Friday night I tried to Burn Baby Burn. Product placement even in the title. Twice.
The bands were Hitman's Heel (Alexander Hacke, Danielle De Picciotto and Chris Hughes) and Kid & Khan (Khan and Kid Congo Powers). We waited two hours for them to stop wandering about and get on stage. They finally did and Hitman's Heel were up first.
The sound was quite poor, but I'm not one to attend gigs for the sheer pleasure of listening to the sound engineer. Sure, a quality sound helps the enjoyment, but on the other hand I don't think that any musician composes his music with the bit rate in mind.
That being said, though, I could hardly hear any vocals. And I was practically on stage.
Hacke is no lead singer, to be sure, but all his vocals sounded obnoxiously drunk, which, come to think of it, maybe he was a little. I don't think he was the only one either.
But I remember thinking, Hey, some of these songs probably sound really good on the cd! So I bought the cd. Meh, it's alright, but nothing heart-shredding.
Here's two songs they played that made me buy the cd.
The bands were Hitman's Heel (Alexander Hacke, Danielle De Picciotto and Chris Hughes) and Kid & Khan (Khan and Kid Congo Powers). We waited two hours for them to stop wandering about and get on stage. They finally did and Hitman's Heel were up first.
The sound was quite poor, but I'm not one to attend gigs for the sheer pleasure of listening to the sound engineer. Sure, a quality sound helps the enjoyment, but on the other hand I don't think that any musician composes his music with the bit rate in mind.
That being said, though, I could hardly hear any vocals. And I was practically on stage.
Hacke is no lead singer, to be sure, but all his vocals sounded obnoxiously drunk, which, come to think of it, maybe he was a little. I don't think he was the only one either.
But I remember thinking, Hey, some of these songs probably sound really good on the cd! So I bought the cd. Meh, it's alright, but nothing heart-shredding.
Here's two songs they played that made me buy the cd.
Hitman's Heel - Flowers
Hitman's Heel - Ballad of The Lonely Fish
Collector's item, right?
Next up, Julee Cruise with Khan & Kid. Julee was quite an apparition, I must say. I didn't know what to expect, given that some 20 odd years have passed since I was dropping everything I was doing and ran inside to watch Twin Peaks. God knows what she's done in the mean time. Actually I'd like to ask God: what the hell has she been doing? She reminded me of Ms Dinsmoor. A hallucinating Ms Dinsmoor. She seemed quite alert to invisible friends and foes, her expression changing from one second to the next for no apparent reason. I thought it was an act, her stage persona, but halfway through the concert I wasn't so sure any more. When at some point one of her invisible friends turned out to be St. Vitus, I actually felt a pang of pity. But pity mixed with a weird affection, the kind one feels when watching a puppy with amputated hind legs trying to climb on to the sofa and cuddle. I wanted to hug her and tell her the war was over, we won.
Kid and Khan were funny and entertaining, but by sweet comparison with Julee's antics. The whole thing struck me as a small gig for friends, maybe even rehearsals, where nothing sounds perfect, jokes are aloud and sometimes the more nervous ones try too hard and spoil the joke.
But I cherish these moments, I wouldn't give them for any clockwork performance by U2.
In the end I got my drumstick, hugged Kid Congo (poor thing, what was I thinking?) and went on my way.
Here's Julee with a song she played that night, but the version where she actually sings. I won't post any videos of her, it's too Monday for that kind of image.
Next up, Julee Cruise with Khan & Kid. Julee was quite an apparition, I must say. I didn't know what to expect, given that some 20 odd years have passed since I was dropping everything I was doing and ran inside to watch Twin Peaks. God knows what she's done in the mean time. Actually I'd like to ask God: what the hell has she been doing? She reminded me of Ms Dinsmoor. A hallucinating Ms Dinsmoor. She seemed quite alert to invisible friends and foes, her expression changing from one second to the next for no apparent reason. I thought it was an act, her stage persona, but halfway through the concert I wasn't so sure any more. When at some point one of her invisible friends turned out to be St. Vitus, I actually felt a pang of pity. But pity mixed with a weird affection, the kind one feels when watching a puppy with amputated hind legs trying to climb on to the sofa and cuddle. I wanted to hug her and tell her the war was over, we won.
Kid and Khan were funny and entertaining, but by sweet comparison with Julee's antics. The whole thing struck me as a small gig for friends, maybe even rehearsals, where nothing sounds perfect, jokes are aloud and sometimes the more nervous ones try too hard and spoil the joke.
But I cherish these moments, I wouldn't give them for any clockwork performance by U2.
In the end I got my drumstick, hugged Kid Congo (poor thing, what was I thinking?) and went on my way.
Here's Julee with a song she played that night, but the version where she actually sings. I won't post any videos of her, it's too Monday for that kind of image.
Julee Cruise - Into The Night
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