BUILT TO SPILL

City Arts Fest 2011

The Moore Theatre

Seattle, Wa

10.21.11

I first heard Built to Spill from across the hall in the dorms.  When I lived in the dorms, I tried to keep myself off the radar.  The natural manner that my floor mates had with group dynamics made it clear that they were the fittest Darwinian specimens and that I was going extinct.  It came to a point where I, more or less, waited until I was confident that the halls were clear, before coming and going (a habit that has, unfortunately, penetrated into apartment life as well).  In the dorms, I became very skilled at dodging social interaction with the  people that I lived around.  However, some things are inescapable: things that become the air you breathe in such close quarters.  You can’t burn enough sage to satisfy the evil spirit that is the pervasive smell of Easy-Mac.  There is nothing that you can do to soften the rumble caused by charging stampedes of post-shower man-boys.  And certainly, you cannot close enough doors to dampen the constant noise of dormish this-and-thats.  Built to Spill was part of the “this and that”.

Up until recently, BTS was a sound I tried to filter out.  The guy across the hall from me—a gold medalist (to my silver) in the Awkward Olympics—had Built to Spill on repeat the entire year.  As their sound waves found their way through the tiny cracks in my particleboard door, Built to Spill became the backdrop of my dorm experience.  All that to say, I was truthfully, very excited to get the chance to see them perform at the Moore Theatre during this year’s City Arts Fest.  “Yeah great!  I’ve always wondered what they would sound like without a concrete wall between them and me.”

With my ear to my apartment door, I waited until the last rattlings of passersby had settled and then, made my way to the show.  I arrived at the theater to see five middle-aged guys on stage, all wearing loose fitting t-shirts, and either cargo pants or relaxed jeans.  I could have easily mistaken them for the road crew, if it weren’t for the ecstatic sounds radiating from everywhere in the room except for the stage.  The band enters casually and with a remarkable ease.  Built to Spill brought their living room with them, and now you are standing in it.

“Who are you, who come to me to perform in loafers?” I wonder, as they begin their set.  Before this night, I had felt strongly that shows stripped of showmanship had no place in the world.  With the soft-but-fierce competition in media, every band makes arguments and bids for your attention.  Built to Spill offers neither bells nor whistles with their set.  I am a little amazed that they have a following at all—let alone one that easily fills the Moore to capacity.  What Built to Spill gives up with showmanship, they have to make up in musicality and meaning—and that’s what people are here for.  People are clearly not at this show for a spectacle.  There is none to be had.  To quote Keanu Reeves in the blockbuster hit, Speed, “We’re just (2,436) cool dudes, hanging out.”

I begin to re-evaluate my prejudices against showless performances and start focusing on what everyone else in the room cares about: the music.  The sounds are truly elating, as they’re coaxed out of a bramble of pedals, switches and amplifiers.  The ambience of their three-guitar lineup is balanced against the very melodic, occasionally baroque-like movements in their songs—it’s an odd half-breed of shoegaze and jam band.  Even though I have very little interest in either shoegaze or jam band, the way that Built to Spill rides the line is emotive and serene.

I lost myself for a moment in the sad fanfares of Traces.  In case you didn’t know, it’s been proven that infants recognize and respond to music that their mother listened to while pregnant with them.  Subsequently, it’s been hypothesized that preference follows familiarity.  This is all to say, I feel a lot of familiarity with this song; not as if my mom, while pregnant with me, somehow listened to this song 20 years before it was recorded, but like I was indirectly informed of these sounds.  It’s possible that I may have had the seed of Built to Spill planted in my head by the rogue waves that wafted into my dorm room from across the hall.  Even more likely though, in this song, and in Built to Spill’s music in general, I hear so much of what we have come to think of as “the Northwest sound“.

The way in which frontman Doug Martsch bends his strings into a buzz of controlled chaos recalls to my mind the worbly guitars of Modest Mouse’s The Moon and Antarctica.  I listened to Modest Mouse long before BTS, but I am beginning to suspect the actual direction of the comparison: Modest Mouse sounds like Built to Spill, not visa versa.  Despite the two-year discrepancy between the formation of Built to Spill and Modest Mouse, the influence that the prior had on the latter is blaringly apparent.  Deathcab for Cutie also got swept up in the same current of contemporaries.  I can hear something like a seminal Deathcab in Built to Spill’s sprawling melodies, and even in Martsch’s voice.  There’s a fake movie I play in my head in which Ben Gibbard puts on a Built to Spill record and spends hours experimenting with just what shape he has to warp his mouth in order to make his vowels sound exactly like those of Doug Martsch.  By way of familiarity, I am becoming more and more aware that the Boise group isn’t something to shut out, as I have in days past.

By the end of the set, though, I feel a little bit like I’m back in the dorms.  Surrounded by a multitude of people who all have an intimate understanding of what’s going on, I feel lost.  Having been formally introduced to the band only recently, I don’t have any personal significance ascribed to these songs.  To these people, each song is a meaningful, personal experience that I haven’t shared.  Every song is like an encore.  Between the finish of one song and the start of the next, I am surrounded by spontaneous uniform chanting from the crowd.  It’s as if there was a program handed out at the door instructing show-goers what to drone in unison and when.  The faces of the front-rowers are elated.  I can see some not-well-concealed guy backstage who is not at all concerned with impressing his girlfriend by showing any level of dignity.  And he’s not the only one, nor is it just guys backstage.  The room is indignant and ecstatic.  The spectacle that Built to Spill isn’t creating on stage is made up for the fervor of the fans.  My appreciation for the band is far too cold and calculated—lacking all the warmth of meaningful experience—to participate.  So, as in the dorms, I’m on the outside looking in.  Bu,t unlike the dorms, it looks great.  And it doesn’t smell like Easy-Mac.

It came down to the wire again, but the winner has been chosen and contacted [The winning entry was #10].  Thanks again to everyone who entered.  For updates and first alerts about future contests, follow us on Facebook. (there should be a little widget to click on the right… over there somewhere———>)

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For many, comedian/writer/actor, Patton Oswalt may be the most identifiable as Spence Olchin, a character that he portrayed on the sitcom The King of Queens from 1998 – 2007.  That final year he also took on what was, arguably, his most widely “successful” gig, voicing Remy the Rat in the Disney/Pixar animated film, Ratatouille.  Currently, Patton maintains a recurring role on the Showtime original series, United States of Tara.  It hasn’t always been the most profitable gig in the world to be a comedian, but Oswalt‘s managed to make a living taking on gigs from comedy writing (Mad TV, Dr. Katz, Human Giant) to memorable television appearances (Tom Goes to the Mayor, Tim & Eric Awesome Show, Reno 911!, Flight of the Concords), always shining larger than his bit parts and minor roles might suggest. In 2009, a starring role in the independent drama Big Fan, further solidified his legitimacy in the acting world.

Acting and writing aside, Patton is still, first and foremost, a highly respected standup comedian.  Back in 2004, Oswalt put together the Comedians of Comedy tour, along with Zach Galifianakis, Brian Posehn, and Maria Branford.  The alternative comedy tour utilized space in indie rock venues to host their nightly shows, as opposed to the stages of typical comedy clubs.  The tour was chronicled in a documentary of the same name, a subsequentl series, and even an opening act at the 2007 Coachella Valley Music Festival.  Oswalt has already recorded successful comedy specials for both HBO and Comedy Central in the past and cemented himself as one of the top standup comedians over the last 15 years, but, at this point, Patton doesn’t seem content with completely abandoning the artform that originally brought him to the forefront for an easier route with less substance.  He continues to write and he continues to come up with more and more consistent material.  To showcase his latest work, the comedy mastermind will be bringing his spot-on perceptions and brilliant social commentaries to Seattle‘s own, Moore Theatre.  On Saturday May 14th, two shows will be held at the legendary venue and videotaped for a the comedians new DVD.  Thanks to our friends at the Seattle Theatre Group, we are offering one lucky winner a pair of tickets to the event for FREE!

Click here to view the embedded video.

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THE CONTEST / GIVEAWAY:

*One winner will receive a pair of tickets to catch Patton Oswalt’s 9:30pm show at
The Moore Theatre in Seattle on May 14th.

HOW TO ENTER:

Patton will be performing 2 separate shows on the night of May 14th; one at 7 pm and another at 9:30pm.  Both will be filmed and the best footage will be used for the final DVD.  Due to a high demand, tickets are disappearing like crazy and the 2nd show had to be added.  We will be giving away a pair of ticket to the 9:30 performance only! If you are concerned about getting in and/or can only attend the 7pm performance, we urge you to buy tickets immediately through this link.

#1)

The video above about the KFC Famous Bowls (aka: “a failure pile in a sadness bowl“) contains one of Patton’s more well known routines.  To enter, all you have to do is give us some detailed insight into something that disgusts you about modern day society.

#2)

Post your answer in the comment section below.

#3)

There is no part 3.  That’s all there is to the contest.  It’s pretty easy… but you should probably read the fine print.

The Fine Print:

All entries must be received by Saturday April 30th at 11:59 pm to be eligible.
You can enter as many times as you want but, use a valid email so that we can contact you.
Winner’s will be chosen arbitrarily, based on our personal “favorite”, so try to be interesting.
If we are unable to contact the winner in a reasonable amount of time, a new winner will be chosen.

[If you have any intentions to post comments asking us to pick you, or asking when the winner will be announced... how about, just don't do it?  It's pretty fucking obnoxious and it won't help your chances.]

Ryuichi Sakamoto is an enigma in my mind.  Perhaps just as well known for his work with Japanese synth-pop group, Yellow Magic Orchestra, Sakamoto had established himself as one of the most important solo composers in modern Japanese music.  Credited with hundreds of releases, spanning from 1978 to the present, he has bestowed upon his audience a plethora of classical piano, experimental/noise, future jazz, and synth-pop, as well as film soundtracks and scores.  Since his initial success with YMO, Sakamoto has helped to garner increased attention towards Japanese music through his east-meets-west musicianship.

Now while I am no buff, let alone a “music reviewer”, I am a fan with a curious ear for all things experimental.  It is through my tendencies that I was led to discover Sakamoto’s collaborative work with two renowned electronic musicians, Alva Noto and Fennesz.  Alva Noto, an alias of German composer, Carsten Nicolai, has worked with Mr. Sakamoto in several projects that lean towards the territories of avant garde and chamber music, all shined with a poignant, digital gleam.  It is this work that I feel most drawn to, with Sakamoto’s sparse, thoughtful style and improvisation.  While similar in adaptation, Austria’s Christian Fennesz takes the opportunity to bend his magic guitar underneath Sakamoto’s keys in a nearly unrecognizable timbre.  However, their roles are also reversible. Fennesz is a guitarist first, giving his neat strums and plucks to the wholly adept mind of Mr. Sakamoto, while the listener is rewarded with pieces that shimmer, undulate and fade from track to track for a sublime listen.

These were my experiences with the work of this great, visionary musician.  It is abbreviated, at best, and it would do anyone good to further explore such a back catalogue, but, even without attempting such an undertaking, my curiosity and eagerness to hear this man in person were piqued.  Whether it’s pop or noise, it’s clear that Sakamoto’s talent runs deep and that he can apply himself with whatever style he’s drawn to in a moment.

RYUICHI SAKAMOTO

The Moore Theatre

Seattle, Wa

Oct. 30, 2010

Two Yamahas, one player, midi-loops, pre-recorded and live ghost piano playing were flanked by speakers and backed by a large projection screen with which Ryuichi Sakamoto shared his works with a near-capacity audience on a wet and windy Saturday night in Seattle.

Quiet horizons, not empty but barely dense, where small details prick and swell, diminish and diffuse the larger landscape.  Width.  Depth.  Some whimsy.  Some energy.  The concert given by the master pianist at the Moore Theater on the 30th of October felt tranquil.  Sakamoto drew on material from different collaborations and parts of his cannon, most notably opening with a section from UTP, the collaborative effort created with Nicolai and The Ensemble Modern, setting the mood for a rather eerie public affair.  After demonstrating the acoustical boundaries of the piano, Mr. Sakamoto came forth with several numbers from his most recent releases and was received with sighs of familiarity,  followed by the evening’s first applause.

Throughout the duration of his performance (and three encores), the pieces became more varied.  From a delicate meandering on the keyboard to a calculated, Reich-inspired parade of looping and phase, Sakamoto displayed his wide breadth of influence and genius behind the keys.  Having freedom within a well-structured program, the audience could see their player performing with such flair that his expertise was truly irrefutable.  Both sensitive and subtle, the visual and auditory environment wove an evocative presence, with Sakamoto clearly dedicated and precise in his treatment of both detail and the whole.  Vacillating between cerebral and poetic, my attention felt drawn inward and I enjoyed the interplay between macro and micro perspectives.

Obviously appreciative applause in between pieces punctuated the shared world, irritating only in that not enough of the audience had a passion for silence; a vital palette cleanser and margin for the previous energy to settle.  Not to mention providing needed space for the resonance of two pianos reverberating in the hall.  The experience made for a touching evening.  Not so much “moving”, but Sakamoto’s music-shaped warmth grazed the edges of my imagination beautifully.

- G.Skidmore & A. Baybutt

Do you know the name Mike Birbiglia?  Sound familiar?  How about the guy in the pictures above?  Look like you may have seen him before?  That familiar name goes with that familiar face.  Same dude.  Yeah, he’s that one comedian that you accidentally stumbled across on TV.  It was probably on Comedy Central.  Maybe it was during one of their random standup marathons.  But, wait… there was something else about this guy… something that you’re trying to remember.  Oh yeah!  He was the one that was actually funny.  He was the one who made you turn to your roommate and/or significant other and say, “Woah!  Shit!  This guy is actually funny!  What was his name?  We have to remember this guy’s name this time.”

Comedy is like music for me.  The overwhelming majority of the time that I hear new mainstream music, I find myself wondering how anybody could think that shit is worth listening to.  The same thing goes for comedians and 80% of the time they aren’t even remotely funny.  Not unlike Nick Swardson,  Mike Birbiglia is one of those standups that creates material so solid that it’s been incredibly easy to watch his notoriety make a smooth rise over the years.  From the first time you see him, you know that he’ll be able to stand on his talent alone.  No smashing watermelons!  No, “super cool, ladies man” douchiness targeted to the young college crowd!  He’s more Neil Young than Alice Cooper.  More Jerry West than Allen Iverson.  No flash, just substance and he has that ability to come across like he’s actually talking directly to his audience.  That personal approach is something that I’m sure translates in his brand new book Sleepwalk with Me: and Other Painfully True Stories.

Do you want to see Mike Birbiglia perform live in Seattle this Friday, October 22nd?  How about a copy of his new book?  Do you want one?  How about a pair of tickets to the show and a copy of the book for free?  How about a brand new car, we pay off your school loans, and give you an all expense paid trip to Australia for you and 12 of your closest friends?

Slow down, pal!  You can talk to Oprah about the last few but, thanks to our friends at the Seattle Theatre Group, we can definitely handle the tickets and the book.
(you know how she lost all of that weight, right?  Baby unicorn blood.  She drinks it.)

Click here to view the embedded video.

THE PRIZE!

One winner will recieve:

-A pair of tickets to see Mike Birbiglia live at the Moore Theatre on Friday October, 22.

-A copy of Mike’s new book, Sleepwalk With Me

HOW TO ENTER

We like to change it up as far as how we hold the contests here, but this time we think we’ve finally made it “easy”

Working off the title of Mike‘s new book, we simply want you to answer the following question:

“What is one benefit of sleepwalking“

Just post your entry into the comment section below and we’ll pick the one that we like best and give you free shit.

The Fine Print:

Contest will end at 11:59 pm on Wed. October 20th.  All entries must be received by then to be eligible.

Enter as many times as you want.

Alright… good luck, jerks!

Purchase tickets through this link.
To be alerted about future contests, subscribe to our RSS feed and/or “like” us on facebook HERE.

Stop emailing us mother fuckers!  It’s over!

We originally posted that we had 10 pairs of tickets to give away (5 for each show), but we worked with our contact at the Seattle Theatre Group to up that to 50 pair at each show (yep 200 tickets!)  and we’ve actually given all of those away too!  I recognize that we easily had 100 more entries that didn’t make the cut (basically, came in too late), but hey, we gave away a lot of free stuff and I personally compiled the list and emailed everyone.  It took all fucking day, so appreciate it!  If you’re bummed out that you lost… sorry, but damn a lot of people did win!  Congratulations!

It seems like Janeane Garofalo has been around forever.  Since the first time that I ever became aware of her as a cast member on the short-lived Ben Stiller Show (canceled in Jan. of 1993) her careers has taken multiple twists and turns.  She’s made some really shitty movies and she’s been a part of some really good TV shows.  Through it all, the one thing that has remained is her role in the stand up comedy game.  This weekend, Garofalo will be traveling to Seattle to perform 2 live shows at the historic Moore Theatre.  The Moore has operated as the location for multiple live comedy tapings in the past and this event will be no different.  The actress/comedienne will be utilizing her back to back shows to tape an upcoming DVD release and we are offering you an opportunity to attend the filming for free!  Who knows, maybe your crazy mug will be burned into a high grade plastic disc to be viewed via laser by future generations.

Our friends at the Seattle Theatre Group have again teamed up with Monster Fresh to offer us the opportunity to kick down a pair of passes to 8 of our readers.  That’s right 8 PAIRS!  That means that 16 of you will be able to see this show for free and, if you’ve never seen a live comedy show before and/or ever been to the Moore Theatre, this is your chance to check some things off of your tragically pathetic bucket list.

The shows will both take place on Saturday, May 8th.  There is both a 7:00 and a 9:30 show.  We are giving away 4 pairs of tickets to each.

HOW TO ENTER

We’re doing this shit real simple like.

First off, go to our official FACEBOOK PAGE and become a fan by clicking the “LIKE” button.

Next, just email us at MonsterFresh@gmail.com and tell us your facebook name (if different) and which showing you need a pair of passes to.  Winners will most likely be chosen based on how quick they email us but, if it’s close and you feel like sending us a shitty joke or something along with your entry, that might tip the scales in your favor.

Make sure to let us know which show you want tickets to and if you have a priority or not.  Keep in mind that, if you don’t have a preference, you will have a better chance of getting passes, but be honest.  We don’t want to get entries from anyone that will not be able to actually attend the performances.  We are offering you free passes, so don’t fuck someone else over just because you “might” go or because you like winning shit.  Leave these open for the other people would be happy to use these.  We will be holding contests in the future and all that you’re gonna do is make yourself ineligible, if we think you’re sketchy.

All right, that’s it!

Thanks jerks, and good luck.

Exactly a month ago today, it was my girlfriend’s birthday.  We spent the night downtown at the Moore Theater in Seattle.  Exactly one year before that, we celebrated in the exact same building by attending a performance by Antony and The Johnsons.  If you managed to read the review that I wrote of that show, you might remember that we were provided with seats in our very own balcony, among ancient stained glass windows and majestic statues.  The historic building felt as if it had been constructed specifically for just such an occasion.  Antony Hegarty‘s operatic vocals mixed with the vibrating piano chords and resonating strings of his stripped-down mini-orchestra; swirling up to the classic dome ceiling and filling every cement crack in the architecture.  It was a magically chilling experience that my lady has chalked up as her “favorite concert ever.”  Yep, “favorite“.  Yep… “magical“.  Yep, these are the standards that I’ve created for myself and was forced to live up to.  So, like I said, we returned to the same beautiful historic building as on that memorable occasion a year prior.  The major difference was that, this time, cellos and vibrato were exchanged for fake piss and weed jokes and the theater seats, previously occupied with an awe-struck audience so silent that you could hear a pin drop, were now filled with screaming white trash alcoholics.

The U.S. run of the Trailer Park Boys Live “tour” seemed to have limited advertisement behind it.  That is, if you can even call it a tour; I only knew of 2 dates total: one in L.A. and the one in Seattle that I attended.  The official website didn’t even hold any information about the dates and the only other appearances that I could find took place in their home land of Canada.  The last Trailer Park Boys film, Countdown to Liquor Day (2009) didn’t even have a U.S. release beyond Netflix/DVD.  That’s actually one thing that I like about TPB overall, they don’t need the United States for their success and are aware of it.  If there is substance and quality behind a project, somebody will find it but, since that’s not always enough, I’ll provide a bit of a back story for those that were never exposed to the magic that is the Canadian cult phenomenon known as “Trailer Park Boys“.  In 1999, filmmaker Mike Clattenburg wrote/directed the original Trailer Park Boys, a black and white mockumentary-style film which chronicled the lives of Ricky (Rob Wells) and Julian (John Paul Tremblay), two small-time hoods living in a trailer park in Dartmouth, Novia Scotia.  Canadian cable network, Showcase saw it’s potential and, after being approached with the proposition, agreed to run the Trailer Park Boys as a series.  A few changes were made, including filming in color and the incorporation of Bubbles (Mike Smith), a character taken from the early Clattenburg short film The Cart Boy.  Throughout its 7 year run (2001 – ’07 ) TPB gained legions of fans and spawned 2 more films, with the legendary Ivan Reitman (Ghostbusters, Stripes, etc) operating as executive producer.  Now, after successfully transitioning from film to a TV series and back, the 3 main stars set out to translate their routine into a live stage show titled, Ricky, Julian and Bubbles Community Service Variety Show.  On February 28th it was my opportunity to see how well they were able to make the latest jump.

The entrance of the Moore Theatre opens directly into a foyer with a merch booth and a small bar against the far wall.  There was less of a line behind the bar and much more of a rowdy unorganized mob packed around it.  Surprisingly, there was no search upon entry.  We found our seats on the main floor and it gave me a better chance to survey the crowd as individuals.  RUSH was pumping through the house system and I noticed a man in a hockey jersey with the name “BUBBLES” on the back.  The front of the jersey had “Sunny Vale” (the sit-com’s trailer park) printed on it in place of a team name.  Then I noticed a Gretsky jersey, then another and another.  The only things that rivaled Hockey gear in volume were cast “impersonators” and pot T-Shirts.  One person was even dressed as Bubbles‘ wrestling alias, The Green Bastard and I caught a couple of fools imitating Ricky by sporting pompadours and sideburns (both real and fake).  Coincidentally enough, the last time that I saw fake pompadours was also the last time that I was at The Moore, during a DEVO concert.  The crowd was already whooping, hollering, and patting each other on the back, congratulating each other’s festive garb.  A guy up front stood facing the crowd and, with his arms raised high, he commanded the crowd to join him in a giant “WHOO!“  He was wearing an T-Shirt with a giant pot-leaf on it, parodying the ADIDAS Tri-foil logo.  It said “ADDICTED” across the bottom.

There was a black curtain set up stage right and a projector screen positioned dead center.  The lights finally went down at 7:20 and I hoped that it would be a big enough cue to make the crowd finally shut the fuck up.  It wasn’t.  Smoke poured out over the top of the curtain as dialog began coming through the speakers.  From what I gathered, Bubbles was arguing with Ricky, who was “smoking weed” behind the curtain, to pull his shit together, but the details were often difficult to make out, due to the constant noise coming from the disorderly wing-nuts in the audience.  The basic premise for the show was that Julian, Bubbles, and Ricky were supposed to put on a court mandated anti-drug/alcohol puppet show to help work off their community service hours.  Bubbles was trying to get the other two to partake in the educational kids’ show routine and was calling Ricky out for smoking tough behind the screen instead.  Before they ever physically appeared, the audio took them through a scenario where Ricky takes a piss in a milk jug and tosses it over the curtain, sending it thumping and spilling out over the stage.  There’s a brief moment where they attempted to work with the puppets, but quickly abandoned them as Ricky and Julian entered from behind the screen.

There was a standing ovation when they hit the stage and, although I had already tired of the audience’s screams, even I was pretty psyched to see the stars in person for the first time.  Eventually, Bubbles gave up and came out himself.  There was another standing ovation.  “Okay” I thought.  “These people are too simple-minded to pay attention to the audio alone but, now that the actors are in clear view, the crowd won’t overpower the dialogue“.  Nope.  More chants and screams came, often in misguided attempts to interact with the actors and gain their attention during the performance.  There was even a screaming match between a couple of strangers demanding that the other one, “SHUT THE FUCK UP!“  A group of idiots stumbled over each other and crashed out through the back door.  Some douchebag who was wearing a Sounders jersey, a couple of rows dead in front of me, kept standing up and screaming with his arms raised and blocking my view.  My knuckles were whitening, but I couldn’t punch everybody so I tried to focus on the performance as much as possible.

Ricky left the stage, pretending to bail on the “community service” and Julian followed suit, instructing Bubbles to keep the crowd busy.  Mike Smith (aka: “Bubbles”) is actually an accomplished musician in Canada, as a former member of the band Sandbox.  He picked up an acoustic guitar and played it for the audience.  Then he pissed himself and, when the other two characters returned and Ricky brought attention to the “accident”, he fled the stage to change his clothes.

Click here to view the embedded video.

When Smith returned, he did so as The Green Bastard, picking fights with Ricky, in retaliation for embarrassing him.  That’s when Julian and Bubbles decided to utilize the projection screen to present Ricky and the rest of us with a slide show of their escapades from earlier that day.  The story was that Ricky was so trashed that he hadn’t remembered any of the embarrassing acts that he had committed, so there were a lot of images of him doing things like vomiting, passing out in the street, falling down stairs, and having dicks scrawled across his face in permanent marker.  Then, as a comedic double-cross, Bubbles had slipped in a few derogatory images of Julian as Patrick Swayze.  This reference goes as far back as the original film, when Julian was taunted by people referring to him as Swayze and Ricky was constantly be mocked for resembling illusionist/hypnotist, Peter Raveen.  The Raveen reference also appeared later in the show, when Ricky mentioned the magician, while claiming that he had the ability to “hipitize” the audience.  He elaborated to Bubbles that the human brain has “departments” and “compartments” so, to “hipitize” someone, it only requires the ability to switch the “compartments” with the “departments“.  In the first moment of true audience interaction, a group of women were invited onto the stage and were seated in chairs to be “hipitized“.  Ricky went through his little routine and, when he’ finished, Bubbles was completely convinced that the whole thing had worked.  They had been commenting on having 2 probation officers monitoring their performance and, now that they had been “hipitized” with the rest of the crowd, the 3 convicts would be free to act however they chose for the remainder of the evening without the fear of regulation by their law enforcement chaperones.  The “downside” was that Ricky didn’t know how to “un-hipitize” people, so they left for the intermission with plans to discover how to break a trance by searching on the internet.

Click here to view the embedded video.

During the intermission, I made my way downstairs as part of a slow moving line to the bathroom.  A couple of guys hit some weed and a few more than that took pulls off of cigarettes in the stairwell.  There was a thick smell of booze and sweat and, although I haven’t attended a professional wrestling event in 20 years, I still recognized this crowd from my youth.  It really started to hit me that, much like with the WWF matches, a good amount of these ridiculous clowns in attendance had issues differentiating between the entertainers and the characters that they were representing.  It was as if they didn’t realize that the actors weren’t actrually returning to a trailer park after the show; they were probably going to a really fucking nice hotel.  These men aren’t dense struggling pot heads, they are  intelligent and extremely well-off actors/screenwriters who enjoy smoking weed that they purchase with profits from their exorbitant ticket prices.  Basically, these guys stack mad loonies; they’re not restricted to eating hamburger helper and stirring Kool-Aid with their forearms.  Back in my seat, I saw the obnoxious dipshit in front of me getting removed from the theater.  My assumption is that they prepare for the second half by clearing people out during intermission like this every night.

The second half of the night contained plenty of references to the program for the regular fans and a heavy amount of audience participation.  The actors made sure to drop the names of characters like J-Roc, who were not part of the touring act, and then mentioned how they wished that their sidekicks, Cory and Trevor were there to help with the manual labor.  Continuing to play off of the concept that the crowd was in a hypnotic state, they called two men up from the audience to take the place of their two absent minions.  The men put on a couple of accessories and instantly began moving around like the bumbling goons.  This half was going off with less interruptions but, when people began shouting out annoying shit again, Bubbles finally called them out.  Likening them to the drunken disasters that manage the trailer park, he stated that there were a “lot of Lahey and Randy type people” in the audience that night. 

3 woman who claimed that they had the ability to roll joints were invited onto the stage to compete as “Seattle’s #1 party girl“.  Now working as stage hands, the substitute Cory and Trevor brought out a table and the girls were handed some shake to twist spliffs.  The girl in the middle looked as if she was about to win until the one on the right busted out a pre-rolled “ringer” out of nowhere.  Rob “Ricky” Wells pocketed it and she was declared the winner.  Round 2 involved the girls cracking open bottles of spiced rum, filling their mouths, and transferring the liquid into another container.  Again the middle girl was about to take the trophy but, once it was discovered that the 3rd contestant had been guzzling the booze straight, that round was awarded to her.  The final challenge was chosen by Bubbles and consisted of another race, this time requiring the women to pull cat turd-shaped chocolates out of a litter box with their teeth.

Later on, 3 men were invited on stage who claimed that they could “shred” on guitar.  They were handed a really nice Gibson Les Paul and took turns showing off their supposed skills.  One of them was terrible and, once the obvious winner was selected, he was invited to join Bubbles in a rendition of “Liquor and Whores“, which the audience had been screaming out for the entire night.  This is Bubbles‘ trademark tune and has even been performed on stage by Smith and Guns N’ Roses during their Chinese Democracy tour.  Smith followed it up by performing RUSH‘s “Closer to the Heart“, a track that he had the opportunity to perform on the TPB series with Alex Lifeson, himself.

Before the show’s end, Bubbles‘ puppet/alternate personality, Conky made an appearance to mock Ricky and, utilizing the information collected from the internet, the boys switched the crowd’s brain “departments” and “compartments” back, shaking them from their “hipitism“.  As the comedy trio thanked the audience and began to to leave, something that resembled a rose was thrown onto the stage.  It was a giant marijuana branch.  That’s right… not a bud… a huge branch with giant cola nugs attached to it.  Rob Wells picked it up and it was the first time that any of the actors had broken character for even a moment.  He had a tremendous grin on his face and you could tell by his eyes that it was Rob who was smiling and not just Ricky.

Click here to view the embedded video.

As a live show, I feel that the characters translated remarkably well and, while all 3 of the actors did an incredible job, Mike Smith‘s stage presence, quick wit, and improvisational skills clearly made him the most dominating force overall.  The presentation was so solid that the audience disruption even seemed to dissipate into the background and, contrary to the simple minded characters that they portray, Wells, Tremblay, and Smith were always consummate professionals and never floundered.  The live setting allowed me to recognize their true ability to cross genres for the first time.  Even my appreciation for their irreverent humor and reckless drug fueled hyjinx has always been rooted in their talents with script writing and character development.  I’ve always believed there to be a “high art” core in a lot of shit that’s considered “low brow”, so maybe that’s just my mistake.  Still, on the most base level, Trailer Park Boys also has the ability to connect to the most dedicated fans of Kid Rock and the Blue Collar Comedy Tour.  Perhaps it doesn’t matter whether you respond to the approach of the creators or identify more as one of the people that they are parodying, as long as you enjoy yourself.  I still wonder what the fans that only respond to the fuck and piss jokes think about the fact that Rob Wells is a distant cousin of Canadian Prime Minister, Stephen Harper or that Mike Smith is related to SNOW, of rapping with a fake Jamaican patois fame.  Hell, Ellen Page even appeared as a reoccurring character throughout season 2.  These guys are a respected creative force behind the scenes and the live show is a testament to the strength of their abilities beyond the program.  To the straight world, TPB is probably viewed as cultural toxin with no redeeming qualities.  To so many others, however, it’s become an integral part of their own personal cultures and a source of inspiration.  We’ve always strongly supported It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and I still respect it’s creators,  but I’ve even noticed clear evidence of them taking ideas directly from Trailer Park Boys [Always Sunny has Green Man and the McPoyles while TPB has The Green Bastard and Terry and Dennis, the Japanese brothers that only wear bathrobes].  The characters of Sunny Vale are so beloved by so many that the Community Service Variety Show is just one more opportunity to keep them alive.  But what now?  My hope is that the talented creators who made Trailer Park Boys what it is will, at some point, be truly able to outlive the characters that they have created.  I’d really like to see what else they are capable of and I like the idea of them retiring their past while the concept is still on top and successful.  Then again, if they come do come back and the show is mediocre, I’d probably still go see them again.  I like these guys way too much not to.

Much like The Pixies, DEVO has set out on a limited city tour, scheduled to coincide with a deluxe album re-release.  The Ultra DEVO-LUX Ltd. Edition packaging will feature their debut album, Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo, and the commercially successful Freedom of Choice.  The double re-issue will also contain unreleased material, 2 DVDs, a poster, and a yellow 7 inch vinyl.  The tour itself  involves a 2 night stop in each of 6 different major cities.  The first of the nights features the group performing Are We Not Men? in its entirety, while the second night involves them giving the same treatment to Freedom of Choice.  I knew that DEVO was scheduled to perform a pair of dates in Seattle, but I had also accepted that I was probably not going to be able to see either of them.  I tried to jump on it and request passes the day that the press release was sent out, but it was a difficult ticket to get and the comp. tickets were all accounted for by radio stations.  As someone who used to listen to Are We Not Men? religiously, I was disappointed.  When the day of the show approached and I hadn’t heard any good news, I all but put the concerts out of my mind entirely.  The first night came and went but, on the second/Freedom of Choice night, I received a last minute email informing me that I could be approved for a photo pass.  The problem was that there were no more reviewer passes left.  I’ve had issues trying to enter the venue without a ticket in the past, but I was assured that shouldn’t be an issue.  This also meant that, if I wanted to stay in the venue after the 3-song limit outlined in the photo-policy, I was going to have to do so on the sly.

DEVO

November, 9 2009

The Moore Theater

Seattle, Wa

After going to the wrong venue, I stumbled up to the box office and received what was easily the slickest photo-pass that I have ever seen.  It was in the shape of  one of DEVO‘s patented “energy dome” hats.  I’ve noticed that it’s easier to control a conversation if I speak first and speaking quickly, so I flashed my pass at the doorman like Axel Foley and said, “I was told that this would be enough” as I stepped through the door.  For a split secon, he looked around aimlessly, then nodded in agreement and said, “Okay.”  Once inside, I finally met our connection to the venue, which has been helping us gain access to endless shows and has been providing ticket giveaways for all of you Chachis over the last year.  He told me that there would be some open seats on the floor and that I could probably just slide back into one of them, inconspicuously, after I was done shooting.

Reggie Watts was opening but, after running from the last venue, I needed a drink and spent his set in the bar downstairs.  I was sitting at an empty table, so a couple asked to share it with me.  The female of the two was sipping an $11 specialty drink called the “Whip It“, which she disappointingly realized wasn’t much different than a Cape Cod.  Before heading back up-stairs, I discovered that that the man was in a local band called Super Geek League.  More than just a band name, it was also foreshadowing for the crowd at the DEVO show that night.

The more bands that I see, the more aware that I become of the distinct differences between the respective crowds that are drawn to them.  This time I felt as if I had crashed a D&D tournament.  While I was getting my camera ready, I tried to make small talk with a man who was sitting in the front row with his lady.  “Were you at last night’s show too?“, I asked.  He responded with, “Yes.  A lot of people were.“  I then asked him if DEVO did anything special for the Q: & A: album’s set and he responded by telling me that, “They played the album all of the way through.“  I knew that much, already.  “I mean, was the performance itself tailored in anyway to the album or was there anything different that related to it specifically?“  He opened up slightly more, but his answers were still very distant.  It was as if I, with camera, was there to observe and document them as “fanatics” and not for the show itself.  Ironically, it was that suspicious discomfort that, actually, made me realize that the crowd was just as vital in the documentation of the concert itself.  There was a general, conflicting mix of awkwardness, confidence, self doubt, elitism, excitement, and apathy in the air.   Fans funneled into seats in the plastic “energy domes” that they freshly purchased from the merch table.  They held unopened vinyl records and were pulling on crisp T-Shirts.  I wasn’t sure if the message was that I was too “cool” to be there or that I wasn’t “cool” enough.  Part of me wanted to go up to someone holding a sealed Are We Not Men? album and let them know that I have the original release on marble vinyl or, perhaps, just point out the irony of mass consumerism at a show for one of the most anti-capitolism/conformist bands of all time.  “Relax self, you’re bigger than that and at least, you’ve seen a live woman naked before.  Besides, what if you become addicted to patronization and are in desperate need of some IT help someday?“.  Fuck it!  Maybe the issue was just that it was Freedom of Choice (1980) night and “Through Being Cool” wasn’t released until the following year [New Traditionalists (1981)].

The equipment (drums, synths, etc) were set up and the back of the stage was equipped with large, boxy, speaker-shaped lighting rigs.  The drums were positioned to the left and everything was arranged very symmetrically.  A projector screen had been pulled down in the center and the show began by having the video for “Girl You Want” played on it.  This was followed, in order, by the videos for “Whip  It” and “Freedom of Choice“.  I was just hoping that these videos didn’t qualify as part of of my 3-song photo limit.  The screen lifted and a skinny “spud boy” came out wearing nothing, but his rubber mask and tighty whities.  He held a card, reading “Track 1” over his head, like a ring girl, and the band took the stage to an uproar of applause.  Staying true to the Freedom of Choice era, they were sporting matching short-sleeve, beige jumpsuits and their trademark energy domes on top of their heads.  The jumpsuits had a vertical stripe up the right side of the chest and another one that simulated a belt around the waist.  Both of them appeared to be constructed from red packing tape and the ensembles stayed true to the ones from 30 yrs ago.  They were slightly different than the originals but, unless you’re a complete fucking nerd, you wouldn’t have noticed it.  {Fun Fact:  I noticed}.

The individual members of DEVO took the helm at their appropriate stations and immediately broke into “Girl U Want“.  Mark Mothersbaugh stepped towards the front of the stage, pumping his microphone into the air, while synchronized flashes of color and light mesmerized the crowd.  Looking at my notebook now, I see that I have scrawled down the words “Industrial Nerds and Magic“.  There’s an instantaneous excitement that can overtake someone the moment that a show finally begins, but it doesn’t always last.  I had just watched the complete “Girl U Want” video in it’s entirety and, by hearing it again so quickly, the hype could barely be sustained through to the end of the track.  As expected, they followed it up with “It’s Not Right” and the set continued in chronological album order until the end.  The next song on Freedom of Choice is “Whip It“, so that was next.  Obviously, this is their most famous track and, unfortunately, the only one that the majority of people even know by the group.  Interestingly enough, when the video for “Whip It” was released, it was hailed by some as being “sexist” and stirred up more controversy than any of their previous work.  Now it’s a favorite of soccer moms and corporate baseball enthusiast.  It is also the only DEVO song listed in most karaoke song books.

If these guys were one-hit wonders, without a solid catalog, they would be playing shitty Casinos, instead of selling out The Moore Theatre on back to back nights.  Being a fan of said catalog, their one “popular” song can feel played out and the fact that I just watched the official video for it, not 20 minutes prior, didn’t help alleviate that feeling.  The lights flashed red, like a swarm of ambulances, and Mothersbaugh waved his hands, snapping his wrists as if he were cracking a whip.  In the middle of the song, he frisbeed a couple of energy domes out to the audience.  Other than that, the performance wasn’t too exciting and it really felt as if they were simply going through the motions.

The man in his drawls returned holding the track 4 and 5 signs in his hands.  This was supposed to be my cue to quit shooting and, keeping in mind that I didn’t have a ticket, I backed up towards an empty seat.  Then, realizing that I’m an asshole, I fired off a couple of extra shots anyway.  Holding 3 fingers in my face, an irritated security guard manifested in seconds, like some form of ninja apparition.  “Oh, first 3?“, I pretended to clarify and then sat down.  At least I was still inside and they had just kicked into the opening synth riff from “Snowball“.  Things were getting interesting and beginning to pick back up again.  Josh Freese has been drumming for DEVO since their reformation in 1996, and he has some solid chops on the electro break-beats.  During the intro, the other 4 members hopped on one foot , alternated feet, and clapped their hands overhead to the snare hits; all in sync with each other.

Click here to view the embedded video.

For “Ton O’ Luv“, Jerry Casale took center stage at the mic and his brother, Bob (aka: “Bob 2″) took over his spot at the keys behind him.  For the title track, Jerry took his bass to the mic, Bob2 strapped on his guitar, and Mark sang up front,  only returning to his rack to play the signature “Freedom of Choice” keyboard jam.  They would make minor changes like this throughout the rest of the show; switching instruments, sharing vocals, etc.  However, beyond these planned out rotations and the few synchronized steps from earlier, there wasn’t much orchestration to the set at all.  They didn’t fuck anything up, but there was little to no banter and they offered up a fairly basic rendition of the album straight through.  The set, just like the record, ended on the song “Planet Earth“.

ENCORE

Once they left the stage, the lights went down and a projection of stars shot across the back of the stage.  An audio track came through the monitors, which urged the audience to think about the “incomprehensible” size of the universe and how our galaxy alone is like a “speck of sand“.  The voice then humbly recognized the tiny insignificance of DEVO in the grand scheme of this massive world and welcomed them back to the stage.  The light came back on and the encore began with the single “Be Stiff“.  Jerry Casale marched and sang, while Bob “Bob 1” Mothersbaugh showcased his guitar skills.  After the synth-pop heavy album, it was really refreshing to hear them pull an early song from their repertoire that was more on the straight punk side.  This also marked some of the first real interaction with the crowd, as Jerry advised us to, “Always live you’re on TV.  Stiff and rigid, like an apple tree.“  Mark Mothersbaugh had slipped off back-stage and I could see that he was changing into his alter-ego, Booji Boy.  His bandmates began playing the song “Beautiful World” [New Traditionalists], with Casale still on vocals.  About a minute into the song, Mothersbaugh re-entered in his alternate getup.  The frontman was dressed in his updated Booji Boy attire, which consisted of a baseball cap, with a rhinestone skull on the front, and a chorus member-style gown, with “Booji Boy” sewn across the back.  He waved to the audience, sang in his standard high-pitch voice, and even threw down a keyboard solo.  The keyboard jam morphed into a tease of “Satisfaction“, before turning into a slow groove/breakdown to allow “Booji Boy” to say a few words to the audience.  “You know?  It seems like such a long time ago, when we did these songs.“  he began.  “But I remember it just like yesterday, when DEVO first went to Hollywood, ‘cuz we didn’t know anyone and Booji Boy was scared“  He continued by telling a story about walking down Hollywood and Vine, having Michael Jackson pick him up in a limo, and going to Neverland Ranch.  He said that he was “the nicest” man and expressed his sadness about the loss.  He then told the crowd that he was sure that, if MJ could crawl out of the grave “just like inThriller” and walk up to Seattle to get on stage with them, that he would say, “It’s a Beautiful World!“  The song returned full-force and finished off strong.

Click here to view the embedded video.

At the end, Booji Boy lifted up his gown to expose a hidden fannypack.  With one hand, he reached inside and pulled out multi-colored rubber balls, which he threw and bounced out to the audience.  It was a little unsettling to see middle-aged men climbing over seats to grab super balls with happy faces on them.  One guy, in particular, was making excuses under his breath, while he jumped in front of women and grabbed at the feet of other patrons to grab those gumball souvenirs.  I caught one and handed it to a girl and her boyfriend who had just been swarmed by that fool.  As I left the venue, grown adults were still shamefully crawling around on the ground to get as many of the balls as they could.

Some shows take me longer to write about and that’s often because some of them take me a while to process and figure out how I truly feel about them.  It may be my Jewish heritage in effect again but, although I did enjoy the free show, I still left disappointed.  That isn’t to say that the show wasn’t any good, because I’m aware that this disappointment is very subjective and relates to the specific preferences that I have as an individual.  Then again, since I’m the one reviewing the concert, my preferences are the only ones that really matter.

I made no effort to see DEVO perform at Lollapalooza in 1996, because I foolishly assumed that they would be following it up with a full-on tour.  It then took me another 10 years before I was finally able to see my first show and, after seeing them again, I began to wonder if that played a role in why I felt that 2006 show was so much better than this one.  In certain ways, I believe that it may have.  The last time that I saw them, I was sitting up in the balcony of the Paramount Theater.  Though my front row access provided me with “better” seats this time, after watching videos from this recent performance, I realized that being so close may not have offered me as wide or complete of a view, regarding the stage presentation, light-sequencing, etc.  Then there’s that pure excitement of seeing them for the first time that I lacked this time.  However, by that same token, that excitement was probably being added to the experience of many of those who you may find raving about this same concert.

In some ways, my experience was doomed to be less than mind-blowing from the beginning because, although I love DEVO, Freedom of Choice is, by no means, my favorite of their records.  Perhaps this growing tendency for bands to perform a a “classic” release from start to finish is the fault of ATP and their festivals.  It’s a good concept for an annual festival but, I have mixed feelings about these type of shows, because I’m not sure what considerations determine an artist’s “seminal” work.  Freedom of Choice marked a huge transition for the band into a more synth-pop sound than ever before.  The “de-emphasis” on guitars was further reflected in guitarist, Bob Mothersbaugh‘s name increasingly evaporating from the song writing credits.  The song “That’s Pep” even sounds a lot like Steely Dan at points.  “Whip It” helped propel the band, as well as this album, to the forefront of popular culture, but that doesn’t mean that performing the complete album live will provide a well-rounded show.  Only 2 of the 12 songs on Freedom of Choice even extend beyond 3 minutes.  This results in a minuscule overall running time and, subsequently, a concert that ended far too early.  I am much more partial to the complexities and rawness of their previous 2 releases, than the more polished sound that they began to deliver in 1980.  Noticeably absent are the epic, hybrid double-tracks like “Gut Feeling/Slap Your Mammy” [Are We Not Men?] and “Smart Patrol/Mr. DNA” [Duty Now For the Future], which are two of my favorites from the group.  The tracklist  for Are We Not Men? is so amazing that the set would have felt like hit after hit.  Unfortunately, this feeling was missing from the Freedom of Choice show that I saw.

I enjoyed the opportunity to experience the concert, but I am still jealous of those who were in attendance the previous night.  At first, I felt that I was having issues with objectivity, because of my love for the Are We Not Men? album but, by viewing footage from the previous night, I’ve realized that my less than enthusiastic opinions stem from something a bit more valid.  DEVO‘s visual elements have gone through many transitions and incarnations over the years.  That’s why it’s unfortunate that, when most people hear the name DEVO, their references are limited to the video with the “flower pots“.  I felt that this Freedom of Choice performance successfully delivered that pre-packaged concept to those that desired it, but that it left the rest of us unfulfilled.  From what I’ve seen of the first night, the performers seemed a little less enthusiastic to be performing it, themselves.  Based on photos and video, night one had more of a focus on props, costume changes, and interplay with the audience.  They wore their patented, yellow radiation suits, which were ripped off of them in sections to reveal their Rollerball-esque, black T-Shirts, shorts, and knee pads look.  This is the showmanship that i remember and miss from the 2006 performance.  In addition to this, they brought out pom-poms and both of the Mothersbaugh brothers even entered the audience, at one point.  They had additional lighting rigs, incorporated more of their disjointed dance movements, and even encored with “Smart Patrol/Mr. DNA“.  The show that I saw was for the masses, while the night before was for the slightly deeper fans.  It’s similar to how Meat Puppets treated their fans to Meat Puppets II last year.  If they had done Too High Too Die instead, it would have been the equivalent to DEVO‘s playing of Freedom of Choice.  Then there are still those of us who would rather see Meat Puppets perform Up on the Sun and witness DEVO tear through their severely overlooked and under-appreciated masterpiece, Duty Now For the Future.  Obviously, with such difficulty in obtaining a pass to either show, I didn’t exactly have the “freedom to choose” which one I saw.  Still, it can be difficult to gain enthusiasm for a show when it appears like the performers may be losing theirs.

This footage, from the same year that Freedom of Choice was released, is a prime example of what I wish I could have seen that night.

Click here to view the embedded video.

In 1981, DEVO was interviewed on the Australian television show, Countdown.  During that interview, Gerald “Jerry” Casale was asked if he had any fears about DEVO gaining popular appeal among the masses.  He responded to this by saying, “It deserves to become commercial, it deserves to become huge.  It deserves to become the next thing, because we represent the way that a lot of kids feel” and  “It’s our duty to be as big as we can be and still be viable.  It’s the challenge.  Y’know,  how soon will you become ridiculous?  How soon will you become the people that you hated.“  For whatever it’s worth or whatever it means, I feel that the experiment was “successful”.  This band doesn’t belong in the group with ‘80s one-hit wonders or humor rock.  Regardless of if they ever get the recognition for it that they deserve or not, DEVO is a brilliant social commentary being delivered by misunderstood innovators that were ahead of their time..  They are more than a band, they are an institution and a greater concept.  Although later releases may be found less appealing, DEVO never once let go of their central ideas about “De-Evolution” and their attacks on materialism and the destruction actually being created through creature comforts, quests for fame, and inventions known as “technological advancements”.  This is  further evidenced by post-DEVO work, such as Gerald Casale‘s Jerry Jihad and The Evildoers project.  Even when taking on large corporations as clients, Mark Mothersbaugh has managed to do such things as slip subliminal messages like “obey” and “submit” into a Coke-A-Cola commercial.  Gerald is a successful videographer and Bob 1 works at his brother’s musical production company, Mutato Muzika, where Mark has created the scores for Wes Anderson films (Rushmore, Life Aquatic, etc), TV shows (Pee-Wee’s Playhouse, Rugrats), and video games (Crash Bandicoot, The Sims 2, etc).  Recently, Mothersbaugh scored the film Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs and, with his consistent art gallery shows, I think that the members may be spreading themselves thin.  I’ve watched video clips from other shows on this tour and it’s pretty clear that I caught them on an off night.  Fortunately, an “off night” for DEVO still means a pretty solid performance, even if their domes aren’t pulling in much energy.

The real test of viability will be the release of DEVO’s first full album of material in 20 years.  The release date of the tentatively titled, “FRESH” is slated SPRING 2010.  Below is the video for the album’s first single, “Don’t Shoot (I’m a Man)”, for anyone who has yet to see it.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Troubador, Will Oldham (aka: Bonnie “Prince” Billy) has performed and released albums under various different pseudonyms including, Palace and Palace Music. His music is beautiful and honest; so honest that, at times, some may even consider it vulgur. His fans vary as much as his monikers, which may be explained through his range of collaborations. Oldham has released musical projects with Tortoise and David Berman (Silver Jews) and has even featured vocals from film director Harmony Korine on his albums.

THE PRIZE
I am giving away 2 free tickets to the following performance
Thursday, March 26
The Moore Theatre
Seattle

TO ENTER:
The contest will focus around the title of Bonnie Prince Billy‘s latest release “BEWARE” and entrants will need to submit their best idea for a warning label or clever piece of life advice.

The contest will close on midnight Sun. March 22nd.
All entries will need to be posted on contest page.
Entries will be judged on creativity.

To Enter CLICK HERE

The winner received his passes from the will-call without issue, and he even tried to get the window attendants to hand mine over to me.  The workers were condescending as fuck to me, but my main concern was making sure that the winners got their passes and that was clear.  I told him and the friend he brought with him not to worry about it, “I’ll get in.”  Now the only problem was that the evening planned for my lady on her birthday was blowing up in my face.  The crazy part was that I was given my photo pass but there were no tickets in the envelope with it.  I convinced a door guy to help me out and he said he’d grab someone in charge if they walked by.  I see the guy who tried to put the kaibosh on my photography during the Buckethead New Years show but, fortunately, he keeps moving.  Eventually, a manager came out front who was extremely helpful.  He hopped on his phone right away and offered us two options due to the theatre filling up rapidly: We could wait for someone to come down and see if they could get us a spot on the floor or, we could head up to the second balcony because, “Nobody’s up there“.  We just wanted to head in, so we came through the front and then headed through a latched side door and up a staircase.

The stairs did not look like they were made for use by the public and they seemed to go on forever.  When we got to the top I realized that he wasn’t exaggerating; NOBODY was up there.  We had the balcony to ourselves and, if we really felt like getting thrown out, we even had our own spotlights to use.  I had never been up there before and it was the first time that I really noticed the layout of the historic venue.  Stained glass windows and majestic statues filled the upper level and ceiling.  It wasn’t a bad view at all.   I realized that, after shooting on the floor under the “first 3 songs / no flash” policy, I would still be able to pull a few more shots off under the radar from the Lee Harvey Oswald view that the balcony provided.

I looked down at the stage and there was a grand piano, drum kit, and chairs set up in a partial orchestra arrangement.  The lights were on like there was a performance going on, but the stage was empty of any performers.  That’s when a woman came out dressed in a costume that looked somewhat like a bloody zebra.  Her claw-like hands resembled those of Anjelica Huston from Captain EO and were arched like Ralph Macchio in the crane kick position.  The Nutcracker Suite was playing as she lurched and swayed like an animal.  Then it was over.  We had only caught the tail end.  I later learned that the performance art was being done by Johanna Constantine, formerly of the Blacklips Performance Cult, where Antony Hegarty also began his career.  Some of the tracks featured on his debut album with The Johnsons were originally crafted and performed for the New York drag, art theatre troupe’s weekly shows, throughout their 3 year span of existence (1992-95).

I grabbed my camera and shuffled down the staircase.  On my way down, I could already hear people beginning to clap and cheer.  Antony and the Johnsons were already taking the stage.  I’ve mentioned before how I first saw Antony covering “If it be Your Will” in a Leonard Cohen documentary and how his talent immediately drew me in.  Over the last couple of months I have been listening to the majority of his catalog, in a failed attempt to recreate that same intrigue and appreciation through his original material.  A couple of days before the show, however, I saw Antony performing his latest sing, “Aeon“, on Letterman and was impressed all over again.  I’ve had a strong feeling that his live concerts would provide a whole other, much more powerful experience and I was about to find out if I was right or not.  I flashed my pass and ran down the aisle.  I found a spot in an empty seat up front and pulled out my camera in the dimly lit theatre.

The players had all taken their spots in their corresponding seats and were holding their instruments.  It was so dark that I could barely see a goddamn thing.  Fold out seats blocked any avenue to the stage and other photographers were climbing around and over people to get their views.  I chose not to be “that guy”.  The music began and the crowd was immediately captivated.  Piano, drums, strings, and woodwinds filled the room and it felt as if everyone began to breath more slowly and in unison.  During the first 3 songs, I was almost too focused to try and take any pictures at all.  Even the click of my own camera was too distracting.  Antony started off with newer material and played “Where is my Power?“, “Her Eyes are Underneath the Ground“, and “Epilepsy is Dancing” consecutively.  His voice sounded amazing and the venue was silent with all eyes on the stage.  I was offered the option of bringing my “friend” down with me from the balcony but we chose to stay in our own personal and less crowded area above.

I returned to my seat to hear Antony and the Johnsons play the song “One Dove“.  So far the set has been comprised of all strictly newer material.  The last 3 songs are also the first 3 tracks from the group’s latest album, The Crying Light, and were performed live in chronological order.  The opener, “Where is my Power“, is actually the B-Side of the “Epilepsy is Dancing” single.  The next song was “For Today I am a Boy” from the Mercury Prize winning album I Am a Bird Now.  The crowd was clearly happy to hear material that they were more familiar with and their claps disrupted the barrier between the audience and the stage for the first time.  Antony stopped playing mid-intro, with a comically stoic look on his pale face.  He mocked the audience with slow drawn out and overly dramatic “golf claps” of his own.  The crowd chuckled and then he went back into the song and finished it.  He took a sip of water and then immediately continued his set by playing “Kiss My Name“, which is also the next track on The Crying Light.

The next song, “Everglade“, could have easily been pulled from a dramatic broadway musical sequence.  Antony stayed perched behind his piano keys, but he would not have looked out of place standing on an elaborately decorated stage from Madame Butterfly.  It has a slow start and a clarinet slowly bleeds in, moments into the song.  When it’s over Hegarty explains that he had fucked up part of the song ,even though nobody seemed to notice.  An audience member screams, “I love you!” and he responds with, “Thank you.  That’s nice.“  His comments were slightly condescending but came across more as loving good humored responses.  He offered to redo the song by saying, “We could do it again” and then decided to move on by saying something that sounds like “It’s not like it’s horse jumping“  This is the first dialogue that the singer really creates with the audience; casually dismissing the mysterious quality that the first part of the show created.  While the instrumentation was still stalled, Antony began singing the Milli Vanilli hit, “Blame it on the Rain” a-capella.  The crowd chuckled collectively and, every time that it seemed like he was ready to move on, he would begin again by singing deeper and deeper into the lyrics.

The concert got back on track with the slow and elegant “Another World“.  I sneezed and the sound shot around in the acoustics like it was fired from a musket.  The next tune came in slow and took off when the drummer began banging out a steady rhythm that reminded me of “We Got The Beat” from the Go-Gos.  It evolved into a really jazzy bebop-style number, “Shake That Devil“, from the Another World EP.  This song was great and really showcased the groups range, complete with band members calling out lyrics and squawking jazz sax.  It would have fit right at home on the “Down By Law” soundtrack next to Tom Waits and John Lurie from The Lounge Lizards.  Antony snapped his way through “The Crying light” Carmen Miranda-style and the drummer led off the following song with his brushes on the hi-hat.  I recognized it immediately as “Crazy in Love” by Beyonce, but tried to convince myself that I was imagining it.  I wasn’t and it turned out to be one of the best and most original covers that I’ve heard since Devo‘s “Satisfaction“.

After the song, someone in the crowd screamed, “Fuck Beyonce!“  Antony responded with, “Who would say that?  I know you’re kidding….I hope.” and by admitting that he “think(s) she’s kind of sacred“.  Again a voice yelled that his version was “amazingly better” to which he replied, “No way.”  The silence was broken and someone towards the back yelled a request for “Put a Ring on It.”  “Hmm….“  Hegarty mulled it over, while tapping his fingers on the piano top.  He did adlibbed some piano lines and spoken lyrics, “Why is a young girl in America a sacred girl?  Why is a young African American girl a sacred Star?….”  After fucking around for a minute, he looked to his band and said, “Let’s just go into ‘You Are My Sister‘ I think“.  Instead his mind continued to wander to subjects like his recent trip to the Noise Pop festival in SF, his visit to the redwoods, and the moss that covered the massive trees.  “Who invented that?  A beautiful pillow over everything.“  Eventually, they played the song.  After that, he spoke of his recent introspection about being mindful of the social privileges provided to him by his white skin and then broke into a Motown-like groove for “Fisful of Love” (I am a Bird Now).

Antony left the stage and grabbed a lyric sheet.  When he returned he explained that they were going to perform, “I Was Young When I Left Home“, a traditional song that Bob Dylan did a “beautiful” version of.  Their version, which is to be featured on a benefit album for AIDS, took the show in the direction of John Prine.  He finished up the set with “Twilight” and a powerful rendition of “Aeon“.  After returning to uproars of applause, Hegarty took the mic and said, “You’re so sweet.  It’s like I’m playing for a litter of kittens or something“.  He played “Cripple and the Starfish” (originally from his Blacklips days), made a quick reference to his Irish Grandpa being a shoe salesmen, and then ended the night with “Hope There’s Someone“.  The crowd spilled out of the venue with the mixed feeling of awe and the knowledge that wherever they were heading would be undoubtedly less satisfying as the place they were leaving.

Based on my experiences, unless you go to a rowdy Baptist church or are part of a backwoods mountain cult hopped up on designer drugs, churches are often places of guilt, boredom, and obligation.  It is rare to create an environment anywhere that has everyone equally engaged and all feeling positive in the same way.  The magic and awe that was created through Antony and the Johnsons‘ performance was unmatched and that collective wonder eminated throughout the building.  Much like PHISH, which in many ways could be considered their antithesis,  Antony and the Johnsons have a catalog which must be viewed in a concert setting to truly appreciate.  Perhaps it was because it was the last date of their North American tour, but Antony opened up with the crowd much more than he has been known to do in the past.  I definitely suggest going to a performance whenever and wherever possible.  I was so impressed with the show that I am openly taking responsibility for the collection of music that I currently have on my laptop, instead of lumping it in under the guilty pleasure category of “Oh..that?  I just have that on there for my girlfriend“.  Whether it’s your cup of tea or not, I find it hard to believe that many people could leave a show like this without having some level of respect for the artist or agreeing that his performances are honestly powerful.  The music that Antony Hegarty writes and performs is like what teenage girls believe they are expressing with the failed scrawlings in their personal diaries.  Somehow Antony actually taps into his deep emotional content and successfully delivers it without contrivance.

-Dead C

The first time that I had an opportunity to see Buckethead live was on June 11, 2004 during the Bonnaroo Music Festival in Manchester, Tennessee.  While many chose to attend a lackluster performance by Paige Mcconnell’s (Phish) band Vida Blue, I strolled over to a small tent on the other side of the field instead.  Buckethead rounded up the lineup for Praxis, a “super-group” that included Brain (Primus, El Stew) on drums, Bernie Worrell (Talking Heads, Parliament Funkadelic, Woo Warriors) on keys, and the prolific producer/bassist Bill Laswell.  I was completely sober but, that Praxis performance was still one of the most psychedelic and visually disorienting shows that I have ever seen and my mind was swiftly blown like a tenth of molly.  Bill Laswell kicked into the bass-line of “Salt Shaker” by the Ying Yang Twins as Buckethead pop-locked holding an animatronic decapitated head that scanned the audience with its eyes and rapped the lyrics.  Anyone who can’t find entertainment in a spectacle such as that, I don’t think I would want to be friends with.  I witnessed Buckethead perform again at the festival with Material, another Laswell project, and later that year in Seattle with Colonel Claypool’s Bucket of Bernie Brains, which mirrors the Praxis lineup, with the exception of Les Claypool on bass.  In 2006, I went to another show in Seattle where Buckethead fronted a trio which featured his old Deli Creeps drummer Pinchface, and had a much heavier and more straight-up rock sound.  He’s released a dark dub album called “Devil Dub” with his group Ben Wa, gone in more electronic directions with DJ Extrakd on albums like “Bermuda Triangle“, and even appeared on albums with actor Viggo Mortenson and recorded under the acronym Death Cube “K“.  His eclectic musical resume is beyond impressive but, it still forced me to worry that I may be rolling the dice by attending Buckethead’s 2009 New Years performance.  A few advertisements aired for the show on local television which featured a track with vocals by Serj Tankian (System of a Down), who’s label he is currently signed to.  It made me fear that I would be spending my night with what I feel to be some of his less appealing work.  Unlike many of his fans, I don’t attend G3 Tour performances and have dreams of “surfing with an alien” so, I was actually a bit skeptical about if a mute guitarist with a cardboard chicken bucket on his head could maintain the audience’s interest all by himself.  One thing that I knew I could be sure about is that, at some point in the show, I would witness something so incredible and awe-inspiring that it would make up for any cliched hair metal antics that I may have to endure.

Buckethead

Moore Theatre

Seattle, Wa

12/31/08

We got downtown and hopped off of the metro at around 9pm.   The bus, which reeked of 151 and weed, was packed full of paper-horn blowing assholes with plans to start their new years off “drunconscious” in tacky bile-stained Ed Hardy dress shirts that have embroidered eagles and shit sewn onto the backs.  I hadn’t expected the show to actually start at 8 sharp but, when we arrived at The Moore Theatre, there wasn’t anyone else in line.  I had expressed concern to the promoter that I may have trouble bringing a Digital SLR into the venue however, after 2 checkpoints without issue, I was escorted to my seats 4 rows back from center stage.  We had already clearly missed the opening act, PCP (The Portland Cello Project), and Buckethead was already on stage when we walked in.  He stood alone in front of a Marshall stack and a plethora of pedals and effects racks that provided his rythm section.  His set started off that evening with “Night of the Slunk” (Monsters and Robots 1999) which is very heavy on the kill-switch usage.  What I mean is that Buckethead’s Gibson is equipped with buttons that he presses rapidly to cut out the sound in choppy intervals, like a DJ with a fader.  Halfway through he went into some one-handed guitar work, as he moved around robotically like an anthropomorphic character from Chuck-E-Cheese or Showbiz Pizza.  By his second track, “Crash Test Dummy” (aka: “Crash Victim” from Praxis’ Transmutation),  he was already making use of his trademark elastic guitar strap to stretch his instrument out towards the audience and fuck with everyone’s perception.  His blank mask gives him such a stoic quality that every movement looks even more exaggerated and, combined with his gestures and rapid fire solos, it increases his appearance as being something more than human.  Switching it up, Buckethead pulls the pseudo-ballad “Ghost Host” (“Decoding the tomb of Bansheebot” 2007), out of his repertoire before shifting to the raunchy guitar chops of the “Gory Head Stump” intro, where he momentarily wore a rubber head on his hand.  Mid-way through, he thumps his guitar like a slap bass and takes it into an all out funk jam, before returning back to it’s much grimier start.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8AiJD19KOY

I was already up front and snapping photos by the time he went into “King James” (Crime Slunk Scene 2006), an ode to basketball star Lebron James.  While he was playing, the wireless device that he had been using up until that point, began to fizzle out and his dreadlocked music tech P-Sticks came out mid-song.  His huge goatee stuck out through the bottom of a surgical mask as he connected the guitar through a direct line and promptly exited back behind the equipment.  In continuance of his rock-ballad/Lebron James/basketball theme, Carroll casually jammed that song into “Redeem Team” from his recent release Albino Slug.  I think that was about the time that I was yanked the fuck out by security and taken into the lobby to explain myself.

I dropped some names and got sifted through a hierarchy of security.  There were about 3 different men and each one was less receptive and more condescending than the last.  The first two guys were actually pretty cool about everything, but the last one made me call the promoter from a noisy lobby.  This was even after I stated that I wanted to step outside where it was quieter.  “Can’t you call him from right here?” he asked.  “Sure, I’ll call him from here“.  I had already sent him a text and I didn’t want to interrupt whatever New Years festivities he may be engaging in himself.  When he answered the phone, neither of us could hardly hear anything on each others end.  He was extremely helpful and I heard him say, “Someone’s on their way“.  I thanked him and, right as I hung up my phone, someone was already approaching and asking if I was the “photographer“.  He walked me back in and down to the front where he informed another security guard of my authorization and instructed him not to harass me further.  I started shooting again and, when the original guard re-approached me, he was waved off instantly.  I’m used to this treatment and it wouldn’t be me or Monster Fresh, if I didn’t encounter some sort of issue.  I actually prefer things this way for two reasons: 1) I still feel a connection to the makeshift ghetto roots roots of sneaking into shows that birthed this site and 2) I had only been shooting from obstructed angles off to the side before this all went down.  Once you go through all of the drama of being scanned through upper management and they do eventually approve what you’re there to do officially, nobody below them fucks with you at all.  You’re usually able to get away with a lot more than you might have, if that never happened.  The risk of being removed has decreased so much; the staff has orders to leave you alone.

The crowd, more or less, remained seated as Buckethead went through tracks like the funk-metal “Fountains of the Forgotten” (Cuckoo Clocks of Hell 2004) and the highly popular “Soothsayer” (Crime Slunk Scene). Then it was time for the patented nunchaku and robot routine.  As usual, the guitarist put on a recording of the space-funk “Minute to Forever” by the artist Freekbass and grabbed his nunchucks.  He skillfully wielded them around before tossing them aside for a pair of giant blue foam fingers.  The foam couldn’t quite cover the palms of his giant hands, while he did the robot and glided across the stage.  He was really pulling out his bag of tricks at that point and now it was time for him to grab his bag of toys.  When he walked over to a giant plastic shopping bag, the audience rushed to the front of the stage and I instantly found myself surrounded by a crowd.  Buckethead reached into the bag and handed out random toys to his fans.  Many were prepared with out-stretched buckets of their own to collect the free prizes and others even brought gifts for the performer himself.  Among the gifts that Brian Carroll received were a “Star Wars” vinyl LP and a handmade replica of the Buckethead doll featured on his “Secret Recipe” DVD, complete with the detailed packaging.  I personally was handed a Playmobil Dragon Kinights playset with projectile balliste.  Some of the crowd walked away with Disney related toys representing Carroll’s fascination with the theme park that he grew up close too.  One kid left the Moore Theatre that night with a large box containing an Disney acoustic Hannah Montana guitar.  The interaction between Bucket Clause and the crowd was reminiscent of the classic Frankenstein scene between the monster and the little girl.  He appeared like a kind hearted monster as he curiously, gently, and appreciatively inspected toys and gifts given to him by the crowd.  Someone offered him a plastic hand with a plaid blood-stained sleeve.  Carroll pulled it over his own arm and then did a short routine with it, which involved some more posing, slow-motion, and charging across the stage.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeFLN3y2KLM

After the martial-arts/hip-hop/toy intermission, the audience was treated to a rendition of “Jordan“, a song which was named after Michael and has gained popularity with the kids as an unlockable bonus track from Guitar Hero II.  By the time the toys had been passed out, I had feared that Carroll had exhausted every trick that he had up his extra-long sleeves but, the rest of the show worked as evidence to the contrary.  There was a moment when the lanky musician froze in his typical mannequin-like fashion.  A man dressed like a mad scientist came out to simulate electrical maintenance on Carroll’s back, while mechanical computer sounds pumped through the speakers.  Once when  Brian left to take a brief break, a stocky character entered the other side of the empty stage.  He was wearing an old man mask like one my sister had when we were children.  He picked up an electric mandolin and did a jig while plucking the strings off key.  Eventually, the guitar shredder returned and they performed a little circus tune together.  Later, during another break, the same man came out and placed two singing and dancing robotic chicken toys on a stool with a mic in front of them.  Buckethead had various samples and audio clips that were featured throughout the show.  At one point he mimicked vocals with his hand-puppet “Herbie” and, when he played “The Battery Cage Brawls“, (Bucketheadland 2) P-Sticks re-entered the stage in a mask and top hat to lip-sync the “ghost of Abraham Lincoln’s” dialog, “I didnt understand ya there young fella, would you repeat that again?“  The man in the mask and P-Sticks subsequently came out to perform with  Buckethead together.  The man played the mandolin again but P-Sticks was holding a contraption that looked like a hybrid flashlight/theramin.  Back in 2000 a man approached me in a Phish lot at Mountainview, Ca when heard us listening to Monsters and Robots.  “Oh,  are you guys listening to Brian?” he asked, and then proceeded to tell us how he was friends with him.  Apparently, another of their friends invents crazy electronic instruments which he brings to Carroll, who plays them effortlessly.  I’m unsure if P-Sticks was the inventor that he was referring to but, I’m assuming that he was performing with one of the instruments.  At the end of the show, another character, resembling a space-age version of Devo’s Boojie Boy, rocked out on stage in a silver costume and a purple boombox.

Among originals like “The Revenge of Double-man” (Monsters and Robots) and “Botnus” (Enter the Chicken 2005), the bucket-clad rockstar weaved a few cover songs into the second half of his New Years Eve show.  He incorporated the Hendrix classic “Foxy Lady” and even “Pure Imagination” from the original Willy Wonka soundtrack.  Futuristic robotic sounds were manipulated from his white Gibson guitar and eventually melded into songs from John Williams’ monumental “Star Wars” work.  Buckethead managed to reproduce blaster and R2d2 sounds with his guitar and jammed the medley into a phased-out version of “The Itsy Bitsy Spider“.  Before the show was over, a professionally dressed woman entered the stage with a clipboard.  She referenced the fictional “abusement park” that the Bucketheadland.com website is titled and modeled after.  She thanked us for coming to the park and claimed that teh dead bodies had been cleared from specific rides.  Buckethead finished the night off with “Welcome to Bucketheadland” (Giant Robot 1994) and ended the show abruptly before 11pm.

I was surprised that the show ended so early because I’m used to New Years shows that run through midnight with balloons dropping and the whole shabang.  This was the last show of his tour and, based on what I have read, the show didn’t differ much from the previous set-lists on this run.  I walked out of the Moore and a man was out front trying to hustle blank white buckets to people on the street.  The crowd was very young and the energy was extremely positive, unlike what one may expect from a performer that often draws fans of metal and heavy guitar rock.  I enjoyed the early dismissal, which allowed me the opportunity to get back to my area of town and have a quiet drink before the ball dropped.  I have no regrets in my decision to spend my New Years at the Moore Theatre and wonder why I ever questioned it in the first place.  Buckethead is a multi faceted artist and, although the show contained lots of heavy guitar noodling and sentimental ballads like those found on Colma, the tribute album for his sick mom, the guitarist made sure to incorporate enough elements from his eclectic career to please his fans of any level or genre.  I encourage everyone who has ever had any interest in checking out one of his performances to do so.  I’ve seen him 5 times now and, at every single one of those shows, I found something new and enthralling to come away with.  There is a story about Buckethead unsuccessfully trying out for “The Red Hot Chili Peppers“, much like Les Claypool had for “Metallica“.  Today, both of the men continue to be innovative in their crafts and consistently get better over time, while the groups that rejected them plateaued ages ago.  Brian Carroll’s career and the versatility that he has shown as a performer should be more than just inspiration for aspiring guitarist.  His shows aren’t just concerts; they are elaborate productions, utilized to display a genuine appreciation for those who have come out to support him.

-Dead C

We’d like to thank Swolfy & Kerry, the 2 friends who flew out from the East Coast just for the show.  Swolfy provided us with a quick photo of the set list that she was able to snap while at the show (featured in Gallery below) and Kerry helped us out with the first video featured.  Please take a look at Swolfy’s deviant art page to view her photographs from the show.  We also reccommend checking out the rest of Kerry’s videos from her youtube page.  They are really good quality and she was able to catch tons of footage.

(CLICK PHOTOS TO ENLARGE & VIEW)