So, I've been an avid show-goer for about 9 years.... I've seen some damn
good shows. I would come back from such a show cherishing the decision I
made earlier that night. "Oh, man... I'm tired"... then I'd stumble off
to bed around 1:30AM or so..
Then I'd wake up around 7:45AM to go to work... "Oh, fuckin' fuck... I
forgot. Weekday shows suck."
Every few times a year, I see some *amazing* shows. I don't care if I get
back at, oh, 3AM... 4AM... sometimes even 5AM... But it was damn worth it.
I'd stumble off to bed knowing that I'd get 2 or 3 hours sleep tops.
Then I'd wake up around 7:45AM to go to work..."Grrooooooannn!!! Oooh
FUCK!... man, last night's show was worth so much, but I'm REEEEALLLY
paying it for now.."
Last night was different. After the Negativland show at the El Rey
in L.A., I just...couldn't get to sleep. I was so entranced by the entire
night, that I just couldn't help it. I lied prone in bed without even
changing my clothes, with my head on my crossed arms, and I kept on
hitting rewind on the ol' mental reel-to-reel over and over and over again
just so I could cherish and re-cherish all the images, sounds, feelings,
etc. my brain recorded the past few hours...
[At about this time, if you're about to see a Negativland show in the next
few days, hit delete now..]
* The exhibition of McDonald's restaurant's marketing strategy for women.
* The surreal Christian puppet show c/o Pastor Dick
* The non-sequitir story of 180 and the letter G c/o The Weatherman
* The really noisy piece about how to fix a turntable, as part of grander
piece about "music"...
* An Oom Pah Pah version of... you know, THAT song... from, well, THAT
band... you know.. the nice world-conscious lads who still haven't
found it... what they're looking for, that is.
* A Barbie doll rendition of The Titanic
* A few of Negativland's "hits"
* "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeEEEEEEEEEeeeeEEEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!"
* Marsha Turnblatt's story about discipline, The Lord, and pork butt
grease burning body parts of her 5-year old.
* the Spiritualized-esque "Loop Forever" sequence with bubbling, burning
projector film
* Last but not least, an audience participating in an a cappella of a
certain long distance dedication to a little dog named Snuggles.
..and that was just a fraction of it all. It was a long, long show.
Two 80-90 minutes sets, with an intermission in the middle. No opening
act.
I've been a crazed Negativland fan since high school -- and I got to see
them 7 years ago at Bogart's in Long Beach. THAT was a fantastic show.
I couldn't have asked for anything more at the time. But I just didn't
expect last night to go so beyond even that last Negativland tour.
I can't even enjoy listening to any type of conventional music right
now...
If you're, at all, tolerable of music containing rampant,
planned-yet-chaotic triggerings of samples, loops, noise.. film
projector visuals... occasional stage theatrics, and occasional
synth-based songs not unlike, say, Mouse On Mars or Residents... you
would be a fool to miss this show. Especially since all of this combined
successfully carried across some grand points about advertising, media,
and the public's willingness the trust the former two all too well.
"Experimental" and "Fun" are often argued to be mutually exclusive terms.
"Experimental music", or at least a colloquial definition thereof, often
carries an aura of something you can't fully comprehend.. something that
you're not completely comfortable with, but something you have to train
yourself to like, just so you can build that much more musical character,
bladdy bladdy blah.... That said, last night's show helped to cause a few
cracks in that definition.
Negativland have possibly put on not only the most challenging show I've
ever seen last night, but the most fun show I've ever seen -- all at the
same time.
=======================================================================
Brian MacDonald <brianm@kuci.org>
KUCI 88.9 fM in Irvine, CA -- Orange County
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