Strange Arrangement – Bell’s Brewery - 9/19/09 – The Best Band You’ve Never Heard
My thoughts turned to the great George Costanza and the word “Crisp” in description of the weather as I left my home in Kalamazoo, MI last Saturday evening. It was one of those days in the early parts of fall where you still get flashes of summer sunshine but are pleasantly reminded by the few leaves crunching under your feet that fall is right around the corner. College football is on every TV you pass, usually accompanied by the glorious aroma of grilled meat, cigarette smoke, and cheap domestic beer. Ahhhh……..autumn in a midwest college town, is there nothing more magnificent?
I was in a great mood on this Saturday evening, not only because of the weather, but because I was going to be spending my evening doing the two things I love most: Drinking Bell’s Beer and listening to live music outside (truly a red letter day). Tonight, I was especially amped because I was going to see Strange Arrangement (my new favorite band and the best band you’ve never heard). To me, there is always something more organic and exciting about seeing a band on the rise. It makes you feel closer to the band, their music and to the scene. It just seems more personal to me. Last Saturday would prove to be just that.
I had first heard Strange Arrangement a few weeks prior, when they opened for Umphrey’s McGee in Champaign, IL at the Canopy Club. Joel Cummins from UM had sat in with them during their opening slot, and the UM boys had graciously returned the favor by allowing Joe Hettinga, the keyboardist from Strange Arrangement to sit in with them during a monster Cemetery Walk II later that evening (in my opinion one of the best CWII of the tour thus far… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlqWnS561g0) I figured if UM were fans of these guys, I had better take notice. I purchased Strange Arrangement’s full length album Side x Side that night and have been listening to it religiously ever since. I have also been downloading any live performance of theirs I could find on archive.org, including the aforementioned Umphrey’s opening set.
I was expecting a much larger crowd at Bell’s that night for Strange as there were probably close to 400 people getting down to their set in Champaign. I figured that word was getting out about these guys. It just didn’t make any sense to me that only 50 people showed. But then again, I was pleased to have this night of music all to myself. Like I mentioned earlier, I get off on seeing a band in their truest form: exhausted from lousy road accommodations, a steady diet of fast food, playing intimate venues, experimenting with and evolving their sound into something they believe is relevant, unique, and new. It reminds me of my college days, seeing the likes of Umphrey’s McGee, Leftover Salmon, or Moe., at similar sized venues, constantly trying new things and pushing the envelope.
Having over indulged myself on the Strange Arrangement album Side x Side over the last few weeks, I was pleasantly surprised with the Set I opener “Static”. The smooth keyboard interlude and gentle crooning of Joe Hettinga was a wonderful way to start off the evening as more and more people started filing into Bell’s. This is one of those rare songs having both funny and heartfelt lyrics interspersed throughout making it one of those songs you can associate with any kind of situation. It’s a song you can put on when you go to sleep, or when you are barbequing in the backyard with your buddies. It is just truly pleasant to one’s ears, hands down. Gears shifted almost immediately after the completion of “Static” as the beginning bass notes of “Creston” filled the air.
While not on the album, I had already become familiar with “Creston” because this was the song that Joel Cummins from UM had sat in on in Champaign and is also one of the new songs included on the “Summer Sampler” CD handed to me by a young lady at the Umphrey’s show in August. Simply put, “Creston” is a funk rollercoaster twisting and spiraling up and down, skillfully trading off organ and guitar solos without prejudice. Anchored by bassist Kevin Barry, who plays the only 7-String bass guitar I have ever had the pleasure of seeing, and precision drumming by Bob Parlier; “Creston” managed to evoke a small group of fans to start strutting around like chickens to the bouncy funk, a sight worth the price of admission alone. I have since learned that “Creston” is the name of the town in South Western Iowa that all four members of Strange Arrangement lived in for two years while studying jazz at the Iowa School for Vocational Jazz. The lyrics reference drinking on a porch, cattle auctions and Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” which are easily identifiable to anyone who attended college in the farmland known as the Midwest.
Again, Strange changes course with their next tune, a colorful instrumental jazz send up of the theme from “I Dream of Genie” spliced together with a traditional bossa-nova salsa flare near the ending. This particular rendition got many of the ladies out onto the dance floor finally, which is good for everyone. It begs the question, “Why am I enjoying this so much?” Is it possible that “I Dream of Genie” is a jam gone unnoticed? Apparently so, as the dance party continued throughout the song, and I found myself making genie gestures with my arms and neck (like a hefty bearded Christina Aguilera). The song began with tight jazz licks and ended a furious beast of a jam.
Next up was “Coming Home” a jam appropriately named for its lyrical content. There is nothing quite like the feeling of getting home from a long sojourn to anywhere and this song captures that feeling. Guitarist Jim Conry stretches out his solo in this version using patience as his guide. Slowly sliding up and down his guitar, Conry waits until just the right time to take things to the next level. This truly was a beautiful and improvised solo, as it was nothing like the other recordings of this song that I have heard.
Following in the guise of “Creston”, the next song in this already exhilarating first set was “Sewer”. “Sewer” is an older Strange Arrangement song hasn’t been played in some time. The beginning bass notes remind me of another song called “Foam” by the clearly influential jam gods Phish. But just as soon as you compare the two songs, the jam quickly shifts into a deep and dark funk jam slowly weaving in and out of different time signatures and melodies. The lyrics are juvenile and silly, but are merely a launch pad for this song and are quickly left behind as it progresses
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“Steal Your Heart” starts as “Sewer” ends and catapults ears from the darkest depths of funk to a warm country tinged pop genre which caused the few women who had seen Strange perform this song to cheer in admiration. There really is no other word to describe this song but beautiful. It straddles the pop/jam line perfectly and has plenty of room for improvisation at the end, which Strange Arrangement graciously provided with another lilting Jim Conry guitar solo. The tone of his guitar is truly distinctive, and it really comes out and captures the mood of this particular tune.
After catching a quick breath, the band starts a slow and spacey intro to another one of their newer songs entitled “Steamroller.” This song again lends itself back to guitarist Jim Conry as it has a haunting melody and muddy/dirty guitar solos that remind me of ZZ Top. This particular jam sounded a little more subdued than other “Steamroller” jams, but stays well within the theme that was slowly becoming apparent in this wonderful first set.
As soon as “Steamroller” left the station the piano intro to Bruce Hornsby’s “The Way It Is” came tinkling into view. This is a song most remembered by its catchy melody and Tupac Shakur version. Keyboardist Joe Hettinga moves through this difficult piece effortlessly handing off his long and stunning piano solo to bassist Kevin Barry for a well timed bass solo. Hearing a 7-String bass is something new to me, so I really don’t have anything else to compare it to. Let me just say that it lends itself to more note, and to more complex rhythms. One might think this would muddy up the overall sound of the band and/or jam, but Barry truly anchors down Strange Arrangement, and it was especially nice to see him claim his due. Out of his solo came an improvised funk/electronic jam that was clearly unplanned, and from the looks on their faces was enjoyed by all four band members just as much if not more than the audience members watching them.
Seamlessly moving out of “The Way It Is” jam the opening notes to “Mo” took control. This song tells the humorous story of a few band members leaving their friend, fittingly named Mo, behind at a gas station on their way to see Phish at the Lemonwheel in August of 1999. Hettinga’s clavinet is prominent throughout this groove adding some funk to its pop/blues sound. The lyrics to this song are hilarious, and it begs the question if Mo still talks to them after this debacle. He might have been left out in the cold, but at least he got a song written about him by an incredibly gifted band, that’s something not everyone can say.
Nearing the hour mark of this set the opening notes of “Pockets” filled the air. I spilled half of my Hop Slam in happiness as this was one of my personal favorites from Side x Side, yet I wasn’t able to find many live recordings of it. This song is a uplifting crescendo, with a striking chorus colorfully accented with vocal harmonies. It truly grows from a tiny seedling to a massive Oak Tree in its completion, showing off the chops of each and every band member. This is a song that only a talented band can write and perform well. It also fit in with the shape that the second half of this wonderful set had taken, wonderfully placed and executed. The set came to a close with an ode to Frank Zappa with a wonderful rendition of “Camarillo Brillo”. Strange Arrangement reminds me of Frank Zappa everyone once in a while with is humorous lyrics, and its genre straddling instrumentation. A perfect set closer to a near perfect set.
After ditching my Hop Slam for a Two Hearted Ale, I was more than psyched for the beginning of the 2nd set, and I couldn’t have been more pleased to hear the opening notes of “Pegasus” after a short little funk jam intro. This is without a doubt Strange Arrangement’s biggest song to date and the response of the crowd justifies this claim. The song starts off with an infectious groove with light and quirky lyrics and quickly changes course into an intense middle section full of technical time changes and prog rock themes. Normally the abovementioned infectious groove bookends the middle section with a reprise, but this was not the case on this Saturday night as the song seamlessly segued into the R&B funky soul groove of Marvin Gaye’s “Give It Up”. Until now, I had never realized that this song doesn’t have a guitar part, but it isn’t needed as Strange Arrangement proves. Guitarist Jim Conry found himself banging away on the keys as Hettinga sang the falsetto lead at center stage, all the while clanging a drum stick against a beer stein for the needed “cow bell” like sound this song contains.
Getting back to familiar territory the band members returned to their original positions for the start of “Otherside”, another new song found on the “Summer Sampler”. This song is marvelously crafted with a really smooth and haunting groove. Moving in and out of this dance groove the song starts and stops with brilliant precision. Giving us all hope that the new songs this band is writing are just as strong as its first batch.
“Otherside” segues into a song called “Truth” which is an instrumental powerhouse that is centered around prog rock and jazz ideas. It is both hard and soft at times and is nothing short of evocative. It builds itself up until it abruptly stops leaving the audience stupefied as to what they had just witnessed. It literally took everyone in attendance a moment to catch their breath before they could muster any kind of cheer for this song, which ended up being a raucous one at that.
Up next was “Workin’ On the Highway” a funny funk send up with lyrics giving props to construction workers, polish sausage, PBR, and horseshoes. This song is quickly becoming one of the bands favorites to play live with Hettinga playing a video game like melody, Conry abusing his wah wah pedal on the guitar solo, and audience interaction with the lyrics and clapping sections. It perfectly defines Strange Arrangement’s lighter side allowing their listeners to realize that they don’t take themselves too seriously, a problem way too many bands have in my opinion.
Moving down the highway the band comes to its next exit, the beginning guitar and piano notes of “Good Ideas”. Another new song not found on many recordings. This song is a jam vehicle, lending itself to its big ending. The lyrics are great, and the melody is gorgeous. I see a lot of improvisational potential for this song in the future. While his guitar solo was superb, it seemed like Conry was holding back a little bit on this song, perhaps saving whatever gas was left in his tank for the closing of this set.
The next song is properly entitled “Conversations to Nowhere” and is about a friend of the band who talks way too much. Everyone knows someone like this and Strange Arrangement brilliantly crafts a musical story with this tune. “Way back in High School when you were excelling in your writing class, writing 20 page papers when they were asking for was a paragraph.” Humor aside, this song has a fun blues/pop/funk groove with an infectious melody that you will find yourself humming all day long. Another one of their newer tunes, I can’t wait to see where this song goes as this band continues to grow.
Next, “Siete” an instrumental powerhouse. This song again shows off how superior this band is, and even more how talented their rhythm section is. Bob Parlier and Kevin Barry co-wrote this masterpiece which is wrought with changing time signatures and beats. It is an incredibly technical body of music going from hard to fast to light to hard as naturally as can be, all the while coming back to a strange “Star Trek” sounding lead melody. This is a song that you can tell the band really enjoys playing, and it was perfectly placed in the second half of this set.
Being only the 2nd time played, “No Light” began and was instantly accepted by its audience. This song has so much potential, with its spacey electronic intro, to its awe inspiring ending chorus; this is a song that will grow with time. It is one of the more technical sounding jams in a catalogue full of them. A few wrinkles obviously need to be ironed out on this one, but the foundation is there. I can’t wait to tell my friends that I saw the 2nd ever “No Light” as this surely will end up being one of their bigger vehicles as they climb the jam band ranks in the future.
Closing out the show was another cover, this time the Warren Zevon song “Lawyers, Guns, and Money.” Another perfect cover choice combining humorous lyrics with a contagious melody, a combination the audience was used to, but definitely not sick of at this point.
Having gone well past the curfew allowed to them at Bell’s, Strange Arrangement was shortchanged their chance of an encore as the house lights begrudgingly came on. Even though I left without an encore, I was more than pleased with the show I had just witnessed. Strange Arrangement is arguably the best new band on the jam band scene, especially in the Midwest. Their technical ability matched with their humorous and heartfelt songwriting is completely exclusive to Strange Arrangement. I hope this review finds its way on to your computer and turns you on to this superb four piece band from Chicago. I know this band is going to make it to the next level, and I won’t be spoiled with these small intimate shows in my home town for $5, so I am going to relish these opportunities as they are still made available to me.
Do yourself a favor and see this band, they are hands down the best band you haven’t heard yet!!!!
Strange Arrangement- Bells Brewery- 09-19-2009
Set I: Static > Creston, I Dream of Genie > Sewer, Steal You Heart, Steam Roller, The Way It Is (Bruce Hornsby and the Range) > Mo, Pockets ,Camrillo Brillo (Frank Zappa)
Set II: Pegasus, Got to Give It Up Pt 1 (Marvin Gaye), Otherside > Truth 1> Truth 2, Workin on the Highway, Good Ideas, Conversations to Nowhere, Siete, No Light, Lawyers, Guns and Money (Warren Zevon)
http://www.archive.org/details/sa2009-09-19.aud.flac
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