Ad Astra Per Aspera :: The Knitting Factory :: CMJ 2006 |
While each and every showcase is fun in its own rite, November 2nd will forever go down in CMJ history, as well as my own, as one of the most rowdy, ruckus-filled nights ever, thanks in part to Derek Meier, Celeste Tabora, and their flock at Solid PR, who besieged all levels of The Knitting Factory to throw down the official soiree of the week. The night started out with a bang thanks to Ad Astra Per Aspera, the craziest crew of kids from Kansas, who rocked the house to a set of psych-punk and no shortage of spazzy and colorful melodies with their singer/guitarist/gentle giant Mike Tuley at the helm.
After catching freak-folkies Flying, I had to do an interview with Ad Astra Per Aspera in a narrow hallway of the backstage area since it was the only quiet place for about ten minutes. Then people swarmed into this narrow enclosure, and the tide of bodies forced us into a crammed bathroom where there was a party going on as well.
Eddie Gieda - An Albatross :: The Knitting Factory :: CMJ 2006 |
The most intense part of the evening was when An Albatross played. For those of you who don't know, An Albatross is one of the most abrasive and talented bands out there. Cosmo Kramer once described the paella as a feast for the mind and senses. If such a sonic equivalent to this spicy Spanish dish of rice, meat, and fish exists, it is most assuredly Pennsylvania's own An Albatross. Their ability to splice together a brutal hybrid of early Yes-era prog-rock and grind core, flamenco, and a mélange of other genres centers on singer Eddie Gieda's flamboyant presence. He yells, hoots, whoops, screeches and hollers the lyrics and has a penchant for walking on crowd members' heads instead of normal crowd-surfing. Their live performances are already filled with tales of freewheeling infamy and life-changing experiences, yet one wonders if it was the bottle of absinthe that we were nursing prior to their set that caused this performance to be extra special. You never know how those green fairies are going to hit you.
Blue Cheer :: The Knitting Factory :: CMJ 2006 |
Following a set from Oakland's favorite Neanderthal stoner-metal trio Totimoshi, it was time for the headlining set from underground psychedelic legends Blue Cheer. While in their 40th year of existence, Blue Cheer, led by bassist/singer Dickie Peterson (who we had the good fortune to have a deep conversation backstage with earlier in night about a variety of topics including Scandinavian groupies), got the whole crowd to tune in to such classics as "Summertime Blues," "Out of Focus," and "Parchment Farm." Blue Cheer has been widely credited as being the godfathers of heavy metal and has been declared as the loudest band on earth. On this particular night, they lived up to their cred and then some. I could talk for hours about this set, but JamBase has a feature on Blue Cheer currently in the works, so you'll have to wait for that.
During the week following the Marathon, CMJ conducted a poll on their website to determine which showcase was the most fun for those who attended. Solid PR raked in a whopping 62 percent of the votes and managed to beat the ones thrown by Merge, Vice, Sub Pop, and even Kill Rock Stars. It's usually the lineup on the bill which makes for a great time, and while that was true at this party, it was also the energy and the eclectic range of people who showed up on this night. The crowd was a garden variety of hipsters, hippies, punks, head-bangers, and everyone else in between (including An Albatross' motley entourage). The crowd and all the band members who took the stage were in unison tonight with one common aim: getting rambunctious and hearing some good tunes. Solid PR has always placed a strong emphasis on running their operations like a family instead of a company, and being an avid JamBase reader, their head-honcho went above and beyond to make us feel like we were a part of it. Much love, Derek.
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