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West
Regional Report
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Edited by Gordon Wilson
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Les Claypool's Flying Frog Brigade 3-3-01 Warfield Theatre, San Francisco, CA
One of the oddest memories of my childhood involves an attraction at Disneyland called Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. It sits innocently enough in the shadow of the castle and is intended for kids. This seems odd given that the track takes you straight into hell. You read that right: hell, hades, the dark below. Based on a reckless driving spree by Toad in The Wind In The Willows in which he drives into a pile of explosives. On the Disney ride the replica cars whip around a cheesy townscape until you hit the boxes of dynamite. A white light flashes, blinding you. When the spots disappear from your eyes you find yourself bathed in a hot steam, surrounded by dancing headless chickens holding pitchforks. Demonic voices wail like a black wind. Before you can become too terrified the car emerges into the sunny, laughter of the park. Watching the Flying Frog Brigade is a lot like this amusement park ride. After two lengthy opening sets by local SF band Boomshanka and the B-Side Players from San Diego, the crowd was more than ready for Les and company. While plenty affable neither act grabbed the crowd much due to their more radio friendly lightness. Plus both acts asked people to dance and called us "party people" which just never seems right. If folks want to dance they'll get up and shake what their mommas gave them. In any case, when Claypool bounced on stage the packed house went wild. As the rest of the Brigade settled in, he stepped up to the mic and said in his jester like tone, "It's gonna be a good one. Just lettin' you know." The controlled fury of King Crimson's Thela Hun Ginjeet called the faithful to the dance. Instantly the floor in front of the stage began to move like a kettle of boiling water. Bodies were tossed up in the air and even towards the stage on a couple of occasions. Mostly young guys leeching off some of the testosterone poisoning common in males with less than two decades under their belts. During a wicked keyboard solo by the otherworldly good Jeff Chimenti, a woman a few rows back yelled out, "Holy God, what was that ?" I like any band that can produce that reaction during its first few minutes on stage. And the Frogs never let up. Over the course of a 2 ½ hour show they unleashed an ill sonic palette the likes of which the world has not known since the heyday of Funkadelic, who seem to me the perfect touchstone for Claypool's new band. Both groups share a thick, swampy sound grounded in rock but incorporating an insane spectrum of styles, moods and just plain odd noises. A kaleidoscope for the ears. There's also the visual spectacle of everyone in costumes, most notably Les in his British Empire army get-up and stars & stripes helmet. I got the sense watching them play that these five musicians had found their musical soulmates. In the liner notes for Live Frogs Set 1, the new concert album recorded last October at the Great American Music Hall in SF, Claypool talks about this new project as a "gathering of players that excel at their craft to the point of extreme." This show proved that even after only a few months of gigging this band has crazy chemistry, the kind that willfully mixes acids & bases just to see what will happen. After the mad intensity of the opening number they shined some light with a funny reworking of Sgt. Pepper that flowed into a sincere, sweet rendition of With A Little Help From My Friends, sung by drummer extradionaire Jay Lane. This affinity and affection for cover tunes continued throughout the night, offering points of reference in the thick stew of original material drawn mostly from Claypool's solo projects Sausage and Holy Mackerel. Nice moments included a pleasantly bombastic take on Shine On You Crazy Diamond, a fantastic journey through the Stones' 2000 Light Years From Home and a snippet of the Doors' Riders On The Storm during the band's killer original Shattering Song which has a Sabbath like heaviness that shook the bones inside me. Add in a high energy version of Taxman as the first encore and you can see that these guys know few boundaries. All night guests wandered on and off the stage. Regular sax player Skerik was away playing with Garage a Trois so Ratdog's Kenny Brooks and avant jazzman Ralph Carney popped up whenever horns were needed. Actually at one point every member of Ratdog save for Bob Weir and Rob Wasserman was up there when Mark Karan quietly snuck in on stage left. Galactic's Therl de'Clouet took a few verses, the ever bizzaro Buckethead unleashed a snarl of white noise during a jam and more & more & more. I actually lost count of the guests and just let the music take me. During the final encore of Tommorow Never Knows, Claypool announced they were going to try the "cluster fuck" which he explained was getting every musician they could on stage and seeing what could be produced. Turntables dueled with guitars and saxophones and in the middle of it all was the ring leader, Les, dancing a extraterrestrial jig. One of the strengths of the Frogs is their facility at incorporating others into their sound without sacrificing anything. Guitarists Eenor and Todd Huth were content to lay back and let the guest pickers take the spotlight but always had something interesting to say in the background, adding texture, flavor, spice to whatever was going on. These guys practice what cultural commentator Hakim Bey calls Poetic Terrorism. They want to tear down things but in a beautiful way. It is a wild ride to be sure and the only thing I was sad at 2:00 am when it all came to a halt was that I would have to wait until summer to climb on board again. California Cheese: A Staple Classic by Scott MacKinnon As the frost slowly melts away and begins to form the fresh dew of spring, The String Cheese Incident once again travels through California during their Winter Carnival. Many changes in both the band and their scene become apparent to all of the Cheese veterans. Most noticeably, the number of people strutting outside of the venues with their fingers in the air, or offering their "goods" for sale upon the open market. Some longtime fans have voiced their disappointment in theses changes, but also recognize that with the growth of Cheese's fan base, along with Phish's hiatus, these new occurrences seem to be inevitable. Of course, there are limited complaints when the subject shifts to that of discussing the actual music. This years California tour brought out an amazing amount of outside talent that displayed the diversity of sounds that can emerge from one simple band. Paul Pena, members of Little Feat, Carlos Washington, Steve Kimock, Bob Weir, and Vince Welnick, just to name a few, all joined SCI on stage for moments of magnificent improvisation and mutual respect. It all began at Los Angeles's historic Wiltern Theater, deriving its name from being on the corner of Western Ave. and Wilshire Blvd. This theater has been treated to countless musical legends as they made their way through the tinsel and glamour of Southern California's bubbling metropolis. Even Bill Nershi told the audience that Los Angeles settlers have "something figured out." What we have figured out, we might never know. The two-night stint at the Wiltern featured Paul Pena, a Tuvan throat singer, and probably best known by his song Jet Airliner, which The Steve Miller Band launched into the public mainstream. Members of Little Feat also joined the band, proving that Kyle Hollingsworth of Cheese and Bill Payne of Little Feat are two keyboardists that could cause anyone to boogie like and addict. As the tour continued to Santa Barbara the closest thing to winter weather hit the West Coast in the form of torrential downpour. The inside of the Arlington Theater took on the appearance of one of those old spaghetti western movies, as if the adobe walls could host one of those fictitious gunfights seen at tourist attractions. The band thanked their fans for traveling through the storm by playing a rare Peter Rowan tune, Walls of Time (get the joke?). As well as playing some amazing segue jams, such as the one out of Best Feeling. When all was said and done, people were happy that they had braved Mother Nature. With a well-needed day off Cheese once again took the stage at the Civic Auditorium in Santa Cruz, California. This was by far the smallest venue of the tour, with the drummer, Michael Travis, coming out onto the stage before second set, asking, "What ya'all doing in my living room? And what you do with my TV?" It seemed that the boys felt right at home as they treated their audience to a rarity, Wake Up. The Birdland to close the first set, displayed how String Cheese could take a jazz classic and give it their own distinct sound by adding their staple bluegrass breakdown at the end of the song. Santa Cruz, being on a Tuesday, was definitely the sleeper show for this tour. There was so much energy that the band played right up to the curfew, leaving everyone completely amped for three nights at the Warfield in San Francisco. After a fairly short drive to San Francisco a rumor was beginning to burn like wildfire outside of the Warfield ...Kimock is here. And sure enough he was. Michael Kang had the opportunity to play with KVHW on July 5th, 1999 and now Kimock was returning the favor...in full. The band called him out for Footprints a song that both Cheese and Kimock have in their rotation and this quickly built into one of the most incredible segue jams of the whole tour. Once Round the Wheel appeared out of the Kimockian Cheese jam, the crowd burst into explosion of joy for what they had all just witnessed. Kimock returned for the opening of the second set, in which they played Lonesome Fiddle Blues. Audience members kept turning to each other in amazement during the song, barely being able to believe the music that their minds were deciphering. As the night progressed Kimock had the opportunity to accompany Cheese once again on Keith's song, Joyful Sound which lead into Lovelight. One could tell from listening that Kyle had been dying to blast this song out on his organ, even if he did get a little stepped on during the solo. That night everyone left the Warfield with the biggest grins on their faces and one universal question, "how will they top that." The second night of the Warfield was an Incident in its entirety. There were no special guests, even though some famous musicians were seen in the wings. The Cheese proved that they could rock the Warfield on their own. They tore apart such tunes as Missing Me into a rare Land's End, which seemed to fit the locale of this Bay Area venue. The Born on the Wrong Planet properly defined the atmosphere as Nershi sang, and the neon twirling, hooping, freaks proved that they might not be from this planet, but were sure enjoying their time on it. There was one night left for California and everyone knew that there was no way that the boys weren't going to go out with BANG. The final night was here and people were ready to let loose inside the historic building found on Market St. The first set flowed with new songs, such as Inspiration, and old, Come As You Are. But no one expected the second set to be, well to just be so full of magic, and memories. The set opened with Jellyfish and low and behold Vince Welnick steps out onto stage to join Kyle at the keys for this tale of drunken adventure, which built up into the Celtic, rockgrass, Rivertrance. As the set continued, the audience was in store for another treat, Bob Weir. As he came on stage the band tuned up and blasted into Estimated Prophet, a song that Cheese has actually played before in its entirety. As Michael Kang and Bobby both chanted out the final "No no's..." a jam emerged that sent the band into Midnight Hour, which told the truth, since the show was already entering into the next day. The Smile and Dark Hallow encore filled everyone with a sense of proper closure to California's amazing gift of music.
The String Cheese Incident conquered California with their ability to diversify their music and
their sound. If one were to reflect on last years Warfield adventure and compare and contrast
to that of this years's escapade, a definite evolution has continued to take its course. Changes are
occurring and some may be considered good while others bad, but the one universal is that String
Cheese is now offering its fans one of the finest musical experiences around...and it keeps getting better.
Antibalas
Antibalas How, exactly, does one review an energy? Because what was coming off the stage at Gabah in Hollywood tonight was so much more than mere music -- and we all know what a powerful force music is. It's midnight. 14 -- or was it 15? -- musicians are crowded onto a tiny stage at an old school funk & hip-hop club night, ready to deliver uplifting, bulletproof afro-beat grooves to the masses. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Antibalas (the name is Spanish for "bulletproof" or, literally, "anti-bullets"). Hailing from New York, Antibalas formed in May 1998 and is comprised of members of Desco Records' Soul Providers and Daktaris, among others. The collective rightfully deserves their reputation as keepers of the flame lit by Fela Anikulapo-Kuti. Forget everything you thought you knew about music, and simply open yourself up to the energy coming off the stage, because it's only then that you'll truly appreciate Antibalas for what they are -- a joyful noise aimed straight at your spirit. All I drank all night was water, and yet I came out of that club buzzing like a mo'fo'. My cheeks HURT from smiling so hard for so long. During the show, a friend said to me, "This is the kind of music that makes you want to take ecstasy on a Thursday night." Correction -- this is the kind of music that makes you feel like you did. It's 1:39 a.m. as I write this, and instead of being exhausted after a long work day and then this late show that started at midnight, I'm flying, boosted by this peculiar happiness that I feel no need to shake. A happiness that will most certainly propel me through the doors of the Temple Bar in Santa Monica tomorrow night, for just one more taste of this groove collective before they continue their California journey up north. I love that the band makes it a point to ask the audience if they're ready. "Because if we don't ask, and you're not ready, what's the point?" proclaimed alto saxophonist Martin "Doctor" C-Perna at one point. Constant interaction with the audience makes the experience special -- don't expect to have a voice when the show's over, because if you're caught up in it just right, you'll have "Yeah! Yeah!"-ed your way to hoarseness with the rest of the crowd. Do yourself a favor -- no matter how tired you are, whether you have to work tomorrow, if you don't know how to pronounce the band's name -- just ...go ...see ...Antibalas. Yeah! Yeah! Review: Telepathy - 2/15/2001 - Los Angeles An awesome performance by Telepathy enthused a crowd of over 120 people at Mr. T's Bowl in L.A. on Feb. 15th. Having seen this band several times over the last three years, I have been greatly impressed by their recent shows; they just get better and better. Formed at USC in 1998 by three music students, singer/guitarist Todd Lieberman, classically trained upright, electric, and fretless bassist Isaac Slape, and drummer Kevin Dooley, Telepathy spent their first year together as a trio. Then, they completed their lineup by adding guitar wizard Robert Branch. Today they have evolved into a tight knit group with appeal to music-lovers, the masses, and people who just want go groove. While every member of Telepathy has great technical mastery of their instruments, the thing that makes them stand out the most is their incredible song writing ability. All of their songs are infectiously memorable, and I found that several of their tunes were stuck in my head long after the concert ended. Their hour long set included Don't Loose Your Head, Past Is What I Am, Dionysus, Angel Song, Fat Tim, Fire To Smoke, a cover of Santana's Black Magic Woman, Ashley's Fighting Space Veggies, and Burn the Day. Additionally, the band had great stage presence. At the focus of the show was Todd, who got physically into the music, contorting his body and making comical faces. But, he did not compromise his musical ability. He and Robert blew the audience away with their amazing soloing, while Isaac and Kevin complemented them with a great rhythm section that got many in the audience dancing.
If you haven't seen Telepathy play before, I suggest you do before they
become huge and you have to pay some scalper a fortune for tickets. These
guys are definitely going places. They play regularly around Los Angeles in
clubs and at festivals, so check them out at
www.blueprintmanagement.com By: Robert Lambert Review: Ozomatli, Telepathy, and Burning Star - 2/3/2001 - Santa Barbara Ozomatli played a great show to a sold out crowd of 590 at Santa Barbara's Club 634, on March 3rd. Formed in Los Angeles five years ago, Ozomatli's music displays the diversity of their hometown by combing elements of Latin, funk, hip-hop, and ska music. Their set varied from funky Spanish grooves to heavy rap tunes. It was a great treat to see Ozomatli in such a small and intimate setting, because the last time I saw them, they were playing in a 50,000 seat arena. Ozomatli book-ended the show the way they usually do by forming a drum line, which began and ended the show by marching through the crowd. This really engaged the audience who danced and grooved the entire night. The atmosphere was laid back, and aside from the few drunken fools who were given the boot out the back door, everyone seemed to be having a great time. While the second opening act, hip-hop band Burning Star, failed to move me, the first opening act, Telepathy, was unbelievable. Telepathy are a jamband that have their own unique sound, appealing to both music enthusiasts and the masses. This was one of Telepathy's first shows out side of LA, where they are quickly becoming well established and respected in the local scene. While their set was only a half-our long, Telepathy were somehow able play 8 songs without sounding too rushed. This was impressive considering the fact that they often fit that many songs into an hour during their live shows, which always include a lot of improvising.
I look forward to seeing both Ozomatli and Telepathy again in the future.
The show was a blast and everyone had a great time. Check Ozomatli out at
www.ozomatli.com
Seattle Loft Party with Robert Walter & Friends
(02/24/01) -- It was Saturday night of Mardi Gras weekend in Seattle. There was enough
great music happening in one night to last a month.
Leftover Salmon Thousands of Mardi Gras revelers filled the streets of Pioneer Square as the music played on in the clubs. As the various artists brought their sets to a close, The Seattle Police Department was overreacting again, tear-gassing the hapless Pioneer Square party goers.
Leftover Salmon had their "Festival" going at the Showbox, where they were joined on stage by
Scott Law It was kind of hard to see who was playing with all the people crowded into the space, dancing around the musicians, but there was a serious groove going down. I recognized CD's Trumpet, and Jessica's sax and continued to work my way toward the band. There was a guy on drums that was layin' out the backbone like crazy. I wasn't familiar with him. His name was "Earthquake". I guess his name kinda says it all huh? Turns out he is well known around these parts, at least to local musicians. PK had strapped on his electric bass and was sitting behind one of the many large plants that inhabit the space. Reggie was doing his trippy synthesized vocal / soul thing and I saw that he was no longer playing keys. Robert Walter was sittin' down low in a wicker chair behind another set of keys (there were 3 or 4 sets of keys set up), he was poundin' it out with a big grin as the musicians watched each other for cues to what may be coming. Robert Walter's reed man - Cochemea Gastelum and Jessica Lurie were side by side blowing sax, and 20th Congress' Chuck Prada was over by "Earthquake" getting his percussion thing on. They did two songs over about an hour 45 minutes. It was just two big funky improvisational jams. Throughout the set, others whose names I will never know occasionally joined them. As I could not see most of what was going on, I do not know if other musicians in attendance joined. I did briefly chat with Mark Vann of Leftover Salmon, who I had spotted in the crowd. The set ended about 5:00 AM, and as Robert, Cochemea, and Chuck filtered outside for some fresh air, Kevin Sawka slid back behind the drum kit and the original foursome continued to jam. I'm not sure how to describe what went down other than to jay that it was a JAM of epic proportions. I noted that there were two visible mics set up, I hope that there is a digital recording of this somewhere. I went outside and thanked Robert for playing and presented him with a bottle of Merlot. As the party continued upstairs, we headed for home as the new morning light guided our way. Ben"Jammin"
(Reviewer's Note) Seattle has some great music and musicians, most of whom
are as yet unknown. Please take the time to visit the band sites for some of my favorite Seattle
bands:
Maktub (Ben Schroeter is the creator Seattle's Best Live Music, a great resource for Live Music events in Seattle. Seattle's Best Live Music is located at http://seattlelivemusic.homestead.com/) String Cheese Incident: Wintern Theater, March 2 By, Aaron Kayce The energy surrounding the String Cheese Incident on Friday the 2nd was apparent to anyone who was within two miles of the Wiltern theatre. My party posse showed up over two hours early and there were already heads lined up around the building. We moseyed on down to the Atlas were we settled into a few cocktails. The young bartender caught on to the building energy and growing crowd as my friends and I bellied up to the bar. I remember him asking, "So, there's some kind of show next door or something?" We gave a brief synapse of what String Cheese is all about, as he commented that the change in crowd was "refreshing from the usual L.A. scene." Being from San Diego and making the three-hour haul frequently I couldn't have agreed more. Although there is a certain blasé "I'm too cool" attitude that seems to permeate L.A., to be honest almost every time I go up there, weather it be to the Wiltern, or the Fais Do-Do I seem to meet some amazing people. Not to take away from all of the wonderful people who surely call L.A. home, I think it has more to do with the music than the city. In my experience good music brings out good people. So onward we go, to the good music, hand and hand with all of the good people. The show began in a truly inspiring fashion. As the boys from String Cheese came on stage equipped with Mickey Mouse Disney hats, so did a very spiritual woman. As sitars and Indian chanting played in the background we were introduced to a local yoga instructor wearing a flowing off white robe and matching head wrap who walked us through an energy raising exercise. This was truly something to witness. The entire Wiltern Theater, including the five members of the String Cheese Incident raised their arms and channeled energy into their palms for over three minutes. The mystical yoga instructor led the crowd into a frenzy of spinning, shouting, and dancing, all the while with our hands above our heads pulsating back and forth channeling our collective energy and bringing the theater to an erupting fury of Cheese heads. As every ones arms began to grow heavy we were told to throw our energy to the stage and the musicians we love. And before the sitars were off, String Cheese was on. Now after such a unique and exciting opening I actually expected a little more out of the first set. It was enjoyable, and the vibe was in kind Cheese fashion but they didn't seem to quite grab hold of me. Sure I was enjoying myself and getting down, but there have been times when String Cheese has sent me into a whirlwind, freak out, space fest, (for instance their shows at L.A.'s House of Blues last year, or their summer shows at Telluride) and that is what I have come to expect. As String Cheese seemed to find their groove a bit more we were treated to a great Mrs. Browns Tea House. To me this was clearly the highlight of the first set. The jam in the middle was so long and tweaked out that I forgot what song we were in. And then as I was trying to figure out where the hell these guys were going, Bill Nershi answered in perfect timing, "Where you goin' now?" and yes we were all headed down to Mrs. Browns'. To me that's it, when a band can make you get lost in the music and stop consciously thinking so that you really don't know what jam it is, and you really don't care. That's what I love, the long spaced out instrumental freak down. After we swung by Mrs. Browns' I thought we were in for it, but it kind of slowed down after that. As the set rolled on Paul Pena (who was just finishing up his opening set when we made it in) came back out on stage and did some rockin' out. From a human level I was stoked for the guy. You could tell how excited he was and he did his thing pretty damn well, it just wasn't what I wanted to hear. He was obviously nervous as he did the ramble on rose for probably two minutes. As Pena was babbling on I saw Nershi trading expressions with Keith Moseley as they both laughed. Paul Pena is an older guy who has roots, and blues written all over him. He sat up onstage and played his unique plucking guitar style in which he uses no pick, utilizing most if not all of his fingers, while doing a little percussion slap as well. His sound was reminiscent of Clapton, with a deep sense of blues, and a powerful lead, but what I dug more than his finger work was his Tuvan throat singing. Apparently Pena was turned on to Tuvan throat singing through a Russian radio broadcast. After that the obviously talented Pena self taught himself this deep, rumbling voice technique. He developed this skill so well that he was actually taken to a Tuvan singing contest and was dubbed ‘Earthquake' by the native crowd. Although this was the first time I had ever heard the name Paul Pena he is far from a new face on the music scene. He recorded a solo album in 1972 and was gaining a small crowd base opening up for the Dead around the same time in Frisco. He released another album shortly after, but saw his efforts thwarted by faulty management and it never got the circulation it much deserved. From there Pena's' career seemed to slip into the shadows as the Steve Miller Band would make one of his songs a hit, yet never bringing Pena out of the dark. String Cheese offered a tidbit of info on Pena and explained that the song we were about to hear was actually written by Paul. Pena led them into Jet Airliner, which of course everyone knows from Steve Miller. Once again speaking as a person, I was thrilled to see this guy obviously living out his dream, playing in front of a sold out venue, but musically, just not what I am into. I mean Jet Airliner could be cool if they spaced it out, but the fairly standard version didn't do too much for me. The first set ended on about a 6.5 out of 10. I wasn't bummed out or anything, I just wasn't flying high. The second set proved to be what I had come for. I think it was Bill Nershi who told the crowd that it was Kyle Hollingsworth's' (keys) birthday and it was definitely his set. We heard a great Come As You Are featuring Michael Kang twanging and ripping his electric mandolin, and sending the crowd into the funky space realm. Keith Moseley treated us to an uplifting Joyful Sound in which his down to earth, conscious lyrics reminded us of what is truly important. It's songs like Joyful Sound that draw the type of people String Cheese does. The Cheese heads are such a wonderful group of people. They are always happy, genuine, and giving. I don't go to every show, in reality I hardly go to any, maybe ten a year, but the faces I see over and over always welcome me with open arms. There's never any trouble and there's always positive energy flowing. Although everyone was obviously feeling good the energy was a bit lackluster. It seemed, as things were getting better, the crowd was getting lamer. It was at this point that I was reminded that yes you are in L.A. It was odd for me to see people in the first fifteen rows sitting down. There was a line around the building and fingers sticking up in the air two hours before show time, and yet people were sitting during the show they paid thirty bucks for. I just don't get that. Any way even thought the energy had slipped a bit the music was only getting better. They busted out the always-pleasurable Shaking The Tree. I think this is clearly one of their best songs. The harmonization and earthy African feel, due in great part to the amazing percussion work of Michael Travis, never lets me down. The beautiful, tight, clear sound is accented perfectly by the warm tones of the light work. Again it is songs like Shaking The Tree that epitomize String Cheeses' positive energy. At this point I was getting sucked into the set and I began to loose track of what songs went were, but as the boys on stage climbed into their space rockets I didn't care what order the remainder of the set came in, I was just happy to be achieving lift off. As Kyle began to take over in birthday fashion I heard the familiar bass line to Herbie Hancock's Chameleon and went instantly into space dance mode. I have no idea how long the jam went on for, but it must have taken up about a third of the set. To me this is what String Cheese does best right now. The bluegrass, positive messages, and beautiful ballads are nice, but the space funk is what it's all about. I don't think I have ever heard any body tackle Herbie's masterpiece before, and let me assure you String Cheese did it justice. I couldn't stop dancing, I kept looking around to see if any one else was getting it, and there were a decent number of freaks doing the hippie shuffle, but still there were people sitting down. Well it was time for me to jump way up front and shake my moneymaker. Chameleon was definitely the highlight of the evening. That would have been all I needed to leave the Wiltern smiling. But the vibe pushed on as trumpet player Carlos Washington came out cool as ever. I've been digging Carlos since his days with Karl Denson and haven't seen him since they split. When he came out with trumpet in hand he was obviously amped. Washington blew hard. Man he was into it, and he finally got all of the poor tired "fans" of their asses as he shook the house down. The feeling of excitement was obviously mutual as the guys from Cheese were feeding off Carlos' energy. As Washington was dancing with Bill Nershi it seemed like the Wiltern was finally getting it. Carlos broke it off, this guy was on fire. Between the Chameleon, Shaking The Tree, and Carlos' horn down the second set was fabulous. We exited the Wiltern anticipating the late night get down with Particle. Before I knew it we were floating back to our bartender friend at the Atlas. It was a trip to see how this bar had transformed since our pre-game cocktails. Now instead of 1/3 heads and 2/3 L.A. ‘cool cats' it was all cosmonauts. Particles' porno funk could be heard out the door as 2,000 people tried to fit into the 200 person venue. Me and my eager-to-party-group-of-misfits jumped right on in and got loose. This was the second time I had the pleasure of seeing Particle. The first time was at the Fais Do-Do before Sector 9, and that was DOPE. I was blown away by Particle and couldn't believe they had pretty much just gotten together. So needless to say I was looking forward to the five in the morning get down after SCI. Now I must step back for a moment to explain why this wasn't the same Particle I saw a couple months earlier. For those of you who didn't know, our music world, was struck by tragedy on Dec. 8th 2000 when Particle guitar guru, Dave Simmons passed away. As a testament to the vitality and future that Particle possesses they did not cancel their upcoming gig, they turned it into a benefit as a trio in honor of Dave, for his three year old daughter Maya. What could say more about musicians and the way of life we have all come to adopt, instead of morning Dave's death, they celebrated his life. In light of this, simply as a music fan, I was extremely interested to hear the new Particle, with Charlie Hitchcock on guitar. As I settled into the music I was of course immediately grabbed by the tripped out keyboard work, and mad scientist antics of Steve Molitz. From there my attention shifted to Eric Gould on bass. Both times I have seen Eric he has been so enthusiastic. You can instantly tell how much fun he is having, and how badly he wants to send out his funky bass lines. As Eric and Steve are connecting Darren Pujalet keeps things on track with his driving drum beats. O.K. so the question begs to be asked, what was the new guitar player like? Charlie could rip, that was obvious. In my opinion I think he was ripping too much at times. I think Particles groove is found in a more minimalistic attitude. For instance with Dave Simmons he seemed to complement beautifully, where at times I heard Charlie dominating. But yes we must look to the future. And Particles future looks bright. Once the four of these musicians gel, I don't think there should be anything stopping them.
School Daze - Countless times during the last sixteen years (and I'm certain I am not alone here), I have wished for the opportunity to be able to go back to high school. To do it all over again, while retaining all the experiential knowledge I have gained since graduating. During the last ten days, I have had the opportunity to make this dream a reality. As a result of my most recent endeavors in the field of time travel experimentation, I have come face to face with the reality that I have not really changed (matured/aged???) at all since I was eighteen. Sure, I HAVE experienced a lot since I left Watertown High School. I have earned at least two degrees, secured an actual job in the field for which I was trained, and have made, lost, and/or kept many good friends and memories in the process. But I have to ask myself, have I gotten anything at all out of it? Thankfully, the answer is yes...I got perspective. A recurring tragedy played out on cue (this time at a high school in Santee, California) as the somber undertone for my visit to a small town Oregon high school last week. Like many schools across the country these days, there is a security presence at this school unlike any I imagined necessary back when I was a student. What my unannounced (except to the friend I was visiting) trip to the school proved was that this security only works if people follow the rules. Clearly, nobody intent on bringing harm to fellow students or teachers is going to follow the guidelines posted for maintaining security at the school. No angst-ridden teen pushed to the brink by the incessant beatings of bullies or the heartbreaking loss of a potential girlfriend is going to pay attention to the pleasant directive to "check in at the front desk". Neither did I. I could have been anybody...packing any number of weapons...and I walked right into this school uncontested. This disturbs me. I have a niece and two nephews, eventually I may have children of my own, and lastly but certainly not least, I am in love with a teacher. I don't want it to be THIS easy for someone to harm people I care about. Sadly, it is. So great...I have joined the ranks of the mass media and restated the obvious. Kids are killing each other (and their teachers) and it sucks. What the hell am I going to do about it? The only thing I can. Offer perspective. The insight I offer may be chilling to my friends and family both past and present. I know the madness which drives these kids to do what they do. I was one them. I was an angry disaffected youth AND my parents owned guns. I was picked on, I was shy, I was disillusioned, I had potential targets. What then kept me from doing what seems so commonplace today? Perspective. But wait...if I had it then and that's all I have now... what have I gained from the last sixteen years of experience again? The experiences themselves...yes that must be it. But what about the fucking music man? Why don't you ever talk about the music? Because so often the music is just the soundtrack for the drama. Sometimes the show isn't good enough to make an impression. Sometimes the interpersonal events that surround the show get in the way or make the show an afterthought. On two occasions this past weekend, despite near insurmountable odds, the music was able to overcome the drama of my life. It made me forget my troubles however briefly. It made my concerns seem less than important. Eventually my life seeped back in...it always does...but once again with an altered sense of value and quality. The music that was responsible for these little vacations from myself this month was the down and dirty new skool delta-funk blues pumped out hard and long by The North Mississippi Allstars (3/8/2001, Berbati's Pan, Portland, OR), followed by the swirling near orchestral fuzzy electronic soundscapes of The Sword Project (3/10/2001, Berbati's Pan - opening for Steven Malkmus and the Jicks). The Allstars just wail on the blues. They make it funky. They make it raw. They let it bleed. If you can't have a good time at a North Mississippi Allstars show....it IS your own fault. As it was mine that night. I ended up enraged. Homicidal. Irrational. I lost perspective once again. I let the blues seep too far into my soul. I felt the same old pain of loss (I thought I had FINALLY gotten over her) all over again. Another love destroyed before it was real. Timing IS everything. Clearly it was time to get back out into the world again. Time. Time to spend time in the forest, to dig under rocks. There is nothing like a hike in the Columbia Gorge with two righteous babes to make you forget all about the heartbreak of the night before. Somehow, the ghosts of high school past reared their monstrous heads once again. Finding herself more under the influence of a hiking snack treat cookie than she expected to be, the captain of our party boat pulled into the parking lot of the Washougal Kwik-E-Mart so as not to endanger ourselves or our fellow motorists. Surveying the scene outside our refuge in the parking lot I was immediately transported back through time to the back seat of a 1978 Cutlass Supreme parked outside the Store 24 on Main Street. I was back inside my stoned-assed seventeen year old self. Me, two friends, a case of Molson, and my dreams of the future. These dreams, this perspective of what was possible in my future was that which kept me in line back in high school. As I fantasized about the "good life" I envisioned what I had to lose. What struck me was the scene the seventeen year-old me saw only as "an idealistic fantasy" at the time. Rather than sitting in a car getting high with my two burn-out friends, why couldn't I be sitting in a car with two really cool girls after a day out hiking. Then it hit me. Fantasy is tangible. Dreams do come true. By envisioning a potential future, that future becomes possible. The following evening found me heading back to the Pan. The future I had envisioned for this show during a relaxing day of disk golf was a night of insightful yet cutting lyrics from Mr. Malkmus. Words that would no doubt cause me to further examine my feelings from the previous show. Words that never came. For I was so blown away by the opening act...THE SWORD PROJECT...that I have no memory of the former Pavement frontman's bitching. I am not really sure if there are more than six or seven band members in the Sword Project. There seemed to be at least two of everything (drums, guitars, keyboards...at least) on stage and the sound they produced was by no means small. Imagine The Cure and Sonic Youth getting together to jam with a classically trained violinist, putting forth a torrent of cascading sounds that reminded me of the Pool of Winds I had seen the day before. Refreshing, breezy, soulful, melodic, angst. I was swept away by music that simultaneously captured all the beauty and ugliness that can exist in any given moment on this planet. I was swept up in the feeling that all emotions and experiences are polar. This polarity is what drives the world on its axis. There could be no love without hate, no happy without sad, and no Led Zeppelin without Stink Cheese. There are no symptoms without a cause. Do I believe I know the cause? No. But in defense of students and teachers everywhere and the only North Mississippi Allstar I have ever loved. I envision a future where guns don't end up at school....and nobody gets hurt. By imagining this reality....it becomes our potential future. Until that day comes...I offer (all y'all and myself) the often quoted advice (sometimes attributed to Mark Twain) "Love like you've never been hurt, Dance like nobody is watching" and get your ass the hell down to see the North Mississippi Allstars and The Sword Project as soon as possible.
Giant People, Jazz Is Dead, North Mississippi Allstars, Soulive, BS200 I just saw a few really good shows here (in Portland) this last weekend. I saw Giant People with Carlos Washington from Karl Denson's Tiny Universe, they're from San Diego,and although the crowd wasn't that big, I thought that they played some good stuff. They have a Cuban guitar player that is really good, who also plays the bass, Carlos is the frontman, he plays the trumpet and keys and sings, and then they have this other keyboard player, and a drummer, their good in that Jazz fusion funk style, you can dance to them or just kick back and listen. The night before that I saw the new Jazz Is Dead lineup with Jeff Pevar on Guitar, and this guy is really good, he even has a good voice, he plays they best Jerry Garcia influenced guitar I think, he can build a guitar part to a crescendo and then somehow take it higher, and then bring it all back down into a smooth rhythm in some sort of gentle free fall way that Jerry Garcia was a master of. And then the night before that I got to see North Mississippi Allstars, shoot these guys are a trip! I thought that this guy who was out tuning the guitars before the show was a roadie or something, but then the show starts and it turns out he's the lead guitar player Luther Dickinson, who plays a mean lead delta soul gospel blues guitar style that breaks off in abstract ways like Jimi Hendrix or Trey Anastasio. They also have this huge bass player Chris Chew who plays a tight bass, and a super funky loose perfect rhythm drummer Cody who also turns out to be Luther's brother. Their Southern Mississippi accents are great, I'm definitely back next time North Mississippi Allstars are around. As far as CD's go, some that I've checked out lately are Soulive's new "doin' something", this is really good, Soulive have this new singer with them on this one, she sounds really good, and the beats are fresh and tight, even better than their last album. North Mississippi Allstars also have a new album out "Shake Hands With Shorty" that they are touring for, it's like their live show, I've only seen the sampler on this one, I'm gonna get the full album though. The latest BS2000 "Simply Mortified" which is Adam Horovitz's and Amery Smith's casio keyboards band is pretty groovy. It makes me smile, and some songs are quite interesting, I like "Buddy", "No Matter What Shape Your Stomach is in", "Extractions", "Wait a Minute" and "New Gouda", it sounds like modern harpsichord music to me, and all the songs structures seem to be based off a similar two or three note structure. If you like strange lyrics, new drum machine beats, harpsichord music, Beastie Boys and cool cover art, I would check this one out. If you want to see some cool flash art go check this out: http://www.nosepilot.com/. Take care, see music and the arts. By mouseman@teleport.com |
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Content: jambands@jambands.com | Technical: Sarah Bruner, Erica Lynn Gruenberg, and David Steinberg |