[ I was at the Seattle show, as well. Two things I can't believe nobody
[ has mentioned are Kenny Muhammed
the Human Orchestra? He certainly got the crowd going. Especially the two or
three extremely inebriated fellows that pushed in front of me. Did anyone
notice that the Showbox crowd was very strange that night? Not all who I would
expect at a Squarepusher show.
[ and those damn strobe lights.
Oh, I thought everybody knew about them. At least it was part of the
Squarepusher image on his last tour, when he stopped at Chop Suey in Seattle.
Prior to that tour, Squarepusher had missed three scheduled dates in Seattle,
so I figured the strobes might even be older than the "Do You Know
Squarepusher" tour.
The Chop Suey show sported three "standard" strobe lights. The combination of
the heat, fully packed venue, strobe lights, and the fact that Tom started
with three non-stop, intense songs resulted in this being the only musical
performance ever that was "too much" for me. I had to back away from the front
of the stage and stand in the back of the venue under the A/C until Tom played
some less extreme pieces.
[ Kenny blew my mind and the strobes blew out my eyes. Does the fact that
[ I love beatboxing and hate strobe lights mean I'm getting old and/or out
[ of touch?
I don't know, wait until the next Squarepusher tour and see if you can handle
it. :-) I found the strobes to be almost ho-hum after the last tour. (I'm
exaggerating). It's interesting to note that while the last tour had
"standard" strobe lights, this tour had what could have been custom-designed
lights. I mean, these things were 12 to 15 inches across, and not only was the
speed adjustable, but they could be dimmed. When they first came on, my eyes
were watering, but I eventually adjusted. I think they're totally appropriate
for the intensity of Squarepusher's music. Some folks were on heavy drugs, but
the strobes were enough to put me in an altered state.
Last tour, I thought Tom didn't want anyone watching him play bass. :-) It
seemed that the strobes only came on during the songs with bass. Any time the
strobes weren't on, it always seemed to be one of the laptop / sequenced songs.
So I was carefully watching this time. I got the impression that he's not
hiding after all, but just wants to make the performance over-the-top.
Brian
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