The latest chapter in the saga of my girlfriend's crush on local muso Gordon Ranney unfolded last night at the High Noon Saloon. As bassist for Madison's progressive rock cover band, PROG, Ranney no doubt attracts many women into his clutches, which is standard operating procedure for guys who rock out in 9/8 and perform unaccompanied bass solos. He follows in the footsteps of Henry Cow's John Greaves who took the band's RIO communal ethos to new heights with Slapp Happy's Dagmar Krause and her numerous friends before playing the octave doctor to the women of Gong – Mireille Bauer and Miquette Giraudy. Genesis bassist Mike Rutherford was legendary for having written "Follow You Follow Me" to attract more women to the band's shows and thusly into his backstage boudoir while Roger Waters' notorious demo for "The Great Gig in the Sky" was recorded in Pompeii with some local representatives of the fairer sex where the age of consent is quite a bit younger than it is here in the States. Knowing full well the reputation of prog bassists, I was more than a bit frightened when The Dulcinea said of Ranney's playing, "His fingers are so nimble!"
Still, she was right. Ranney proved his mettle last night, as did the rest of the boys. Keyboardist Michael BB was sporting some newly-grown locks to complement his robe while flautist & singer Scott Eagle was virtually bald and had grown a goatee. I didn't recognize him at first. To accompany the new looks, the band pulled out some new numbers during their three-set engagement which went deep into the night.
The first of the newbies was Rush's "Xanadu". This came as no surprise to us hardened prog veterans as drummer Steve Phipps had been triggering samples of tubular bell, wind chimes, and temple blocks during the soundcheck. Joe Allard strapped on a double-neck Gibson(?) just as Alex Lifeson did and deftly alternated between the 12 strings above and the 6 below while Ranney's adroitness was on full display and prompted The D's nimble comment. Props also to Mr. Phipps for his fine vocals here and his convincing Canadian accent.
It occurred to me during this song that the band were following the grand prog tradition of having almost too many instruments onstage. Eagle was trapped in his corner of the stage behind a lap steel and a glockenspiel (or was that a xylophone?) while MBB was similarly ensconced in a cocoon of keyboards. There were more guitars than ever and Phipps had his usual Sonor kit. However, he was forced to trigger many sounds for "Xanadu" and I feel that he ought to have the full complement of percussion in order to more accurately recreate the "Xanadu" experience. In order to do so he'll need: orchestra bells, wind chimes, triangle, bell tree, vibra-slap, tubular bells, and temple blocks. (I don't know what a vibra-slap is, but he needs it.) To this end, I will be starting a fund raising effort to get the necessary monies to purchase a full Peart-like arsenal of percussion for Mr. Phipps. I am thinking of selling off-brand thin mint cookies. Stay tuned. (After this will be another effort to acquire a genuine Mellotron for MBB.)
After the first set break, the band returned with a new song – Jethro Tull's "Minstrel in the Gallery". This song put Allard front and center as he diligently recreated Martin Barre's riffing and nimble (ahem) fretwork. Eagle took the vocals here and added flute as well. Despite his more than admirable performance, I felt that a codpiece on the parts they never mention would have gone well with his new facial hair. Ranney opted out of the Hammond-Hammond zebra motif but wailed on his Rick with his pick. Phipps did Barriemore Barlow proud despite being restricted as he was with but a single bass drum. And MBB followed John Evans' path by staying in the background and adding color while the guitar and flute battled it out. It was a spirited performance and I was very pleased to hear some post-1972 Tull.
The final new song of the evening followed and it was a doozie – the Genesis epic "Supper's Ready". It was the band's first foray into side-long prog madness and they came prepared with bass pedals, 12-string guitars, and stools to recreate the Genesis experience of the early to mid-1970s. MBB noted that the song should have a lengthy spoken preface but we were spared any attempt to tell the story of Old Henry seeking union with the worms. This was probably for the best as such tales are best left these days to short French-speaking men from Quebec. However, I do have faith that the guys can weave a tale of, say, Ole and Lena on the farm getting down to their Norwegian brand of Jerusalem boogie.
Considering that this was the initial performance, it was quite good. Unfortunately it was marred by some technical snafus with the front-of-house sound. "Ikhnaton and Itsacon and Their Band of Merry Men" suffered with the keys and lead guitar being barely audible for most of the piece, although the latter's volume got turned up towards 11 about halfway through the arpeggio-laden solo. "Apocalypse in 9/8 (Co-Starring the Delicious Talents of Gabble Ratchet)" suffered the same keyboard issues. While subsequent performance will no doubt make things tighter, I thought they pulled off the 9/8 bit very well. And when you can get a woman to shake her booty to "Willow Farm", you must be doing something right.
The third and final set featured such favorites as "Siberian Khatru" and "Red Barchetta". Afterwards The D and I chatted with the band. My attempt at convincing them to do A Passion Play in its entirety failed as Scott Eagle had had a very nasty incident involving a sopranino saxophone as a child. However, I was able to inveigle them into performing some of the more straightforward tunes by the prog notables they cover. While we progheads love complicated music, we also need to simply our lives at times. We need to be able to sit back and enjoy a 4/4 time signature and songs with but two Korg Wavestation patches. And so you can look forward to an "Invisible Touch-Owner of a Lonely Heart-Under Wraps-Working Man" medley.
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