Thursday nights Black Lodge show highlighted collaboration,
songwriting, arrangement and song-craft. A quartet of performers in a
mostly acoustic
setting presented the craft of songwriting and the discipline of
collaboration in its most direct form, performance on stage.
PAUL GREEN and
SARAH ZIMMERMANN(listen) After a long hiatus and some personal turmoil Paul Green
once more focused on his creative output. Such long periods away from
the process of organized creative thought often result in a complacency
and
artistic inhibition. I don’t want to say laziness, rather a dulling of
ones creative radar often sets in allowing the mundane, and clichéd to
creep by
unnoticed or unchecked. The higher one aims, the more detritus has
accumulated and settled. The harder it is to see. These are the cobwebs
so often
referred to and they are not easily expelled. One simply has to work
thru them. Paul Green and Sarah Zimmermann performed a set rich in
content with
songs and instrumental compositions that were mostly on the mark with
one exception, a misplaced ballad with keyboard accompaniment that left
me
standing on the bow of a large ship with my arms outstretched. Its
placement in the set indicated it was meant to be an emotional high
point in the
show, but it weakly leaned on overt pop cliché’s and detracted from an
otherwise good performance of hard earned material.
Sarah Zimmermann’s voice was clear and contained as she delivered
lyrics filled with questions, regrets and second thoughts. Well tread
upon
territory by some of the very best songwriters and most of this
material holds it’s own. The duo’s acoustic playing was tight. Some of
the songs
deserve larger instrumentation and all of it sounded like a work in
progress.
The Black Lodge is very much a workshop for performers.
We hope to see this project back again in our fall season.
MEG CALLEN and
DMC(listen)
Second time on our stage for this duo, who in their first time out
brought us rich and textural songscapes. This is a strong project that
gets better
each time out. Their collaboration has developed a vocabulary that is
unique and instantly recognizable as their own.
Their songwriting is strong but most impressive the arrangements
felt absolutely integral to the content being performed. Weather
performing covers
or original material this duo has a sound that belongs completely to
them. The best set of the night.
JAMES SEWARD
and DMC(listen) Always rewarding to listen to these two present traditional folk and bluegrass music.
James Seward is one the best pickers around and this duo’s set is never
without a surprise or two. Tonight’s surprise: James Seward’s powerful
voice.
PLANET
Y(listen) Yanni Papadopoulos and Charles Cohen collaborate on this improvisational joint venture.
I was very pleased to see these guy’s in The Black Lodge and even more
so to see that most people stayed on to see them. This kind of
improvisation is
rare and these two are
in fine form right now with upcoming CD release in October.
Their performance was mature, often funny and rich in ideas. Planet Y
will celebrate their CD release with an October performance at The
Black Lodge.
Don’t miss it.
Pads and Steel provided a refreshing fun filed jazz flavored
set of originals with some silly satirical twists and a free, loose performance style.
Engaging and intelligent their set was my favorite of the night.
Once again, strong musicianship, but it's their candor, honesty
and directness that make this trio unique and engaging.
Oh Boy! What to say about this?
We often have unknown quest simply show up and ask to perform at The Black Lodge. We always accommodate.
Such is the case for KAZ the tiny Japanese man-boy with his big guitar
and little yellow suitcase of miniature and impenetrable homemade T-shirts.
Kaz also known as PWRFL POWER performed a Sesame Street like set
of simple minded, self indulgent, self-help, feel good regurgitation to small
built in crowd of enablers.
By evenings end I witnessed most of this crowd carrying gear for one or
more of the other three acts of the night, so I can only assume they
are in on
the secret.
These are same people who understand the Teletubbies.
Kaz performed 8 songs from his personal diary of whimsical observations.
Feel good about yourself. Try to feel good about others. Eat your vegetables.
Kaz is from Seattle (of course) were this kind of thing is a common cafe experience.
Oh Brother!
EXTRA EXTRA EXTRA:
iPHONE!We love youtube!
SCISSORING!
Be my advisor!FORESTGUMP!
Field of Cream!Couples counceling!
Paris Hilton GO TO JAIL.
Do not collect $200.
Goodnight.
This trio came to the Black Lodge, like so many of its
wayward visitors, drawn into our harbor like a lost
and rusty schooner bobbing along in the black and
watery night.
Steeped in melodrama and swathed in vintage
dandy-garb, this group laid out a buffet of
goth-tinged crooner-tunes which, despite its fierce
chain-rattling, failed to spook the usual creeps who
feast regularly at the Black Lodge.
These silly aesthetic aims (read: RESTRICTIONS), leave
the players, Sam Mickens and Jherek Bischoff (guitar
and bass, respectively) and Nick Tamburro on drums,
kicking against the inside of a pine box with
little-to-no room to stretch out.
The band is lacking neither in talent nor in vision
but it tragically choses to task this vitality in
service to a predictable and theatrically adolescent
construct. There it is left to claw at the lid and
gasp soundlessly in the dark.
These boys could stand to throw their maps overboard
and spend a few nights lost at sea. But, as is often
the case with a trio, there seems to be an unfortunate
fixation on the destination rather than the long haul
itself.
CAPILLARY ACTION began their fall tour at The Black Lodge Friday night
With a managerie of stone skipping, genre pond hopping post-rock.
Jonathan Pfeffers material and musical direction were explosive and tight.
His guitar was a little overstated and showy but held in check by very good
trio led by Ricardo Lagomasino's high-speed percussion.
Ricardo was the real show for me as his percussion was a flurry of touches
that reminds me of Denardo Coleman with the impact of late 80's speed metal.
This quartet rounds out with Spencer Russell's frantic bass
and the deep amplified sax of David Fishkin.
These genre jumping post-rock bands always seem to attract the best and brightest and CAPILLARY ACTION is no exception.
The problem lies not so much in what's there but rather who's there.
Who is CAPILLARY ACTION?
I dont know.
All I heard was an impeccably presented resume of references.
-mdl
05.18.07
siLTmaN (listen)-
the second incarnation
of BO is running along the edges of song destruction but with a
somewhat uncertain plan in mind. However, they move fearlessly onward
from the
wreckage of the ‘mission impossible’ theme to ‘iron man’ to ? Gina
Gleason splits her time between self referential guitar work and
enthusiastic
drumming while Zack Block manages to always inspire laughter and
applause. their performance is a chinese fire drill of changing
personnel and
instrumentation which always pitches a big sneaky curve when you find
yourself asking “what's next?”
Sioux City Pete and the Beggars (listen)- Satanists sure are sweethearts and gracious to the very end! A LOUD (LOOUUUDDDD!!!) four piece (3 guitars/1
drummer) came all the way from Iowa and delivered gutsy, muscular guitar playing. A glorious r&r spectacle...
“you think im a very nice man...YOUDONTFUCKINGKNOWME!” ...Something BAD
happened to this man, which is GOOD because NOW he makes sludgy
swamp-rock
full of swagger and sneer with zero pretense and reminds me what i love
about r&r and its legacy of raunch, volume, depravity and
goat-heads.
Rasputin’s Secret Police (listen)- Wynne
Record’s darlings (guitar and drums duo) served up a long winded set of
seriously limp wristed suburban
anthems. Brendan’s simpering vocals were barely audible but whose
content, from what i gathered, were as pointless, boring, and
noncommittal as his
guitar playing. Josh, on the other hand, beat the living crap outta our
drums, screeched and slobbered like a maniac and all the while, kept it
inna
nice tight pocket...excellent work. Suprizingly, ambivalence is a GOOD
thing to inspire in your listeners, kids.
Black Lodge Ensemble (listen)-
The second installment of WDCD’s “Teeth” was a complete 180 degree turn
from the previous evening’s disastrous
performance. The group read each other well and moved fluidly through a
clear collection of scenarios which they constructed with staccato
sound
assemblage, analog sequences, magnetic tape manipulation, and good old
fashioned electric guitar, to name a few. The strengths of this band
lie in a
broad accessibility to instrumentation, acute listening skills, and
ultimately their fearless approach to new ideas.
New Ghost (listen)-
Elliot Levin
(vocals, flute, soprano & tenor sax), Rick Iannacone (guitar),
Steve Testa (bass), John Testa (drums)...this group unleashed a
blistering 2 hour
set of cutting-edge free jazz and avant-funk pieces many of which acted
as formidable under structures for the Beat poetry of Levin. Elliott
swapped
sax for flute for word all night without missing a step.
The Testa brothers held court confidently with a choppy and thickened
rhythm section but loosened the reigns a bit when they invited Eric
Slick to sit
in on a second drum kit for a portion of the set. Rick Iannacone’s work
on guitar clearly illustrates 40 years of technique and attack, speed,
feel,
funk and squeal.
There is an immense and specific satisfaction which comes from watching
musicians work at this level. They easily move beyond the formal
aspects of
the piece at hand and can draw stylistically from many sources at once
without succumbing to the trappings of affectation. The result is an
intense
compression of time/history and the multiplicity of forms created in
this heated environment by the hybridization of improvisational styles
of melody,
rhythm and attack.
-dmc
05.17.07
Thursday May 17 saw a totally different kind of animal come through the Black Lodge. An ALMOST entirely acoustic evening was enjoyed by a comfortable and appreciative crowd as the Lodge was filled with VERY new sounds.
JAMES SEWARD (listen)- began the evening hacking through his severe allergies to deliver a beautifully arranged set of traditional bluegrass, jazz, and origional material. He was accompanyed by an enthusiastic, if somewhat unprepared, dmc on bass. It had been over 3 years since the two had played together but both fell into stride with the opening phrases of Irving Berlin’s “Russian Lullabye”. James’ playing style is steeped in old school flat-picking, peppered with muting and popping, and yet his phrasing constantly reaches outside the modal limitations of the material. There is always a sense that he has gone off the deep end during his quick and angular solos, but always manages to use a more traditional hook to swing back onto the bridge, winking slyly to the audience and leaving them wondering; “Are you psychic? ...or psycho?”
FLOATING STONE (listen)- Guitarist Jeff Aug and percussionist Niko Lai delivered an A-List performance of entirely origianal work. Jeff’s unique style is at times aggressive and terrifically brutish and, at others, sensitive and tactful. His finger picking technique is an entirely homegrown, and baffling spectacle and reveals very little about its lineage. Nico sat surrounded by an arsenal of interesting, small, sometimes hilarious percussive instruments (the thing that goes ‘doo-weeee!’ and the one that sounds like a door creaking....and that can-thingy that sounds like thunder!). His main axe, however is the African udu, a simple clay sphere with two sound holes. In the hands of its master, it propelled Floating Stone through a 60+ minute set of extended compositions, storytelling, and humorous on stage inter-play between the two who clearly enjoyed themselves beginning to end.
Black Lodge Ensemble- An ‘off’ night for the BLE performing an origional piece called ‘TEETH’ by WDCDRADIO. Volume issues, missed cues, and good old-fashioned stage fright successfully unwound the cummulative efforts of the eight ensemble members and weeks of rehearsals. Chalk it up as a ‘learning experince’ because this performance by the BLE paved the way for its total and collective redemption the following night (see Review 05/18/07).
-dmc
04.27.07
BO Percussionist, Baseball addict, and doorman extraordinaire Dave Papp has joined Black Lodge Productions as a manager at large. His first project was the unlikely pairing of All-Star Gina Gleeson and heretofore-unknown Zack Block in the instant group BO (pronounced like Moe). This project took two weeks of preparation and culminated in a very good performance of a couple of originals and one cleverly placed piece of “Song-Destruction”. Guitarist/Composer Gina Gleeson is quickly building an impressive resume of work. As a member of The Black Lodge Ensemble, and a regular guest of wdcdradio Gina has been asked to stretch out and take on some difficult music. These experiences, her hard work and natural leadership is evident in BO. I like this bands ideas and want to hear more.
**PRFZR*DRSZ** The narrow view of eighties pop culture is a pervasive virus among many students of The Paul Green School Of Rock Music. Third rate sub-culture co-opted and force fed to eager and willing stooges who happily gobble and regurgitate it over and over without bringing much to it and, in my view, taking very little from it. Cultural placeholders, droogies of the status quo, unwilling and perhaps unable to grow. Hand-me-down kids wearing second hand ideas and dressing up to a vanguard that comes with an instruction book.
Fortunately, every three months or so, depending upon Brandon King’s latest career, PRFZR*DRSZ sends a memo to remind us of what was yesterday and what today is. The Professors craft their influences (see above) to their own agenda. Concerned with all that is overexposed detritus PD feeds on eighties DNA, and the nature of recycled culture. PD are never aloof or cryptic and always “of their time”. PD uses the same toolbox available at every eighties lending library. The difference is in the leaning, and PRFZR*DRSZ always lurches forward. So the next time your bobbing your head and extending your index and pinky at The Black Lodge consider that these guy’s just might be talking to you. Have A Nice Day.
MAX THE DORK A simple idea, cleverly presented and well performed. Maureen Hayes, Brett and pre-recorded drums. Highly entertaining stuff.
THE FEATHERTOP$ The Feathertop$ performed a very professional set of slightly southern sounding blues-rock songs airmailed from the 1970’s For all I know these guy’s are from South Philly or New Jersey so lets not get to carried away with how well they copped their sound. A good set from a band that has been working hard on well-developed material. Good song writing, well delivered with a classic southern rock approach of dual guitars. When they run out of steam they tend to rock out and lose the focus of their sound a bit. A nice set.
THE JOHNSON-MARUZELLA TRIO A competent rock trio with ever so slight progressive leanings A bit to common for my taste but well performed. It’s tough to go on last at The Black Lodge and these guy’s Did a good job of keeping people in the house.
03.30.07
REVIEW – THE BLACK LODGE 3/30 MEG CALLEN Meg Callen and dmc started the evening with a set of songs which included guitar, bass, vocals and live interactive Reel-to-Reel tape loops. We here at Black Lodge Productions have been looking for ways to get students who have composed songs but do not belong to a band, on stage to present their material in new and interesting ways. To that end thanks Meg for your good faith and especially for a great set of songs. Last week MoeJiggetts and Aaron Sheehan delivered equally interesting sets of non-hop hip-hop and solo bass respectively. Two weeks prior to that show Foster Longo performed a wonderful solo piano exploration along with his ipod. Matt Hollenberg, Dylan McConnell and Yanni Papadopoulos each performed with solo guitar and effects.
It is time that more Rock School students get involved with developing, recording and performing their ideas. You don’t have to be in a band to do it. I would much prefer to see a good performance then a poorly pre-paired band. If you would like to perform but are not in a band Black Lodge Productions is currently developing 2 new programs for performance.
SONG DESTRUCTION – Sign up now and begin destroying songs immediately
EXQUISITE CORPSE – What is it? Send us an e-mail and find out.
THE TRIO NERO A very nice set delivered with the kind of command we love here at The Black Lodge The Trio Nero like The Allen Holdsworth Trio sounded great in our little room. With a nod to Carlos Santana’s mid 70’s guitar work Nero Catalano and company explored mostly new territory kept the quotes to a minimum and played their material extremely well. Quite an enjoyable set.
ELLIOTT LEVIN and The Black Lodge Ensemble
Finally, and with great effort, The Black Lodge has a working ensemble. The purpose of this working group is to develop original material, perform with special guests and to go where no band has gone before. The first fruits of this project were performed onstage Friday night with Elliott Levin.
Elliott Levin is a Philadelphia native, published author and renowned performer on saxophone, flute and spoken word. Elliott has performed throughout the US and the world with many groups, including: Cecil Taylor’s Unit Core Ensemble,Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes, Scram!, New Ghosts, Atzilut (Fourth World) and Talking Free Bebop.
Elliott graciously joined our project approximately one month ago at the request of Eric Slick. We then did a series of live improvised radio broadcasts from the studios of wdcdradio. These included solo performances and ensemble improvisations with Rock School students alumni and quests. This workshop stressed improvisation, extended technique in all instruments as well as the use magnetic tape loops, pre-recorder Reel to Reel tape and studio as instrument applications to live performance.
Friday night’s performance was a seamless forty-five minute exploration of avant-free form music, delivered with energy, wisdom, humor and confidence. A mesmerized crowd of mostly students (about time!) and guests cheered Elliott and company to The Black Lodges first ever encore. Hands Down, the best performance I have ever seen in The Black Lodge.
For this project The Black Lodge Ensemble was:
Elliott Levin – Saxophone, Flute, Spoken Word Eric Slick – Drums, Percussion, Sheet Metal, Ladder, Organ Dylan McConnell – Bass, Guitar, Tape Loops, Keyboards, Magnetic Tape Dominic Angelella – Guitar, Percussion Daniel Nitz – Guitar, Water Bottle, Percussion Gina Gleeson – Guitar Foster Longo – Keyboards, Prophet 5
The Black Lodge Ensemble’s next project will a be: THREE COMPOSITIONS Works by Dylan McConnell, Eric Slick, wdcdradio
Anyone interested in joining The Black Lodge Ensemble need only an open mind.
CETUS It’s no secret that I feel that The Black Lodge has seen too much metal. However if Matt Hollenberg’s band had joined us sooner I may not have been beaten to the point of metal fatigue so quickly. This is a smart inventive and original band that, although not “out” enough for my tastes are very good. They performed in a tough spot Friday night yet kept me, and many others, in the room, and attentive. After my brain recovered from the volume. I was glad I stayed.
WOMEN Women took a stab at being whimsical while performing a set of originals and some covers. I like the concept and I believe that the talent is in there somewhere, but this band needs to work harder. Bill Rooney’s a smart guy who needs to be using both sides of his brain. Write some material, practice, and get back to us.
mdl wdcdradio
03.30.07
The Mighty Third- Agent Moe (aka: rock school alumni Moses Jiggetts) and DJ PHSH set up and threw down with a conservative set of songs. Crafty, edgy yet eloquent, deliberate and delinquent... no one escaped when PHSH began to cut wax. Few things please me more than the ritual slaughter of a sacred cow now and then.... thanks, Mighty Third, for taking the first few bars of 'Stairway' down that long walk and offering its throat to the blade. In a genre entirely dominated by virtuosity (and thats HIP-HOP, by the way, not RAP), Moe most definitely has skills. Despite the lack of hands in the air waving as if they had not a care in the world, he delivered without the least hesitation, apology, OR bravado (!)
Crisbie and the Original Recipe- Ive been a fan on CATOR for years and they played all my favorites last night, as well as some fresh material (...new album soon?!). While the horse they have been beating has long long since flat-lined, they
manage to overcome the rancid fumes of its reanimated frame with a
brutish and pre-pubescent vigor remenissent of many early So-Cal punk
bands. m'gusta mucho!but please...More snot and less posturing... and NO MORE STICK TWIRLING!!!
Stone Mountain ? (aka: Noizy Ahboorshinz)- Arron
aggressively annoyed and entertained the Black Lodge crowd by cursing,
stomping on disobedient effect pedals, pulling his hair, playing bass, and demanding calisthenics from the audience. A MASSIVE leap from his last appearance (up? down? sideways?)...
IMPOSTOR- Despite a scathing, mean-spirited, and totally wrong-headed review of myself AND the Black Lodge (WTF, Brian?), I still stand by my original impressions
of this three piece. Who needs a bass player when you have a 7-string
and a formidable vocalist belching out gut rattling roars in a
thundering, inexhaustible peal! Their compositions were lengthy and
complex but executed with precision... really, not bad for a first time out! This band would have KILLED if not for two things: 1)
a drummer who clearly knew the material yet lacked the confidence and
BALLS to actually hit the drums and be heard over the HEAVY
guitar...WHICH IS WHAT THE GUITAR IS SUPPOSED TO BE, FOR CHRISSAKES! and 2)
a blind inconsistency in vocal delivery (seriously, stub-zilla, learn
how to use a mic!) all that fake screaming never translates in a live
setting unless you know what your doing. I'll
let you know when we have the 'screamo' seminar!...so you can come, you
can take notes, (NOT thank me for it) and you can have even MORE
cheat-sheets to fumble through on stage next time.
DYSLEXICON- Princeton SOR ran out their 'best-in-show' last night with a clean but somewhat bland array of genre hopping. This steam-table buffet contained: a slab of 'maiden' song here, a little 'baby-face', some 'beetles' ... (you know what I like to do? I get the meat and mashed potatoes and peas? ...mix it all up and have a shepards pie! yum...now thats good!) The
members of this band are WAAAYYY qualified to play whatever is on the
menu, and do so with competence and flair and enthusiasm. Kaleen, I hope IMPOSTOR's drummer was watching you closely cause you beat those drums like they stole yer purse, WITHOUT MERCY!! (in fact, you could stand to play a few of those songs with a little more feel and a little less fury...). And singer (Andy?) clearly knows how to finesse a mic, as well as a crowd. What
this band needs a direction, an identity, some glue to stick the pieces
together...I say, look to your name...'DYSLEXICON'...the answer is in
there...whatever that means...
02.23.07
FOSTER LONGO performed a full set of classical gymnastics on piano (a few too many in my opinion) and held the confidence and and ears of everyone in the room for a full 30+ minutes... a determined and classy act all the way. foster tipped hes cards a bit with an original composition utilizing pre-recorded 'found sound' in an elegant but poorly mixed deut (piano & ipod). i hope he pursues this path with vigor.
DYNAMIC MONOTONE started off on the wrong foot with a limping zeppelin cover complete with pedal failure, underwhelming guitar solos which were stepped on by the rhythm section, and apparent lack of footwear. they more than made up for this with a broad collection of original material which drew heavily upon the curriculum of rock school (hendrix/zappa/metallica/etc) without stinking of plagiarism. the stitching they use in piecing his monster together, however, is heavy-handed and abrupt.
MATT H delivered a solo set of undulating sound slabs produced by a 7-string guitar and an array of effects through a very very loud amp. a froth of psycho-delic aggressive relentless harmonic sequences poured over a packed room. while some realized the wisdom of sitting down for this, most scratched there heads raw trying to figure how one guy could actually be heavier than all the bands on the bill combined... i, myself, wonder what a full band may sound like under this impressive guitarist. for those of you that dont know, matt has been teaching guitar at rock school philly for years. after friday nights performance, there should be a line of you suckaz around the block .
THE ASSTRONAUTS (seriously...) are here to have fun! a trio with plenty of 'pop' with none of that annoying 'edge' performed well crafted and well executed songs about girls. some cover material makes sense in its context: beatles = yes check berry = yes outcast = no! rethink these smash and grab shots at pleasuring a crowd... your own material has legs, guts, and above all, heart. these guys had the best draw, by far, and as soon as the 'fun' was over, they took the party with them. (note to bands performing in future shows: bring more people out to see your band, besides yer two friends and yer mom).
SCYTHE OF ASRAEL... q-tip once asked:
"What is a party if it doesn't really rock?
What is a poet? All balls, no cock
What is a war if it doesn't have a general?
What's channel nine if it doesn't have Arsenio?
What is life if you don't have fun?
What is a what if you ain't got a gun?
What's Ali without Shaheed Muhammad?
Nothing.
What is a Quest if the players ain't willing?
What is a pence if you don't have a shilling?
Excuse me if I'm chillin, hey what, say what
What's a fat man without food in his gut?
What's a child birth, without the umbilical?
What's United Parcel, without the deliverer?
What's momma-san, without poppa-san?
What's martial arts without Daniel-San?
What's Rasheed without Tonya, Tamika?
What's orange juice and Doug E. Doug without Shaniqua?
Not a not a not a, not a damn thing
What's Duke Ellington without that swing?
What's Alex Haley if it doesn't have roots?
What's a weekend if you ain't knockin boots?
What's a black nation, without black unity?
What is a child who doesn't know pubery?
What is my label when I exit boom status?
What's menage-a-tois, or, that is What is sex when you have three people?
What are laws if they ain't fair and equal?
What's Clark Kent without a telephone booth?
What is a liquor if it ain't 80 proof?
What are the youth if they ain't rebellin?
What's Raplh Cramden, if he ain't yellin at Ed Norton?
what is coke snortin?
What is position if there is no contortin?
What is hip-hop if it doesn't have violence?
Chill for a minute, Doug E. Fresh said silence
....
What is a glock if you don't have a clip?
What's a lollipop without the Good Ship?
What's S&M if you don't have chains?
What's a con artist if he doesn't have brains?
What's America without greed and glamour?
What's an MC if he doesn't have stamina?
What's music fractured without Mr. Walt?
What's Trugoy without a phrase called torte?
What's Kris Lighty if he wasn't such a baby?
What is a woman if she didn't say maybe?
Baby laid down, I removed the frown
What would be my penal cord if it wasn't brown?
What is a paper without a president?
What is a compound without a element?
What is a jam if you don't spike the punch?
Was it Bruce Lee if you don't like brunch?"
to which id add.... whats an indian if he aint the big chief?
whats a hamburger without any beef?
whats a vampire without any teeth?"
...
scythe, thats what.
in the mornings, i cough up oysters scarier than these guys. a major disappointment considering the pomp and posturing leading up to this show... and because of the fact that i know they can do better than that, musically. maybe im just a jerk.
TREASON...you have made it official. NO MORE COVER BANDS IN THE BLACK LODGE! (unless it is an exercise in parody, satire, 'song destruction', or a work d'homage).
-dmc
01.26.07
Best crowd yet at The Black Lodge Friday night as Cherry Hill really turned out in support of their bands.
First up DMC showed off his old school tie and gave us a genre hopping tour of improvised avant-punk solo guitar. More about him later…
Next up HYSTERIA set up and delivered a set of one or two originals and a bunch of covers. I give credit to anyone who shows up to perform at The Black Lodge and these guys did a great job. More originals please.
The highlight of this night was the down but not out returning champions PRZR DRSZ who sought and found redemption with a searing non-stop set of punk-jazz wathefuck. Guitarist BK dropped his Yoko, picked up his health insurance and Manned Up with an endless variety of quickie-jams, quirky melodies and amusing facial expressions. ES filled the fills and MC’d the evenings theatrical content, which was the usual tabloid dressing up and dressing down. I like complete drummers and Eric has certainly grown into that. I wish his drum kit would grow with him. The real treat of this DRSZ set was DMC who elevated the formula with an intense, complete and full on bass clinic. Colorful heated and nuanced. I share the airwaves with DMC once a week and I like to think I know when he’s good and when he’s great. Friday night he was great. The traditional PRSZ DRSZ set ends with an apology. No apologies necessary for this one.
RIPLEY WRIGHT and HAGAR followed with set of progressive jazz somewhere between Weather Report and The Weather Channel. I love most things that begin with the word progressive, but this had no edge, and no soul, lost in endless and repetitive noodleing. These guy’s live too much inside the genre and need to look outside for their inspiration.
STONE MOUNTAIN TERROR showed up next with their action figure lunch boxes and Riki Rachtman hairdo’s. Fake Blood, Fake Hair, Fake Boots, Fake Head Banging, Fake Metal. This kind of Metal is now officially jumping the shark. There’s a lot of great Metal out there as Metal has grown in a variety of unusual and interesting directions, from Norwegian Black Death, European progressive Metal to New York avant- punk and west coast thrash speed metal the genre has grown and it’s better for it. KISS this kiddie stuff goodbye. It’s over.
12.14.06
PLANET Y - featuring Yanni Papadopoulos Yanni Papadopoulos is best known as the guitarist of Stinking Lizaveta. Last night he and his Casio guitar did a short set which was half improvised guitar and half vaudeville shtick A highly entertaining work in progress, fun for the entire family. PLANET Y is available for weddings.
PRFSR DRSZ There’s trouble in DRSZ Ville as the boys decided to air their dirty laundry to a dazed and confused Black Lodge crowd. Open hostility broke out somewhere between Brittney Spears P-u-s-s-y and Michael Richards’s racism. A puzzling set. So many questions…. Is this a new twist on usually topical DRSZ set ? Have the PRFZ’S gone tabloid? Will the DRSZ boys be dressing each other down every month? Will the drummer be DRSZING up every month? Has BK gone Yoko? Sometimes these guys’s should just shut up and play.
BUFFALO STANCE Jamie Robinson formerly of Need New Body was really the highlight of this show. His set first confused but quickly won this audience with a rich and complex songwriting style, multi-tracked vocals, and layers of interwoven keyboards. A confident solo performer whose work I look forward to hearing again.
OODS I like some the no frills post punk-pop references mined by OODS I like their willingness to work out ideas on stage. However the band lacks a bass player and it shows. I would like to hear this band unplugged.
DOG & PONY For the last set I was already for some space jam. Mike Sabolick and his Roland Space Echo really know this quadrant. Unfortunately his band lets him down a bit in the early going with a straight ahead approach, classic song structure and over the top vocals. Dog & Pony really shines as an instrumental unit allowing their guitarist to travel the space ways.
FOSTER LONGO performed a full