Abandoned Pools open for Lenny Kravitz

As lived through by Adam Bowman

Original photo by Mobudaki

Solo musicians sometimes acquire an aura of brilliance around them. People sit back and just watch with constantly increasing curiosity as the mad scientist builds a new creature, because they know that even if the monster isn't efficient or even effective, their voyeurism won't go unrewarded.

Such is the strange case as I sat back and took in an Abandoned Pools set as they opened for Pink and Lenny Kravitz in Atlanta's oh-so-gracious Hi-Fi Buys Amphitheatre. Tommy Walter's brainchild romped through most of their "Humanistic" album to a sadly unaffected crowd (their cover of Bjork's "Army Of One" was nothing short of badass, though.) I, on the other hand, sat entranced in the lawn taking in every one of AP's songs and all of Tommy's jokes. You see, I had gotten wind of AP during a long, boring workday which included a romp through the bowels of Launch.com's rock video archives. After watching the video for "The Remedy", I was intrigued. Upon further study, I learned that Tommy was once the bassist for The Eels. It turns out I had just missed him before with my review of "Daisies of the Galaxy", and after going back over that past effort again, I surmised that Mr. Walter probably had a slightly twisted sense of humor.

I was right.

"The band you need to keep in mind when you think of us is Abba. You see, whenever you go to look for an Abba CD in your local store, we'll be just to the left of it," quips Tommy, with a healthy dose of reality. Sadly, Abandoned Pools isn't huge ("Mercy Kiss" and "The Remedy" haven't exactly blazed the charts, unfortunately), but their music simply oozes creativity, humor, and overall strokes of pure genius. Tommy with his tortured-surfer-boy voice, Leah standing there looking drop-dead gorgeous while laying down the bass with seeming ease, Bryan pounding out the ghost of Josh Freese's original beats effortlessly, and the duo of Luke and Pelle's solid guitar contributions combined to form a paradoxically sound show. Even though Tommy wrote every song performed (the Bjork song not-withstanding), it seemed as if the entire band was actually combining their abilities to give the songs a new twist from the vibes found on the album. All of this, mixed with Tommy's humor added a completely bipolar element to the concert, making it even more enjoyable.

It's a possibility that Tommy Walter won't be the next Bruce Springsteen. Then again, maybe he will be. Either way, his personality gives off a feeling that no matter what, at least his venture into the rock world will be interesting, if not entertaining as well. He's got the talent, he has musicians capable of matching anything he can conjure in his mind, and he's got the most important thing of all, a chance. I suggest you get in on the ground floor and catch his musical adventure while it's forming. Nobody likes a bandwagoner, anyway.