we attended a break-neck show last night at the wooden cavern in the tenderloin. comets on fire from san francisco, and the animal collective and black dice, both from williamsburg brooklyn.
comets on fire were loud and noisy. lots of riffs repeated ad infinitum, screaming, that squelchy echoplex. if you've heard them or seen them, then you know what they sound like, because they pretty much sounded like they do on record (minus ben chasney) except sloppier and louder. the good kind of sloppy mind you. it was funny to see an echoplex player on stage with the band. just a guy hanging out on the side, banging his head and rocking out as he twiddled the three or four knobs on an old tolex-covered wooden box. groovy.
i had no idea what the expect from the animal collective, because the only record of theirs i have is "here comes the indian" and i really couldn't fathom how any band could perform those pieces live. i mean, pots and pans plus vocal jams? anyway, they had a guitarist playing a fender who didn't sing, a guitarist playing a shiney PRS who was the lead singer, then a percussionist/singer in back, and a guy who squatted down at the front of the stage twiddling knobs. the knob-twiddler wore a petzel head lamp which made him look like a spelunker. he had three minidisc players going into a mixing board and a small effects unit. it seemed to me that he was manipulating both singers' mics as well as background noises and some bass lines (pre-recorded on the MD). they had an unexpectedly big rock sound. some parts reminded me of syd barrett and the soft machine in their delicate melodies, and other parts were harsh and disturbing with whacked-out vocals. kind of like the early work of the residents. the singer spent a great deal of time screaming (and i mean screaming) which was actually really cool. he's a good screamer. but then they would bring the rock down and wander into ambient territory, which relied primarily on the guitarist who didn't sing. he had some inventive sounds, played a lot of harmonic-laden stuff at the top of the neck. jazzy? then they started meowing. i mean, i know they are called the animal collective, but when they started meowing and barking into the microphones, it got pretty silly. i liked them, though. definitely unique—they have their own thing going and the crowd was into it, all paying attention-like.
the black dice were freaking LOUD. i'd heard that they lost their drummer, so i was expecting the show to be more on their mellow and drifty side. indeed, two guys with gobs of effects, MDs, synths, and mics, one guy with a gold-top les paul guitar and some sort of throwback analog synth. they set up across the stage in single-file in front of their amps. rather than go direct into the soundboard like most electronic bands, they plugged their rigs into huge amps and towering speaker cabinets, which were set up along the back of the stage and then miked. aside from looking ominous and giving the visual impression of WE ARE LOUD, this creates a different sound for the band. instead of a plain amplified signal going out into the room through a sterile cable, you get moving parts vibrating, air moving and vibrating other moving parts, and so on. it makes the sound bigger and more natural to the ears. anyway, the only reason i'm mentioning this is because it allowed them to do a lot of different things with the signals coming through the amps. they built loops, got some feedback going, then laid down texture on top of blistering texture.
we went up into the balcony and scored some primo seats (there was a mass exodus from the club about five minutes into their set) right above the stage, so we got an excellent view of every little tweak and knobber twist. they played a couple of recognizable songs from the "creature comforts" album during the set. they basically alternated between pretty ten-minute ditties and harsh sound experiments for the hour long set. the highlight for me was about half way through when this pretty two-chord vamp started slowly turning into total mush. the two synth guys kept adding static and noise on top of the two note melody until it was this giant wash of sound. and it just kept getting louder and more intense, like a rocket ship taking off. it sounds cheesy, but that's totally what it sounded like. the floor in the balcony started vibrating, our drinks started moving on the drink rail because of the vibrations. the sound kept going up and up. i looked down at the floor of the club and there were streams of people leaving with their hands over their ears. but for every one person not digging it, there was one indie kid in a tight sweater and a boss haircut standing there with his mouth open all blissed out like he's at a phish concert. that wall of sound moment went on for a solid five minutes, it was beautiful.
our perch spot up on top of the stage offered a great view of the assembled sweaters and haircuts. hilery studied the bands for a while and then turned to me: "since i've been hanging out with a bunch of people from williamsburg for the past week, i can say this. these guys are totally so very williamsburg. it's kind of funny."
the black dice portion of the show ended rather abruptly when the guitarist's amp head cut out. it started to smell a little like ozone, maybe his amp actually exploded. he made the "cut the throat" sign and they took a bow. i bought their tour-only 12" at the merch table and spent the last ten dollars in my pocket. i had to scrounge hilery's house for bus fare this morning.
some minor discussion today with friends who were at the show brought confessions of headaches, ringing ears, and sensory overload during the black dice performance. i think that's what they were going for. back in their hardcore days, they used to throw equipment at audience members. now it seems that they are more subtle about their assault. either way, if you intend to see the black dice any time soon (and you really should), let me pass along a word of advice: earplugs.
Posted by snackfight at August 26, 2004 01:41 PM