling enthusiasm.

Another highlight of the set was "Why Did Ever We Meet," which proved that even the most jaded scenester can't resist singing along with a chorus that consists of the words "ba ba bada" and "do do do." The Promise Ring also premiered a handful of freshly written songs, due to appear on a future EP. These songs seemed to feature few changes to the band's sound (not counting the use of a very un-punk rock drum machine on one tune), but assured that the Promise Ring will continue to be one of the best bands flying beneath the mainstream radar.

Opening the show was Jets to Brazil, the new project from ex-Jawbreaker frontman Blake Schwarzenbach. Slightly mellowing the gloomy sound of his old band with keyboard flourishes and less distortion, Schwarzenbach sounded slightly less pissed off at life and more excited to be back in the music world. Despite technical problems and a bit of stage nervousness, the quartet turned in a strong performance of songs from its soon-to-be released debut album, "Orange Rhyming Dictionary."

10-07-98