Last week I ventured down to Lincoln Hall in Chicago to see Sleepytime Gorilla Museum. I'd been aware of SGM for 15+ years but only ever ventured to listen to song or two every once in a while. I have no recollection of how I'd heard of them and I suspect that my first listen to their avant-rock, Zeuhl, or whatever genre you think best classifies their music proved to be a bit more than I could chew and so I put investigating them further on indefinite hold.
They played here in Madison in 2010 and I have conflicting memories that explain why I didn't attend. One is that I only found out about their stop at Memorial Union until days later while another is that I hemmed and hawed and finally opted out.
I had no idea that they'd called it quits in 2011 when I read earlier this year that they had reunited and were going on tour once more with the closest stop in Chicago. And so I made the trek down to Lincoln Park on a Wednesday evening.
Two Chicago bands opened - Cheer-Accident and Dead Rider.
Cheer-Accident are veterans of the Chicago music scene having been around since the mid-80s or thereabouts. Led by drummer/singer Thymme Jones, I got some Magma vibes, at first. But they were quickly dispelled as the horns kicked in with a blast of something vaguely like you'd get from a marching band to send the opening tune on a tangent as the band showed it was willing to throw in every twist and turn they could with a dose of lighthearted silliness that drew Madison legends The Gomers to mind. A million miles from that Coltrane/Orff-laced hybrid from France. Jones is a fine drummer and he seemed to play just behind the beat on the first couple songs which gives you that "something's not quite right here" feeling. Good stuff.
Dead Rider were in a sense even odder in that guitarist/singer Todd Rittmann almost rapped once or twice and songs alternated between those with Rittmann playing some more straight forward licks with a flying-V bringing Wishbone Ash to mind and songs with a heavy synthesized rhythm track. I enjoyed their set but talk about contrasts!
Sleepytime Gorilla Museum took the stage in costume with a few of the members donning face paint. I am only slightly more familiar with their music now than when I was at the show. Very slightly. But I was thrilled when they played "Phthisis", one of 2 or 3 of their songs that I actually know. While there were moments of peace with a bucolic sounding flute adding mellow vibes, most of the time these folks were rocking hard. King Crimson came to mind a lot, especially "THRAK" with those chopping guitars.
Nils Frykdahl sang and played guitar and flute and perhaps other things too. His singing had the dramatics and piercing intensity of Peter Hammill but he often took it into overdrive with an almost black metal growl. Carla Kihlstedt played mostly violin, often in sharp, angular bursts, but her voice was clear and angelic (even if that angel was sometimes a vengeful one), not unlike Jon Anderson's, in contrast to Frykdahl's and the opposing styles proved oddly harmonious.
For one song, Dan Rathbun, who looked uncannily like the cartoon Egon Spengler, played what looked like an oversized pedal steel guitar but I think it was a homebrew thing consisting of a 2"x4" about 8 feet long with strings running the length and some C clamps acting as capos. Kihlstedt had a smaller version and they both seemed to alternate sliding drumsticks along the strings and hitting them as if their instruments were piano viscera wrenched from the case.
Michael Iago Mellender is the utility player here as he played guitar, xylophone, keyboards, trumpet, a small drum kit, if I recall correctly. The mid-90s King Crimson vibe was made even stronger when he played his kit. He definitely did his part in giving them a big, dense sound. But I have to admit that I had a hard time not watching drummer Matthias Bossi. The guy's playing was just amazing.
Actually, all 3 drummers that night were great but I got to hear and see Bossi the longest. And he had the biggest kit. He drove songs ahead with his energetic playing yet managed to deftly slip in these great little fills which would often lead the song off in a totally different direction. Bossi's playing was absolutely frenetic, even maniacal at times, and I just loved watching him and wondering what he'd slip in or where he'd go next. Plus he had a splash cymbal. I love me some splash!
As noted above, I am still very much getting to know SGM and their aggressively controlled chaos. Their music is heavy and I adore the drama of it all. There's an operatic quality to it, if we're talking about an opera based on the Book of Revelation.
Their entire performance was recorded on video:
Cheer-Accident's set was also captured:
No comments:
Post a Comment