Review by Steve Gisselbrecht

It is week 5 of Scamper's Abbey residency, and I suspect I'm not the only one here who's tired. I am, however, really tired, and that interferes somewhat with my enjoyment of Max Heinegg and The Nervous. They make quality music, rootsy mid-tempo rock with a bit of a twang to it and some great, heartfelt singing, but it's pretty low-energy stuff, and I feel myself fading.

Scamper are, of course, a vastly more upbeat experience. Sweet and cheerful, they buoy my energy level and get me moving. They also sound great tonight, polished (well, obviously; they've had a lot of practice just recently) and with everyone in good health. There are a lot of now-familiar faces in the audience, and after a few songs they award Perfect Attendance Certificates to those of us who've been at all five of their residency shows. Then during "Longshot," when it's time for the synchronized jump so beloved of the fans, they suddenly stop, draw a name from the pool of perfect attendees, and award a toaster oven to Sherilynn. It's a strange and wonderful moment. Then they finish the song, and Nate's knee finally gives out on the jump. We're all concerned for him, but there's still more than half the set to get through, and he soldiers through.

Raymond's lead singer seems pretty oblivious to the existence of the audience tonight. It's quite a step forward for him in terms of stage presence, since he usually seems actively annoyed to find an audience present. He even speaks between songs once. ("This is the next song.") His bandmates appear to be trying to compensate for him, too; the bassist is particularly friendly and voluble. Musically, however, I don't think it's their best show. Their music works for me based on the balance that they achieve between melody and noise. Tonight the vocals are mixed kind of low and the setlist leans a lot more heavily on their noisy side. I miss some of the melody.