New Years Eve With JAMES CHANCE!!!

I got to enter 2013 at Circle A in Milwaukee with an evening of James Chance, formerly of The Contortions as well as James White and the Blacks.

James Chance is a living artifact of New York City's "No Wave" scene that took place in the early 80's, a musical explosion that was entitled to counter-culter radicalism against stereotypical norms pertaining to creative pop culture trends.

James Chance uses the noisy elements of No Wave with his noisy art drenched jazz saxophone riffs alongside of his human-nature-mock lyrics in combo with traditional funk methods to create a yin-yang sort of relation with nonsensical play time and funky noise evolution.

I had the chance to see Chance in Brooklyn at a piano bar called The Manhattan Inn in which he played piano.  His piano playing was incredibly loose with a late-night-deranged-taxi-driver-in-the-romantically-polluted-streets-of-New York City-sound, complementing the way he does funk music.  Thus, i didn't exactly know what to expect of this New Years show.

It was unpredictably ideal that Chance would play in Milwaukee at Circle A on New Years 2013 considering he grew up here yet isn't in the local mainstream network.

Circle A was completely packed when we arrived. The area where the bands play is right by the entry, therefore i found myself standing directly behind Chance, while he was lip fucking his saxophone vagina over prerecorded instrumentals.  I was inquisitive  that he didn't have a band backing his set, yet i felt in love with the "I don't give a fuck" attitude he always pulls off, not to not mention he was just having a cozy New Years night in his roots town doing what he wanted, no pressure = maximum pleasure.

Chance's set consisted of sets in which he would play a few songs then go to the bar and order a drink and pick out a record that he wanted to hear during his many intermissions.

The show was perfect because it was like hanging out with a legend, no big venue or expectations, just kickin' it how i would for my friends and not having to pay a wad of bills to go to a fancy or pretentious venue.

 Thank You James Chance and Happy New Year!

Stooges Halloween Cover Show, 11/02/2012, Linnemans, Milwaukee WI

Usually i’m not attracted to cover bands or shows but this was a very special occasion.

Members from different bands combined forces to perform as the MC5 and the Stooges.

When i got to Linnemans, the MC5 were playing, each member all decked out how the MC5 used to look, even having huge american flags draping from the background.  Since i only caught the very end of the show i’m going to move right along into the precious fake-Stooges set.

I will say that the Stooges are one of my all time favorite bands and I don’t think this cover set could have had better candidates to play the individual roles of the Stooges.

The set began with all the members except “Iggy” on stage doing a long instrumental-intro to “Down On The Street” with Jordan Davis from The Mystery Girls playing as Ron Asheton on guitar and Zach Byrne from Goodnight Loving and Logan Byrne from Uh Oh playing as Scott Asheton and David Alexander.

After a several minute intro, Bobby Hussy from The Hussy came running on the stage as Iggy Pop, pulling dance moves with ease that did more than justice to Iggy’s style, then began singing.  Bobby Hussy is the perfect person to impersonate Iggy: like-styled body figure (including hair), humorously raw and furious stage presence, and he definitely nailed the singing.

Everyone in the band looked and felt so much like the Stooges that I truly felt like I was at a Stooges show in the 1970’s.  In fact I would assume this show felt more like an early Stooges show than the real Stooges would sound today.  No offense Iggy, but it was at a small club and everyone managed to vintagely replicate the band, and it didn’t even seem like they tried too hard, but then again how would i know? I was born in '89.

The drummer managed to disappear but still have a humongous amount of rock ‘n’ roll power.  I would look at him and it would appear as if he were barely playing, but looking badass, albeit he was definitely playing.  If you listen to the Stooges’ Raw Power album you will notice the drumming psychedelically dissipates into the ethereal and vicious noise of all the instruments.

The same goes to all the members. Jordan “Ron Asheton” Davis was mind blowing as well, seeming to play all the notes and solos almost identically to the albums but with a true live kick and realfeel.

Seeing this live really reminded me that every Stooges song is a fucking classic charismatic gem.  The cover band did an amazing job showing that the Stooges are more than just punk rock, but also putting in front of the audiences face all the complicated texturing that is involved with the Stooges music.  For how much raw power explodes out of the music, there’s high levels of delicacy involved as well.

Bobby “Iggy Pop” Hussy pulled an iconic Iggy moment in which he rubbed peanut butter all over himself and crowd surfed while singing, leaving me smelling like peanut butter the next day even!  It made me realize how intense the sense of smell can leave a long lasting residue of a memory pertaining to a certain time.  Hopefully every time i smell peanut butter i think of how great the Stooges and this show was.

Photos by Erik Moore! kebaimage.blogspot.com

Jack Of Heart @ Quarters (10/07/2012)

Beyond sophisticated rock, Jack Of Heart from Perpignan, France, made a stop on their US tour in Milwaukee at Quarters.

Jack Of Heart is a good example of the new wave of the psychedelic garage explosion, an extension from the goods that the 1998’s Nuggets box set has left this generation.

Taking the stage around midnight or so was highly appropriate to accommodate the lucid and trippy aesthetic the band brought to the venue.  Even their tune-up job felt like a wonderful noise piece on its own, something Throbbing Gristle would have considered a successful set.

Jack Of Heart’s main man is Piero IIov, who seemingly has different lineups throughout the band’s history. This show consisted of four men: Piero IIov on guitar and vocals, Renault on guitar, Pierre Yves on bass, and Cedric on drums.

After the band's set up, IIov took off his pants to transition into his rocker outfit, which was fishnets and women's undies, then went into their musical voyage.
The music had a magically elegant violence to it that was filled with love and fresh raw energy.  Each song felt like its own little universe that i would just get completely lost in, and the songs seemed to connect into each other at the same time, with weird loops and feedback in between each song.

One could call the music punk rock, but it’s far more technical and collagey versus stripped down 3-chord punk, more like a four piece orchestra of fuzzed-out spooky surf rock in the midst of making love with angels.  Even if i tried, i couldn’t pin down what the band members were doing individually all at once.  i could either follow what one person was doing or just dream in bliss to the overall sound.


Piero IIov seemed like a sort of contemporary Syd Barrett, an authentic psychedelic rock genius.

The drummer was insanely advanced as well.  He would have parts where he’d play really fast on just the snare for a whole verse, sitting perfectly in volume with the rest of the instruments, changing beat configurations at comfortably spontaneous times.

The atmosphere of the show was impeccable.  There weren't too many people and the sound was supreme.  The lights were on the dim side with groovy colors, and behind them was the screening of the 1968 Monkees movie, “Head.”

Thanks to Jack Of Heart, I discovered there’s a cutting edge and internationally important music scene happening in South East France with bands such at The Magnetix, Shiva and the Deadmen, Sonic Chicken 4, Jack of heart, and many many more that i hope to encounter.  LOVE !

The Wemmer Live @ Circle A!!!

September 16, 2012.  Milwaukee WI:

Kick-ass fresh Punk Rock sprawling from Shizuoka City, Japan is The Wemmer.  What better Midwest punk joint could they have picked out on their first USA tour than Circle A?

The band consisted of a Bassist/singer, a wildly energetic drummer/singer and a gnarly guitar shredder, all having positively loose and smiley raw danceable chemistry.

Their lead singer/bassist's voice is beautifully sexy and free, seemingly out of tune but perfect and beyond pleasing.

The guitarist had a wide range of riffs in each song that showed his true love for Rock 'N' Roll.

(Found Photo the Wemmer)

In a loin cloth was the drummer, who performs as a maniac!  Totally wild and fun, fast and complex.  Somewhere in the middle of their set he spurted off his drum set, ran into the audience, grabbed a bar stool, jumped on it, stood on it for about 5 minutes shouting chants in half japanese and half english, which the audience struggled to but excitedly chanted along with.  At one moment while he was completely rocking out, I caught eye contact with him for a brief second and he blew me a kiss! Pure magic if you ask me!

They made it clear that they don't speak good english by yelling in-between several songs "WE   NO SPEAK ENGLISH!" Although they had some songs with moments of english lyrics and phrases such as "I CANT GET NO SATISFACTION!" and "Yeah you are stupid! But i like you! Shake shake shake shake! ROCK 'N' ROLL!!!"

The band could have easily shared a bill with The Minutemen, Les Wampas, The Make-Up, MC5, or any other fun and fast punk bands like that.  I was surprised when after the show i asked them what their favorite bands were and they replied "AC/DC and Led Zepplin." However, when i asked them if they knew Shinji Masuko of The Boredoms they got very excited and said "Yes, yes, Shinji Masuko vedy vedy good!!"

The Wemmer turned everyone on so well that they even played an encore, which has been rare to my eyes seeing an encore at a small punk venue!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jm6akdhiaSw&feature=related

*this video link shows the drummer i saw as the lead singer with a different drummer, thus their band perhaps has a shifting lineup.  *

Amidou & Mariam

Live @ the Santa Monica Pier

August 16 2012

In Los Angeles I got the opportunity to go down to the Santa Monica Pier for their 28th Annual Twilight Concert Series, which are free concerts weekly, and I got to see the almighty Amidou & Miriam on the edge of the Pacific Ocean.

The couple came out decked in gold attire, both having gold rimmed sunglasses and jewelry as well as Amidou’s legendary gold Telecaster guitar, showing the status of their success.

(Photo not by me but from same show)

A. & M. had a full backing band to accompany their lovely harmonizing. Amidou didn’t let down with his african-psych-out guitar playing during extended jams.  Psychedelic at times, the notes he played during the some of the instrumental parts had a way of almost shooting off his guitar into outer space then suddenly coming back into the chorus or verse.

The band seemed very happy and had huge smiles on their faces.  In between songs Amidou would shout certain words that were english, french and perhaps some other language that i didn’t know.  One repetitious thing he said sounded like “EVO, EVO,” which to me sounded both like “evil” or “evolution,” as well as other words that rambled on just long enough until the next song started.  

At times the music took on tropical elements, complementing the vibe of the ocean breeze at sunset.  Overall the rootsy band from Mali connected people together for a romantic evening at the Santa Monica Pier, keeping their selves and the audience in a plentiful dancing state.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcsP5n9UJBo

*This link is not from the show i was at but is one of my favorite songs of Amidou & Mariam*

Michael Alan's Dinner For Two

March 31 2012

Michael Alan is a radical all around artist who lets his messy psychedelic juices pour out in all veins.  

His Dinner for two performance consisted of a man and a woman sitting at a little table while being covered in random materials such as paint, glue, paper and anything else excess-able. 

Michael Alan's Dinner for Two was a happening that occurred at his studio in China Town Manhattan.  When arriving, i had to ring his buzzer and then got let in by his escort.  Entering was a cozy scenario: i walked through the kitchen and then into the studio art making area, where there was a group of about 15 people sitting on the floor drawing, watching, and taking photographs while Michael Alan poured paint and made nonsense rambles that echoed off his prerecorded soundtrack of himself that gestalt into messages of being free now, in the moment. Musicians such as Geneva Jacuzzi, Jello Biafra, his mom and dad, and other gem rockstars helped in the collaboration of the soundtrack.

Participation is encouraged with Alan's performative work.  At one point he was going around with a toy Screamer voice changer microphone and asking people their names and when one would say it, the Screamer would repeat it and Alan would let the loop of one's response mold itself repetitively by chance into the repertoire.  Unpretentious but serious to his psychedelically punk rock attitude.  Pure fun is a key factor.  Making his paintings pop out of the wall into the models which are choreographed to the noise of the soundtrack.

Alan's uses his models and the space of the show as a stage that transforms into a breathing drawing that sculpts and alters to the beat of the environment.  There were his drawing and paintings on the walls and after an hour or so of transforming the models, the begin to look like his drawings.

The performances Alan does are potently destructive but also informing the "other side" and going beyond the material world.  When i saw this performance, at one point his sunglasses got completely gessoed to his face and he seemed happy about it, as stickily glue altered the fabrication of his mouth and talk.  Heres a quote by Alan in this regard, "I painted my sun glasses to my face so I couldn't see much. The best way to see the world clear is to blind everything out and start over."

    These Teeth and Lips were something Erik Moore drew then Gave to Alan which he stuck on this guys face:)

Thanx to Erik Moore for the Awesome Photos of this Dinner for Two Performance.  More Of Erik Moore's Photography can be seen at kebaimage.blogspot.com

Smokin' with the Hussy, Live (3/30/12)

Approximately half way through their tour, i got to see the Hussy in Brooklyn at a little punk rock joint in Bushwick called The Acheron, located in a mess of graffitied warehouses, artists studios, galleries and other cheap alternative spaces.

With the hype of NYC and all, I figured this would be an amazing show because most people like to impress when playing in New York from out of town.  However, when i talked to the Hussy's guitarist and singer, he said every time they've played New York things have not gone as smoothly as it goes in the Midwest.  None the less, the Hussy seems to never leave their audience with out loads of tricks and kicks up their high-energy sleeves.

The two piece set consisting of Bobby Hussy and Heather (on drums and vocals) was a super raunchy rock n roll set of short, fast, bluesy psychedelic fuzz punk, each song being at least as catchy as the previous one. After the abruptly precise end of each song happened, which feels like an electric love making noise shock, it left me in a bizarre place with a mixed emotional psyche of having loved so much what i just heard and not wanting it to be over while also itching like a  dope junky to a max for the next tune  (which came before any other notions).

Before their set, Heather told me she hadn't gotten much sleep the night before and that she was pretty tired, but once she got on stage she hustled the lethargy out and did her rock queen duty without appearing symptomatically drained.  This is what is great about the Hussy, they feel like a legend already and are incredibly productive and give it all they got with total optimism.  

I've seen the Hussy perform twice now and both times Bobby has been a sane static lunatic, with fresh guitar riffs that sample all eras and bands of rock n roll history. Then he'll usually throw in a short but dense guitar solo for each song in which he performs magic and his guitar flies all around him while he's playing it as if he's being electrocuted, it bounces off him and back while he hops around with body spasms, pure fuzzy noise in between each note.

The show ended when Bobby jumped off stage while jamming out and started whipping his guitar all around then letting it to the floor. He pulled a little bottle of gasoline out of his back pocket and squirted it all over his guitar while Heather kept the beat going to the feedback and then Bobby lit a match and started his guitar on fire.  The crowd streamed back while the fire spread in towards the wall, which finally got extinguished by someone while the noise came to an end. 

Right away when the guitar was lit on fire i couldn't help but think of Jimi Hendrix.  The amazing thing is that the Hussy knows how to make references without seeming like a rip-off band.  Instead they are purifiers of Rock n Roll's essence.