Speaking of the Reich Remixed live show in NYC, the reason I was close enough
to the stage to notice Spooky's midi kalimba device was because I was
jockeying for position for Coldcut's set.
I wasn't disappointed. After getting a close-up view of Coldcut and crew
(including our own ninja jeff) constructing the performance apparatus, the
real pay-off came when they went right into "Music For 18 Musicians,"
complete with video footage of diving whales and their huge crashing tails
(timed to co-incide with the swells in the music), giving me the much-desired
gooseflesh rush.
When the introductory beats from "More Beats and Pieces" sparked to life, the
crowd started to get going...there were shouts of "turn it up!" Soon
infiltrators began invading my front-and-center location, including a
black-leather-clad woman who had to be at least six-and-a-half feet tall.
She decided to stand right in front of me...although she did apologize
sweetly, so I let told her not to worry. I decided to further defend my
hard-fought turf in the best way I know how...by dancing wildly, helped along
by the song's killer funk licks. Soon, I found myself in a knot of people
who (I later discovered) were grooving harder than just about anyone in the
room.
During the middle section of "More Beats and Pieces," brothers Cold and Cut
segued into an extended clip from Disney's old "Jungle Book" animated
film...the scene where the monkeys are jamming on drums and Baloo the Bear is
leading a stomping sing-along for all the jungle creatures. This hilarious
scene was projected on the video screens...it seemed enough to send a
heartless Disney lawyer immediately reaching for his/her cell phone (and this
being Manhattan, such a person could very well have been in the house).
Speaking of video, the video element was a huge factor in this performance,
basically being constant throughout. Apparently, the concept was "Coldcut
TV," complete with a "CCTV" logo. Coldcut's extensive cut-and-paste samples
were mouthed by corresponding characters in the video snippets, essentially a
"video sampling" approach which made me think of Emergency Broadcast Network.
And, interestingly enough, I had run into Gardner Post of EBN at this show!
Basically, I saw a dude wearing an EBN jacket, in the government-official
windbreaker style made popular by FBI and ATF stormtroopers. Being a huge
fan of EBN's videotapes, I had to ask this fellow if he was in EBN or if he
just happened to have the kewl jacket...and it turns out to be Gardner.
He was quite a nice bloke, although we were both a bit jittery; it may have
been because this annoying beefhead security guard kept shouting "You must
have a wristband to drink alchohol!" at the top his lungs several yards away
from us, making for a surreal conversation. As far as EBN updates go, he
said that "TVT is basically useless" so I don't know if they'll be putting
out anything more with TVT. Probably they'll mostly sell stuff through their
own website, although the website isn't up yet (sadly, because I crave more
EBN video madness!)
Gardner mentioned that he was friends with Coldcut, which made sense to
me...with both acts being at the forefront of the media slicing and dicing
scene. He said he might "jam" with Coldcut during their performance...I
wondered what he would "play" during this jam...video cut-and-paste software?
Anyway, I didn't see him up there on stage with Coldcut, so I guess the
CCTV/EBN megajam didn't go down. Regardless, it was a fine evening...I
haven't even mentioned the stunning live performance by Bang On A Can, which
seemed to puzzle a good amount of the audience (saw a few with hands covering
their ears). Before Bang On A Can began, they acknowledged Mr. Reich
himself, who waved to the crowd from up in the "reserved only" area. I
didn't see him jacking his body on the dancefloor or anything, however.
And oh yeah...no sign of Hulk Hogan protesting outside the venue (see related
posts from about one month ago).
- Fred Church
bigkumquat@aol.com