Announcement
It's a veritable flurry of electronic music activity! On Saturday, June 12, at 10:30 PM, Drywall XXI--the Man from Nyayzar--returns! Substantially revised, to boot! Leaner, stronger, more nimble, with a substantially revised running order! Still the same accordion virtuosity from Pataphysician Stephen Pellegrino, ear-altering drumming by Michael Yaklich, and sample and guitar trickery by your humble correspondent...PLUS the secret weapons: processed throat singing and...drop-tuned ukulele. With a pickup. We're bringing out the big guns, boyee!

Another LOSER (the Loose Organization of Surreal Ethereal Realists) production. Thanks to the Three Rivers Arts Festival.

Saturday, June 12, 2004, 10:30 PM. 937 Liberty, downtown. All ages. Free.

Report
A special night. Photos here.

Steve made some radical changes from the last performance that put this one over the top. Sadly, the stories didn't remain unscathed, but we gained a lot with the new arrangement. Definitely a fine evening. It didn't start well, however. I drove down to the venue and loaded in, but had attracted the attention of Annoying Street Person of the Year, who persistently tried to sell me a disposable camera he'd found, and was followed by an array of compatriots who tried similar methods of extracting money. Sheesh. They'd made note of the car, so I went around the block to the far side of the nearby lot and parked behind Steve's van. Nonetheless, yet another of the street guy's posse was waiting for me. I'd given already, so I went on in, but thought I'd probably move the car later.

On the way in, I ran into Eric Fox and Leslie Fleisher, who thought they might be able to make it back for the show, but weren't sure. (In the event, they didn't, although I see that as no fault of theirs--Clutter drummer Ty later told me he'd tried to get in shortly after 10:30 and found the door locked again.)

Distressingly, Mary and the kids were battling an illness, and Steve was concerned that he was next in line for it, so that was hanging over our heads. After I'd set up, we realized Steve didn't have his melodica, so I offered to drive Mary back to their place to pick it up. We did pick it up, and I used this opportunity to put the car in a garage, even though I'd already paid. Ironically, shortly after I did this, the panhandling brigade was gone in the wake of a police sweep.

After a bit of rehearsal--including Steve's son Leo--and going over the changes to the set (different sections integrated, my playing happening several times over the course of the evening instead of concentrated at the beginning and end), we adjourned to the offstage area so that our entry would be more theatrical. Vale and Year member Dave Bernabo came by with a CDR for me of his prepared piano playing. I'll have to check it out.

At 10 something we figured we'd start playing an intro improv on "Lady of Spain," which was a great idea...except I'd left my ring modulators tuned to Db for "Equinox," and had to spend...three minutes...getting them right. Ohboy. Then when I did join in, part of my brain was still in Db, so occasionally I hit some serious clams. Listening back to the recording, my amp was turned down way too much, so I'm not much present unless one's listening carefully, but I ultimately did some nice integration with Steve's and Mike's excellent playing. Steve absented himself after a bit of this, leaving me and Mike to fill the space, during which I did manage to build an interestingly dark atmosphere. I also retuned the ring mods to Db midway through this duo section, which added a transitional element to the intro. I have to say Mike did a great job building some rhythmic structure in the absence of any rhythmic cues from me. (Though I did do a bit more "playing" by the end.)

Thirteen minutes in, we stopped, and Steve began his vocal introduction. This time, his delivery was seriously slowed down, and conveyed parody, solemnity, and intense otherness. Very nice. He and Mike then slammed right into an aggressive and generally masterful "The Funky Polka," although Steve's bass pickup was set too low, and he wanted to do the last verse again. Much to my surprise, the audience was still with us--perhaps more than they were before. I also noted SCLF drummer Ryan Sigesmund in the house, which was another good sign.

Next up, Steve and Mike did "Blues Haze," a combination of Raymond Scott's "Powerhouse," "When the Saints Come Marching In," and "Purple Haze." Disturbingly, Steve missed a few notes here, and re-started a section again, but again the audience stayed with us! Things hit a groove by the end, and the next tune, Leadbelly's "Sittin' on Top of the World," became a kind of nexus of musicianship, generosity, and good spirit. Steve and Mike really played the hell out of this one, too.

At this point, Steve introduced the "Sky Song," which was a collaborative chant for which both the audience and Mike provided percussion, and I sampled (and modulated) Steve's overtone singing--very, very dramatic, and I was glad Steve thought to do this. (I'd kind of missed it during Wednesday's show.) Unfortunately, I had to adjust the PowerBook volume a bit, and sent a couple volume adjustment beeps and a feedback spike through the amp. The feedback didn't sound bad, though. Steve's melodica playing on this was just fantastic--we could really feel the evening coming together. The processed vocal worked nicely as well, with Steve running theatrically between the straight mic and the processed mic. I think I cut out a bit too early, though--I cut out right after Steve signalled me, but I now think that might have just been a heads-up for the upcoming end. (Still, the last verse works without the tone bed, so it was probably fine.)

Next up, Steve and Mike went back to their virtuosic accordion and drum work for "F and J," which worked in the "Woody Woodpecker" theme, as well as "You Are My Sunshine." They next did a seriously mind-blowing version of "Orange Blossom Special" which featured stunning playing from both of them, but was a real showcase for Mike. (Later he said he was glad he didn't know Ryan was a great drummer or he would have been more self-conscious, but geez--Mike's playing was really dead on, and he's not giving himself enough credit.)

Next up was the unfolding ritual, which flowed nicely, followed by Steve's concentrated discussion of the Nyayzar triptych, including a very nice disquisition on the importance of The Stone (delivered while he was rubbing two stones together--a very good sound). The re-folding ritual went well, and the atmosphere worked. I think this one gelled better than Wednesday's.

No rest for Steve and Mike after this--they slammed right into "Down By Five," a Steve original which is a bunch of extremely tricky chord substitutions...but which all use C. This led to a mythical/comic explanation of the plastering/lathing ritual, which had a frame-breaking cameo by someone whose name I forget, but whom I've met several times. Next up was "Iron Doll"--a Naked City-grade mashup of "Iron Man" and "Satin Doll," featuring a thrilling drum solo from Mike.

I was back in for the pinnacle of the set, "Equinox" (and introduced as being from the Andromeda galaxy), and we were also joined by Leo, a monster clarinettist and sax player (for this one). He's what--eleven? And he has some serious musical feel. He's good by adult standards, and you'd have no idea this was someone this young playing. He's really something. His intonation was a touch off at first, though, and it kind of freaked me out--I thought for sure I was out of tune, and ended up underplaying my chords for a while until I could verify that I was all right. Sadly, again my volume was too low--the room changed too much after soundcheck. There was a bit of a deliberate breakdown during which I came in with a cloud. Not much melodic content, but a nice texture against the other complex stuff.

We followed this with "Jumpin' Jack Flash," which was my uke contribution for the evening. Again, I was a bit too low, but the uke sounded nice through the amp tremolo for that 60s vibe. Leo joined us on this one, too, which was completely right, given Steve's long connection to that tune. (See some Tony Buba films, notably "Lightning Over Braddock," if you want to explore this connection further.)

Steve and Mike did the official encore, "Prince Albert," another virtuoso turn, and we left the stage. Happily, though, Steve did his "Theater Cowboy" piece--with virtual stage headgear--bringing the evening to a close with some great audience communication. We all got some compliments from the audience as we were breaking down the gear, and everything was good.

Ryan and I opted to hit the Eat'n'Park for a late bite, which I needed, but which was an unfortunate mistake. While the espresso shake was indeed pretty good, they've stricken the Garden Burger from the menu, and replaced it with a dubious sauce-and-cheese-slathered veggie scab. Quite depressing. Still, the evening overall was a victory: a warm audience, good performances, payment, and rightness. A peak experience indeed.