Ghost In The Machines

Jaded Insider's head is still spinning after soaking up the Secret Machines' triumphant performance last night (Oct. 2) at New York's Irving Plaza. The trio's music can be overpoweringly psychedelic, but it rarely fails to connect with the audience in the form of hummable riffs and radio-worthy melodies. The "in the round" staging put the band up and close and personal with the crowd, and the lysergic light show made the whole evening even more surreal. Highlights: the propulsive "Faded Lines," an outrageous main set-closing jam that spent about 30 seconds toying with "Nowhere Again," the spooky "Daddy's in the Doldrums" and the 10-minute, late period Zeppelin-style behemoth "First Wave Intact," which finished everybody off right and proper. Also bewildering: Machines siblings Brandon and Benjamin Curtis don't play through amps. Instead, they process the hell out of the natural tones coming from their instruments and run them through all manner of loops and effects, conjuring a depth of sound seemingly impossible from a three-piece group. Meanwhile, have more gorgeous people ever been assembled in Irving Plaza all at once? Secret Machines, we want to party with you!

Also, Jaded Insider thinks he just walked past the Strokes' Julian Casablancas on 9th Street between Broaday and Lafayette, rolling a giant red suitcase. The Strokes played last night in Muncie, Indiana, but have an off day until a show Thursday in Columbus, Ohio. Who could it be?