By Mel Mason

Mr. Gnome

Plush

Friday, June 12

Tucsonans tend to take their sweet time getting to live shows.  I know this, because I'm the dork who's always first in line.  Therefore, I was shocked when I arrived at Plush last Friday, and the back room was abuzz with at least 70 people before the show began.

Mr. Gnome consists of vocalist/guitarist Nicole Barille and drummer Sam Meister from Cleveland.  Their original indie-rock sound wildly fluctuated between simplicity and complexity.  Barille's voice wavered magnificently between innocence and angst, and her sometimes-frenetic, sometimes-subtle guitar work was superb.  Every bit of loud, jarring fuzz, and every note lingered delicately in space didn't seem the least bit contrived. Although it's clear Barille and Meister are thorough in their attention to detail, there's clearly room for improvisation, depending on what kind of night they're having.  Barille stated that they almost had to cancel the gig due to her voice giving out - and there's no way the audience would've known if she hadn't clued us in.

http://www.tucsonweekly.com/tucson/live/Content?category=1063790