I don’t go to a whole lot of rocknroll shows lately. I listen to a bunch of records at home, and I see plenty of music before and after the shows I play myself, or with Amanda Jo, or with Cricket & The 2:19. But it isn’t so often that I go out and pay money to see people play who don’t live in my neighborhood.
Monday night I walked down to the Echo with Z for an A+ triple bill, worth at least the $10 each we paid admission.
First up was the Horse Thieves, who live in my neighborhood. Good songs, good good playin. Their singer / guitarist Alex amplifies his acoustic guitar through a record player. He doesn’t play a lot of what you’d call “lead” guitar, but when he does it is tasty.
Next was a set from the Master Musicians Of Bukkake, a sort of underground supergroup based mainly in Seattle. The musicianship in this band is astonishing, and the show is much more than a gratuitous display of chops. There are seven people in the band, including bass, 2 guitars (sometimes 3), 2 drummers, an astonishing singer, and various and sundry non-United-Statesian instruments. The music ranged from sustained heavy guitar drones to minor key eastern-style melodies and off-time grooves, plus interludes of ambient grunting. I don’t want to tell you what they looked like, cos I want you to be surprised. They have to be seen and heard to be believed.
The “headliners” was Six Organs Of Admittance, aka Ben Chasny and friends. The first half of his set was an acoustic duet between Ben and “my friend Andrew,” some instrumentals and some vocals, renditions of songs from Six Organs’ last four albums or so.
In the second half of the set, some (or all) of the Master Musicians returned to the stage to be a world-class rocknroll band for a while. More interpretations of the last few years worth of Six Organs material - lots of jams, but not too many or too much. Sky guitar (from Master Musician “Milky”) to make Duane Allman whimper in something that could be ecstasy or agony or even both.
All topped by Ben’s wonderful and honest voice, like a mellower Tim Buckley or a more theatrical Fred Neil, anchoring the Big Sound with just-audible-enough melodies and lyrics.
Yum.
