Guitarist Meeks, Days of the New rock St. Andrew's during holiday

Singer/guitarist Travis Meeks rolled into St. Andrew's Hall in Detroit sporting a new band with an old name, poised to prove himself as one of the music industry's newest golden boys. Following in the wake of a successful new album, released after a messy breakup between Meeks and his old bandmates, Days of the New came to impress, and did so with gusto.

Canadian punk rockers Bif Naked got the night started with an energetic No Doubt impression, complete with tight leather pants and a spandex shirt. Lead singer Bif even played the cute, innocent girl pioneered by Gwen Stefani in her breathy segues between songs.

Courtesy of Matthew Welch Musician Travis Meeks is the only remaining member from the original Days of the New.

Of course, Bif Naked isn't No Doubt, and the small St. Andrew's Hall crowd was well aware of that fact. From the extended, crackling intro track until their final song of the night, the band was barraged with cries of "We want Travis" and "Why don't you play 'Spiderwebs'?"

After a more than fashionably long intermission, Days of the New finally took the smoke-filled stage amid the recorded sounds of thundering hoofs and droning chants, immediately breaking into "Flight Response," the first track off of their new album. Strobe lights cut through the artificial fog during the song, an effect that was repeated often, to the delight of the crowd. Although the band is essentially comprised of Meeks and his guitar, he travels with a full ensemble on tour. In addition to the bass, drums and two guitars, the band was augmented by a keyboardist and the standard belly-dancing backup vocalist.

During the course of the show, Days of the New demonstrated Meeks' musical creativity by including a number of interesting effects in their songs. Most notably, a megaphone was used repeatedly to create a screeching vocal sound like that in the hit single "Shelf in the Room." Also recurring throughout the set were synthesized violins and meditative chants that filled the concert hall with a pleasant, worldly atmosphere. Days also showed their range during the show, at times sounding more like an acoustic jam session than anything else, but at others forging a harmony between vocals and the various guitars that was almost hypnotic.

In the midst of a set spanning the breadth of both of their studio albums, Days' performance reached its musical peak during a moving rendition of the ballad "Weapon & the Wound." Soon after came a solo performance of "Freak" that received an appreciating ovation from the audience. By far the most atypical song in the set was an extended, heavily electronic version of the single "Enemy," which had none of the resonant beauty of the other songs in the set.

It was apparent from the beginning of the set that Meeks was intoxicated. He kept up a steady but occasionally baffling banter with the crowd, mostly about how much better he is than most other rockers and how much he cares about his fans. He did stop briefly to laud some of the more worthy members of the music industry, but then proceeded to badmouth hard rockers in general.

His onstage antics even built to the point where he refused to play his final song until he was furnished with another beer. Despite his obvious drunkenness, Meeks' guitar work was impressive from start to finish, and none of those present for the finale of the show left disappointed. At the end of the night, Days of the New had backed up Meeks' arrogant words with a solid performance, and demonstrated their worth as a unique musical institution.

11-29-99