Two very different shows
Oct. 12th, 2011 05:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
drwexIn something of a rarity we managed to get out and see two shows in two weeks. Herewith some thoughts...
If you have no idea who Anderson is, I probably can't help you. I've seen her at least six times - I've seen her doing song-like material, political material, storytelling material. This show was one of the most intense and certainly the most challenging I've seen.
She performed essentially non-stop for 90 minutes. The theme of the piece was 'mysteries' - in the sense of 'mysteries of life' - and there was no effort to explain or subtitle anything. Part of my difficulty in writing about the performance is that I'm not sure I got it; it's definitely the least accessible show I've seen her do. Given the non-stop nature of it, I didn't have much time to absorb and reflect on anything before she was off doing the next bit.
The set was spare, with four projection surfaces showing video looped material that related to the tone or content of the moment. The program said something about electronic puppetry but darned if I could detect anything I would categorize as puppetry. Anderson used only a small portion of the set, mostly standing behind one keyboard/mic with the effects controller that let her alter her voice. Part of the point of the piece was to show what she referred to as a conversation between herself and her male alter ego; again, it wasn't a lot like conventional conversations. Past pieces such as Bright Red have had much more standard conversation structures so I was probably expecting the wrong thing.
Anderson did mostly spoken word, played her electronic violin (an amazing instrument if you've never heard it), sang a bit, and at one point used her body (partly covered by a sheet) as part of the projection surface.
Since I didn't absorb any of the piece in depth it's hard to relay or explain much of what it was like. It was, not to be trite about it, Laurie Anderson-like. If you are a fan I think this will appeal; if you're not, I'm not sure it won't be wholly impenetrable. If I had the chance I'd see it again, if only to try and absorb more of the extremely dense messages.
Beats Antique, by contrast, is easy to describe. Imagine if crunk and tabla had a love child with Concussion Ensemble as the midwife.
OK, wait, maybe that's not quite clear, particularly given how many years it has been since Concussion Ensemble played. Imagine two drummers, some keyboard electronics, and a smokin' hot belly dancer/drummer/performance artist all doing percussion-heavy non-vocal tribal music. Throw in some surreal masque imagery, full-body latex suits, one dance routine done in leotards and gas masks, and crowd-surfing in an inflatable zodiac raft over a roomful of college-age mostly couples, at least five of whom were rolling.
The audience was one of the more interesting side parts of the show. The Paradise has been redesigned to some extent since I was there last, but the best sight and sound is still on the floor center and that's where we tried to hold our space against people whose inhibitions and sense of appropriate interpersonal distance had been chemically removed. Had I been the type to grope there would have been plenty of easy groping, and Pygment got some nice affections from cute random strangers.
I hit up the merch table and bought all three Beats CDs, including the new release. My sense is that they're a much better live show than they are when recorded, if only because you don't get Zoe and the even-hotter-oh-my-jaw-dropping-goddess-where-did-she-come-from other dancer on CD. They were loud, and thunderous, and bounce up-and-down fun and I'll definitely be trying to see them again next chance I get.
For the record, people who claim they're a "steampunk band" have either seen a different show than I saw, or have a wildly non-period notion of what steampunk is. If you want a steampunk band, go see Abney Park. If you want... um, i don't have a word for this but there really should be one 'cause it's that good, go see Beats Antique.
I would be remiss if I didn't once again thank the friends who kid-sat for us so that we could make these evenings happen. We are deeply indebted.
If you have no idea who Anderson is, I probably can't help you. I've seen her at least six times - I've seen her doing song-like material, political material, storytelling material. This show was one of the most intense and certainly the most challenging I've seen.
She performed essentially non-stop for 90 minutes. The theme of the piece was 'mysteries' - in the sense of 'mysteries of life' - and there was no effort to explain or subtitle anything. Part of my difficulty in writing about the performance is that I'm not sure I got it; it's definitely the least accessible show I've seen her do. Given the non-stop nature of it, I didn't have much time to absorb and reflect on anything before she was off doing the next bit.
The set was spare, with four projection surfaces showing video looped material that related to the tone or content of the moment. The program said something about electronic puppetry but darned if I could detect anything I would categorize as puppetry. Anderson used only a small portion of the set, mostly standing behind one keyboard/mic with the effects controller that let her alter her voice. Part of the point of the piece was to show what she referred to as a conversation between herself and her male alter ego; again, it wasn't a lot like conventional conversations. Past pieces such as Bright Red have had much more standard conversation structures so I was probably expecting the wrong thing.
Anderson did mostly spoken word, played her electronic violin (an amazing instrument if you've never heard it), sang a bit, and at one point used her body (partly covered by a sheet) as part of the projection surface.
Since I didn't absorb any of the piece in depth it's hard to relay or explain much of what it was like. It was, not to be trite about it, Laurie Anderson-like. If you are a fan I think this will appeal; if you're not, I'm not sure it won't be wholly impenetrable. If I had the chance I'd see it again, if only to try and absorb more of the extremely dense messages.
Beats Antique, by contrast, is easy to describe. Imagine if crunk and tabla had a love child with Concussion Ensemble as the midwife.
OK, wait, maybe that's not quite clear, particularly given how many years it has been since Concussion Ensemble played. Imagine two drummers, some keyboard electronics, and a smokin' hot belly dancer/drummer/performance artist all doing percussion-heavy non-vocal tribal music. Throw in some surreal masque imagery, full-body latex suits, one dance routine done in leotards and gas masks, and crowd-surfing in an inflatable zodiac raft over a roomful of college-age mostly couples, at least five of whom were rolling.
The audience was one of the more interesting side parts of the show. The Paradise has been redesigned to some extent since I was there last, but the best sight and sound is still on the floor center and that's where we tried to hold our space against people whose inhibitions and sense of appropriate interpersonal distance had been chemically removed. Had I been the type to grope there would have been plenty of easy groping, and Pygment got some nice affections from cute random strangers.
I hit up the merch table and bought all three Beats CDs, including the new release. My sense is that they're a much better live show than they are when recorded, if only because you don't get Zoe and the even-hotter-oh-my-jaw-dropping-goddess-where-did-she-come-from other dancer on CD. They were loud, and thunderous, and bounce up-and-down fun and I'll definitely be trying to see them again next chance I get.
For the record, people who claim they're a "steampunk band" have either seen a different show than I saw, or have a wildly non-period notion of what steampunk is. If you want a steampunk band, go see Abney Park. If you want... um, i don't have a word for this but there really should be one 'cause it's that good, go see Beats Antique.
I would be remiss if I didn't once again thank the friends who kid-sat for us so that we could make these evenings happen. We are deeply indebted.
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no subject
Date: 2011-10-13 01:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-13 02:38 am (UTC)Sorry I didn't get my shit together to see Laurie with you. I definitely wasn't willing to deal with the darker side if that's what she chose to do, and I think that's when MIL was here anyway.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-14 07:16 pm (UTC)