2006 Favorite Live Performances

It took nearly six months for the quality live performances to begin happening for me in 2006, but when I looked back recently at the highlights I realized I still managed to see/hear a number of memorable musicians in person. I compiled this list nearly one month ago for the Ecstatic Peace! 2006 Live Performance Poll, where it appears in a slightly altered state limited to mere text. I will attempt to insert photos and links to it here in order to make it more webtastic.

2006 Favorite Live Performances

1) Coley Family Circus (a.k.a. 2006 Pataphysical Academy Exam & Graduation) @ P.A.C.E., Easthampton, MA, 5.20.06
I drove up Rt. 10 not knowing what to expect, and left with the title Doctor of Agoraphilia (and a diploma as evidence). The flyer I grabbed promises Carly Ptak, Dollhouse, F**king Destroy, & Dapper. Many assorted people performed--the entire Coley clan was in on the action, Carly Ptak ran the show (and the raffles), Gown, some sort of Byron Coley/Thurston Moore/Dredd Foole Super Session happened, and Lightbulb reminded everyone there Girls Invented Punk Rock Not England—the slogan ironed on Coco Hayley Gordon Moore’s t-shirt for her band’s debut performance.


2) Hair Police, Graveyards, Mirror/Dash, Heathen Shame @ The Elevens, Northampton, MA, 5.29.06
Northampton seemed dead on Memorial Day. Noise and intimacy were served in a reggae sports bar. There was no “heather shame” in the Heathen game. Kim Gordon began the M/D set behind a drum kit. John Olson combed his hair onstage, but Graveyards were unable to will the Pistons to victory with their improv/noise/jazz. Olson joined Hair Police and for a few moments they had a DJ light show—Thurston commandeered the club’s control panel and flipped a switch—but the sound guy decided to shut it off as soon as he noticed.

3) Be Your Own Pet, Whirlwind Heat, Thurston Moore & Bark Haze @ P.A.C.E., Easthampton, MA, 6.9.06
Saw this on a church sign on my way to Easthampton: Resist the Devil…Submit to his Enemy. TM put three Rather Ripped songs (Do You Believe in Rapture?, Incinerate, Pink Steam) through his Peavey Bandit 65 for the packed house, then announced “We’re gonna do a little Bark Haze.” Andrew joined him for a literal throwdown—of guitars, amps, chairs, anything onstage. Whirlwind Heat was drums, bass, air guitar, jumps, and trash bag helmets. BYOP was brief, fierce, and smile-inducing. I believe in rapture.

4) Mission of Burma @ MASS MoCA, North Adams, MA, 7.1.06

A phenomenal two-set show outdoors on a gorgeous summer night at a fantastic venue.

5) Konono No. 1 @ Pearl Street Ballroom, Northampton, MA, 7.20.06
A hot night of trance dancing—my clothes were still wet after the one-hour drive home. These Congolese musicians understand what Mark E. Smith defines as the three R’s: repetition, repetition, repetition.

6) Sonic Youth, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Awesome Color @ McCarren Park Pool, Brooklyn, NY, 8.12.06
Thousands of people in the pool swimming through the heat of Awesome Color’s rock were then cooled by the costumes of YYYs. SY owned the night, the sky, and the city. I hope Dan Graham was there to hear Kim dedicate the “Shaking Hell” encore to him.

7) Deerhoof @ McCarren Park Pool, Brooklyn, NY, 8.13.06
Free Pool Party Sunday afternoon amazement in power trio formation—they came onstage dancing to the beats ?uestlove was rocking during his DJ set, and proceeded to segue into an improvised jam that let him fade out and slip away.

8) Cecil Taylor with Henry Grimes and Pheeroan akLaff @ The Artists Collective, Hartford, CT, 10.21.06
Dollie McLean introduces Cecil, who walks onstage wearing a black doo rag, dark glasses, what appears to be three pairs of white tube socks, no shoes, black workout pants with elastic leg openings cinched roughly at mid-shin, black tank top, white karate belt, and a pair of mustard yellow pants draped over his shoulders. He says a poem and heads for the piano. Henry and Pheeroan are in suits. Ten minutes into the first set, Cecil throws the pants off his shoulders and keeps on improvising for another thirty minutes without pause. Awesome.

9) Tony Conrad @ sonic.focus, Providence, RI, 11.4.06
There were other performers this night, in this black box theater in an English department building at Brown, but they were forgotten once Mr. Conrad set up his lamp in the corner and cast his shadow on the enormous sheet he had draped diagonally across the room. He bowed his violin cyclically through the overtone series along with pre-recorded cello and bass tracks, and many of us succumbed to the hypnosis of his unbroken amplified arco adventure. What made this performance memorable, though, was the shocking stoppage after half an hour or so—the otherworldly cave vibe was destroyed as TC slipped back into his nutty professor bit and blurted out a nervous explanation like “I must have stepped on a cord or something.” There was faint laughter from the crowd, but then he started his accompaniment again and went right back to playing as if this was the sort of thing you could just jump right back into. The phrase “dronus interruptus” kept repeating in my head as I pondered the hilarity of minimalism.

10) The Evens @ Charter Oak Cultural Center, Hartford, CT, 12.10.06
Ian Mackaye and Amy Farina jam econo and make the political personal. They are good musicians, and good humans.

Connecting Cuts

Connecticut has presented me with an awe deficit in the past seven months, forcing me to cross over into Massachusetts. Reports of these travels have remained in my mind. There are tales to tell, and pictures to show, but not today.

When you see the spiral turning for you alone

I'm down in the daytime out of sight
Comin' in from dreamland I'm on fire
I can see it's all been here before
Dream a dream that lies right at your door

--Sonic Youth, "Mote," Goo (1990)


Pitchfork published an interview with Lee Ranaldo today, in which he reflects on the pivotal year of 1990, when Goo was originally released as Sonic Youth's major label debut. The Deluxe Edition was released back in September, so I suppose this interview must have been part of the big commercial push Geffen's publicity folks mounted (ha ha).

Ranaldo's mention of the group wanting better distribution for their records reminded me that I bought Goo shortly after moving to Weehawken, New Jersey, in late June/early July 1990, and instead of heading down to Pier Platters (R.I.P.) in Hoboken, I wound up purchasing it at The Wiz out in Passaic while on some other errand with one of my roommates. I still didn't own a CD player at that point, but I bought it on CD because it somehow seemed appropriate to symbolically buy into the future. It was, and remains, a great record, full of many blissful moments--one of which for me has always been the drawn out guitar noise concluding Ranaldo's song "Mote." The mix on the CD version of the new Deluxe Edition vastly improves the sound from the earlier digital incarnation, and the bonus tracks allow a look inside the group's working process. It's odd to have records that still seem so vital historicized with this reissue treatment, but in this case what is vital has indeed been revitalized.

Monday Night Iggy?

Someone in the truck outside of Lambeau Field in Green Bay just broadcast The Stooges' "Raw Power" as the soundtrack to the first half highlights of the Packers/Vikings game. The 21st century continues to keep me on my toes. Er, ears. As the Sony hacks put it: "Raw Power finally gets its due."

Somebody send Iggy in on a safety blitz!

Did you see the drummer's hair?

Music scene is crazy, bands start up each and every day
I saw another one just the other day
A special new band

--Pavement, "Cut Your Hair," Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain (1994)


Portland band The Joggers are not technically a new band, but they are new to me. I saw them play two nights ago at The Cactus Club before San Diego's GoGoGo Airheart, and they managed to overcome the forgettable quality of their name even before their set began. The drummer (the one sporting the mustache and soul patch in the photos on the band's homepage--he played sans facial hair in Milwaukee) was manic while setting up his kit, and he couldn't help but sing along with the songs being played through the PA. Singing drummers = comedy, but this guy was singing when there wasn't any glory to be had, which I enjoyed. Buddy Holly's "Everyday" came on, and Joggers Drummer began doing handclaps while singing (and still attempting to set up). He walked offstage and past me during this song, and I realized at this point he didn't know the words and was just singing "blaster blaster blaster blaster blaster" during the verses. Hilarious. He was into the last-minute soundcheck of his kit when he returned, and was so enthused to start the rock that he jumped out to stage right (I overheard him using this term, just to clarify) and strapped on the Gibson SG of the bearded guitarist to check his levels in the monitor for him while he was in the bathroom or out in the van. Joggers Drummer was/is a pro, all the way. This level of commitment is rare in the indie rock I intermittently witness being performed. The bearded guitarist returned during this moment, and stood in the front of the stage giving his drummer the double thumbs up for his efforts. Smiles all around. These kids were enjoying themselves, and they hadn't even played yet.

Their 45-minute set flew by in a blur of twin guitars, bass, drums, and samples triggered by the bass player with a foot pedal (this made me think of Geddy Lee, naturally). Joggers make music that may or may not be conducive to actual jogging, with the two guitarists playing parts that avoid the verticality of riffs in favor of horizontal flow (mixing in techniques from the virtuosic metal world such as tapping, hammer-ons & pull-offs without irony), a bass player filling all sorts of holes with a minimal amount of flash, and a drummer who can overplay when necessary but who keeps it all inside the bounds of the song. All of the referential namechecks mean nothing, though, when witnessing these Oregonians enjoy themselves and each other onstage. The only influence they list on their MySpace page is Larry Bird, but if you go there you can hear some of their racket and decided for yourself about the music.

Back to the singing drummer: all four Joggers have vocal mics, and all four of them sing. Yes, the drummer gets his glory under the lights. There was a moment during one song in which they all stopped playing, the drummer hopped up off his throne, and they locked into some a capella four-part vocalizing that bordered on shape note singing. This sounds hokey and forced as I reflect on it, or like a cloying gimmick Phish would work into the act, but it was fantastic when it happened. It was over in possibly eight bars, the drummer sat back down, and they resumed the rock they had momentarily abandoned. I would identify the song, but I have no idea what it was. Perhaps I'll "back announce" it in the future.

GoGoGo Airheart made the most out of their late start time (circa 12:45 a.m.), and moved those of us who had remained. Lead vocalist Mike Vermillion understands the importance of the handclap in the frontman's performance arsenal. Bassist Ashish "Hash" Vyas understands that it's okay for the bass player to jump down off the stage into the crowd and continue playing while interacting with the audience. Their new record "Rats! Sing! Sing!" is excellent and brief. There are photos of them rocking Milwaukee on their MySpace page posted by a fan named Jerm, who was a dancing fool that night. I'd say more about these guys, but I stopped by here today to spiel about Joggers.

looking at you

hello. i am looking at you, looking through you (where did you go?), looking to you. i am finally giving in to the lure of bits and bytes, and succumbing to the weblog paradigm.

i am always in search of the awe pause, the moment in which the hands fall off the clocks and the numbers that structure reality cease to matter because i have experienced something that has overwhelmed me with wonder. i plan to document a few of those moments, and perhaps even some of the ones that fall short.

keep looking.