Just in time before the celebration for the 50th anniversary of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club band, the iconic album from The Beatles, the perfect band to go and see live was definitely Elephant Stone.
Taking the inspiration for their name from an iconic Mancunian anthem, the Canadian indie rock (or, as per their own words, “Hindie Rock”) trio fronted by Rishi Dhir incorporates aspects of traditional Indian music including such as sitar, tabla, and dilruba with Western psychedelic rock and 1960s Pop, citing The Beatles and The Kinks amongst their main influences.
Dhir has previously recorded and toured with the likes of Beck, The Black Angels,Brian Jonestown Massacre and The Horrors, before launching his own project in 2009 for which he’s responsible for vocals, sitar, and bass. The band name is a reference to both the song by The Stone Roses and a literal stone that Dhir owns: a statue of the Hindu god of new beginnings, Ganesh.
The band returned for their live set to iconic East London’s venue Moth Club, its shiny golden curtains providing a dazzling background to their eclectic and one of a kind performance. The setlist included songs from the trio’s latest release Ship Of Fools, which was released last year via Burger Records, as well as a mix of tracks from debut album The Seven Seas, which was nominated for the 2009 Polaris Music Prize as well as from their second and third releases Elephant Stone and The Three Poisons.
The opening track Setting Sun, taken from the trio’s homonymous album immediately set the mood with its nostalgic guitar riff reminding of Johnny Marr-esque, typical mancunian rythms, a declaration of the band’s ongoing inspiration drawn by the british music scene, followed by 1960-styled dancefloor anthem Manipulator.
Andromeda was one of the highlight of the set, a ballad intertwining psychedelic sounds and captivating space-themed lyrics (A 100 millions stars / Saw through the eye of a satellite / An island universe / From a naked mind on a moonlit night) coming together for a love song which is definitely one of a kind.
Mid-set came Silence Can Say So Much, a sitar-dominated track which impeccably conveys Elephant Stone’s experimental and eclectic sound, followed by fan favourite See The Light.
Au Gallis, the closing track on the trio’s latest physical release and last song for the night, brought us to the end of this exhilarating, dreamy set in the best possible way with its distorted, reverbed vocals and clear rhythm guitar patterns accompanied by half French, half English lyrics.
The gig was an explosive return for Elephant Stone on the british soil, which followed an extensive and successful tour of the US, Canada and Europe last year.
The the band recently released an exclusive live studio video of album cut ‘Silence Can Say So Much’. Watch it below.