sub oslo, darth vato, ph7
yeah, i know wall of sound was this w-e, but i have a problem with _bigness_, whether it's the vegas strip or sxsw. too much sensory overload is not good for my already overtaxed synapses. shee-ot, i stopped going to the black dog on confusatron nights 'cos i don't dig having that little elbow room when i go out to hear toons.
that said, i had to brave the crowds in my living room (a.k.a. the wreck room) for two shows this weekend: the final (or at least penultimate, if they can get something happenin' in their original stompin' grounds of denton before bassist miguel veliz decamps for cali) sub oslo show on friday, and the darth vato / pablo and the hemphill 7 double bill on saturday, which marked goodwin / underground railroad worthy matt "katboy" hembree's debut in pablo's crucial bass slot.
myself, i'm inclined to agree with ph7 / goodwin drummer damien stewart, who sez, "bands shouldn't have to break up -- why can't they just _not gig all the time_?" in sub oslo's case, the level of live activity had diminished pert drastically the last coupla yrs, most tellingly when they didn't play the wreck this past new year's eve -- an annual ritual that, perhaps, pablo will now take over. sub oslo's deep, hypnotic dub explorations and visually stunning stage presentation (especially for a buncha cats that mainly sit down while playing and _never_ talk to the audience) won them overseas attention, and if you doubt that they've been influential locally, just look at the number of groove-oriented units with lotsa ppl onstage that have come along in the decade since their inception: spoonfed tribe and confusatron, fo' sho, and more recent outfits like sleeplab and the alarm clocks as well. for all of the parts 'n' pieces involved (multiple samples, keybs, melodicas, percussionists, and live on-the-fly mixage and f/x in addition to the basic riddim trio), sub oslo's sound is never cluttered and even at their most free-form, they have the ability to turn on a dime in the middle of a lengthy excursion, making a change so seamless that it sounds like an edit on a '70s miles davis alb. they're used to playing _with_ each other, listening and using space (altho quincy holloway on traps is the one cat in the band who never stops playing and it seems at times as if he's physically carrying the weight of the whole juggernaut on his shoulders). anyway, safe travels to miguel and we await the next oppo to experience sub oslo's vibe, even if it takes a few yrs. we're patient that way.
the darth vato boyzzz -- who were skedded to play wall of sound the next afternoon, and will be back at the wreck on june 9th with the me-thinks -- have come a long way as a band, and now seem firmly in command of the various forms (reggae, ska, skater-punk) that they kloodge together in a crowd-pleasin' melange. their yout'ful fans even started a mini-moshpit in front of the wreck stage, prompting relative old man steve steward (who grew up in lodi, cali, in the '90s listening to epitaph bands) to remind them of the rules o' pit etiquette; to wit, "if somebody goes down, _help 'em up_!" there was a nice moment o' collegial solidarity when front vato kerry dean busted a string and before you knew it, ph7 gtrist steffin ratliff was there to swap out kerry's strat for his own.
pablo's performance was all about that kind of musicianly brothahood. marcus lawyer, who departed the pablo fold earlier this yr to concentrate on projects like top secret...shhh and the alarm clocks, has a musical history that's been intertwined with damien and ph7 frontguy joe vano's since root 420 daze, and he and damien had previously worked in harness as the brasco riddim section around the time pablo was coalescing from the remnants of root 420 and bindle (whose former members matt, steffin, and justin pate now make up half of pablo). so pablo will continue, and marcus is off doing other good, creative stuff. the only regrettable aspect to all this remains that the original pablo lineup never released a "legit" ceedee (altho "band bootleg" cd-r's abound). matt wrote in his myspace blog, "if i can be half the bass player [marcus] is, i'll be doing pablo proud." he needn't have worried. onstage, from the opening "steppin' razor" to the final encore "rude boy," the pablo musos looked ecstatic as they attacked their repertoire with fresh verve and energy, and their crowd responded in kind. besides bass science, hembree's presence adds three-part backing vocal harmonies to the hemphill 7's arsenal of strengths. afterwards, steffin remarked, "i haven't felt this comfortable onstage in months," while for his part, matt allowed that "i've been waiting for three and a half years to do this." more than just a continuation, this felt like a renewal.
anyway, a good coupla evenings' worth o' music. and i slept till noon the morning after both shows.
that said, i had to brave the crowds in my living room (a.k.a. the wreck room) for two shows this weekend: the final (or at least penultimate, if they can get something happenin' in their original stompin' grounds of denton before bassist miguel veliz decamps for cali) sub oslo show on friday, and the darth vato / pablo and the hemphill 7 double bill on saturday, which marked goodwin / underground railroad worthy matt "katboy" hembree's debut in pablo's crucial bass slot.
myself, i'm inclined to agree with ph7 / goodwin drummer damien stewart, who sez, "bands shouldn't have to break up -- why can't they just _not gig all the time_?" in sub oslo's case, the level of live activity had diminished pert drastically the last coupla yrs, most tellingly when they didn't play the wreck this past new year's eve -- an annual ritual that, perhaps, pablo will now take over. sub oslo's deep, hypnotic dub explorations and visually stunning stage presentation (especially for a buncha cats that mainly sit down while playing and _never_ talk to the audience) won them overseas attention, and if you doubt that they've been influential locally, just look at the number of groove-oriented units with lotsa ppl onstage that have come along in the decade since their inception: spoonfed tribe and confusatron, fo' sho, and more recent outfits like sleeplab and the alarm clocks as well. for all of the parts 'n' pieces involved (multiple samples, keybs, melodicas, percussionists, and live on-the-fly mixage and f/x in addition to the basic riddim trio), sub oslo's sound is never cluttered and even at their most free-form, they have the ability to turn on a dime in the middle of a lengthy excursion, making a change so seamless that it sounds like an edit on a '70s miles davis alb. they're used to playing _with_ each other, listening and using space (altho quincy holloway on traps is the one cat in the band who never stops playing and it seems at times as if he's physically carrying the weight of the whole juggernaut on his shoulders). anyway, safe travels to miguel and we await the next oppo to experience sub oslo's vibe, even if it takes a few yrs. we're patient that way.
the darth vato boyzzz -- who were skedded to play wall of sound the next afternoon, and will be back at the wreck on june 9th with the me-thinks -- have come a long way as a band, and now seem firmly in command of the various forms (reggae, ska, skater-punk) that they kloodge together in a crowd-pleasin' melange. their yout'ful fans even started a mini-moshpit in front of the wreck stage, prompting relative old man steve steward (who grew up in lodi, cali, in the '90s listening to epitaph bands) to remind them of the rules o' pit etiquette; to wit, "if somebody goes down, _help 'em up_!" there was a nice moment o' collegial solidarity when front vato kerry dean busted a string and before you knew it, ph7 gtrist steffin ratliff was there to swap out kerry's strat for his own.
pablo's performance was all about that kind of musicianly brothahood. marcus lawyer, who departed the pablo fold earlier this yr to concentrate on projects like top secret...shhh and the alarm clocks, has a musical history that's been intertwined with damien and ph7 frontguy joe vano's since root 420 daze, and he and damien had previously worked in harness as the brasco riddim section around the time pablo was coalescing from the remnants of root 420 and bindle (whose former members matt, steffin, and justin pate now make up half of pablo). so pablo will continue, and marcus is off doing other good, creative stuff. the only regrettable aspect to all this remains that the original pablo lineup never released a "legit" ceedee (altho "band bootleg" cd-r's abound). matt wrote in his myspace blog, "if i can be half the bass player [marcus] is, i'll be doing pablo proud." he needn't have worried. onstage, from the opening "steppin' razor" to the final encore "rude boy," the pablo musos looked ecstatic as they attacked their repertoire with fresh verve and energy, and their crowd responded in kind. besides bass science, hembree's presence adds three-part backing vocal harmonies to the hemphill 7's arsenal of strengths. afterwards, steffin remarked, "i haven't felt this comfortable onstage in months," while for his part, matt allowed that "i've been waiting for three and a half years to do this." more than just a continuation, this felt like a renewal.
anyway, a good coupla evenings' worth o' music. and i slept till noon the morning after both shows.
posted by stashdauber at 6:13 PM
1 Comments:
Thanks! It was nice to see you there!
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