Come on Out and Suffer With the Rest of Us
Okay, so on Saturday night Mike and his friend Jerod and I went to the Monsters of Accordion show at Slim's in San Francisco. I was vaguely interested because Jason Webley usually organizes performances of interest, and the accordion is a pretty rad instrument anyway, no? But my mild preshow enthusiasm did not prepare me for the brilliance that was to come.
First was Eric Stern of the Vagabond Opera in Portland; he has an amazing moustache and voice, and played Romanian-style accordion while singing in English, Italian, and Spanish. Seriously impressive stuff and a very powerful operatic tenor. Next was Geoff Berner from Vancouver, B.C., an unassuming Jewish fellow who seemed somewhat nervous but who busted out some witty and biting songs accompanied by traditional klezmer-style (including an "edutainment" song regarding the Yiddish word for "fan," fukher). After that came Mark Growden, a San Francisco local only joining the show for this one night; highlights of his set included a weirdly beautiful interlude played on bicycle handlebars (no, seriously), and a, er, somewhat risque song entitled "Fuck Boy" that must take a lot of guts to sing in front of a group of strangers. (I admit to having an itty-bitty crush on him now, but there's always someone who steals a tiny piece of my heart when I'm at a show). Then there was a little intermission (actually, I cannot remember whether the intermission came before or after Mark's set) and a very peculiar fellow called Duckmandu took the stage and played some impressively complicated Vivaldi, as well as a popular song I'm not familiar with, "California" something. (Apparently having a Master's in music does not preclude one from creating an alternate identity centered around a Donald Duck hat.) Duckmandu was proceeded by Stevhen Iancu from Tokyo, currently of the Dolomites and formerly of Gogol Bordello, whose music was an interesting fusion of the gypsy punk style (for which Gogol Bordello is famous) and Japanese folk harmonies. Finally, Jason himself came out and did a set with his usual show tracks ("Dance While The Sky Crashes Down," "There Is Not A Step We Can Take That Does Not Bring Us Closer," etc. etc.), although he also attempted (and failed) to play an accordion rendition of "Billie Jean," which was amusing. Some enterprising crowdsperson also produced a real pear during the pear portion of "Dance While The Sky Crashes Down" and Jason proffered it to several of us at the front of the audience for biting. For an encore, the entire group of gentlemen came out and all together played "Thriller" for our edification.
So! All in all, a most impressive show and a great deal of fun to boot. I didn't have any money to buy CDs or shirts, much as I wanted to, so instead I purchased a small concert poster for $2 and asked all of the performers to sign their faces. Lucky for me, they all did so very graciously, and I managed not to make a giant fool of myself as I am ordinarily wont to do. Jason even gave me a hug, despite my acting like a retard last time we met. Hooray! Eric and Stevhen were also very amiable while Mike was buying CDs; it's great to see musicians who work their own merch tables and mingle with the audience after the show like real people. (Not that I'm ragging on bands and musicians who don't, but it gives even shy blusterers like me a chance to tell them how much we appreciated their talent.)
These folks (minus Mark Growden and, I think, Duckmandu) are playing in Sacramento tonight, so I urge all of you as have the means to attend. It will be thoroughly worth the $10 door price.
Other stuff has happened recently, but this post has gotten long and self-indulgent enough already. I think I'll go roast some vegetables and make polenta for din-dins.
First was Eric Stern of the Vagabond Opera in Portland; he has an amazing moustache and voice, and played Romanian-style accordion while singing in English, Italian, and Spanish. Seriously impressive stuff and a very powerful operatic tenor. Next was Geoff Berner from Vancouver, B.C., an unassuming Jewish fellow who seemed somewhat nervous but who busted out some witty and biting songs accompanied by traditional klezmer-style (including an "edutainment" song regarding the Yiddish word for "fan," fukher). After that came Mark Growden, a San Francisco local only joining the show for this one night; highlights of his set included a weirdly beautiful interlude played on bicycle handlebars (no, seriously), and a, er, somewhat risque song entitled "Fuck Boy" that must take a lot of guts to sing in front of a group of strangers. (I admit to having an itty-bitty crush on him now, but there's always someone who steals a tiny piece of my heart when I'm at a show). Then there was a little intermission (actually, I cannot remember whether the intermission came before or after Mark's set) and a very peculiar fellow called Duckmandu took the stage and played some impressively complicated Vivaldi, as well as a popular song I'm not familiar with, "California" something. (Apparently having a Master's in music does not preclude one from creating an alternate identity centered around a Donald Duck hat.) Duckmandu was proceeded by Stevhen Iancu from Tokyo, currently of the Dolomites and formerly of Gogol Bordello, whose music was an interesting fusion of the gypsy punk style (for which Gogol Bordello is famous) and Japanese folk harmonies. Finally, Jason himself came out and did a set with his usual show tracks ("Dance While The Sky Crashes Down," "There Is Not A Step We Can Take That Does Not Bring Us Closer," etc. etc.), although he also attempted (and failed) to play an accordion rendition of "Billie Jean," which was amusing. Some enterprising crowdsperson also produced a real pear during the pear portion of "Dance While The Sky Crashes Down" and Jason proffered it to several of us at the front of the audience for biting. For an encore, the entire group of gentlemen came out and all together played "Thriller" for our edification.
So! All in all, a most impressive show and a great deal of fun to boot. I didn't have any money to buy CDs or shirts, much as I wanted to, so instead I purchased a small concert poster for $2 and asked all of the performers to sign their faces. Lucky for me, they all did so very graciously, and I managed not to make a giant fool of myself as I am ordinarily wont to do. Jason even gave me a hug, despite my acting like a retard last time we met. Hooray! Eric and Stevhen were also very amiable while Mike was buying CDs; it's great to see musicians who work their own merch tables and mingle with the audience after the show like real people. (Not that I'm ragging on bands and musicians who don't, but it gives even shy blusterers like me a chance to tell them how much we appreciated their talent.)
These folks (minus Mark Growden and, I think, Duckmandu) are playing in Sacramento tonight, so I urge all of you as have the means to attend. It will be thoroughly worth the $10 door price.
Other stuff has happened recently, but this post has gotten long and self-indulgent enough already. I think I'll go roast some vegetables and make polenta for din-dins.