the great tyrant's ugly beauty
took a break on our wedding anniversary (in between a killer roast chicken dinner and a visit to my sweetie's old "thinking spot" at the amon carter) to check out the great tyrant show at the wreck room. 'riginally, they were supposed to play last, but wound up playing first, which worked out perfectly for our purposes.
i hadn't seen a g.t. show since june, and intend not to let it be so long before i catch 'em again, 'cos they've grown by leaps 'n' bounds these past eight months. in that time, they've been writing 'n' rehearsing relentlessly (i know 'cos their drummer, jon teague of yeti fame, plays with me in stoogeaphilia, and he'll frequently have to beg off proposed rehearsal dates with "the tyrant demands it"), and their confluence of frontman daron beck's anti-pop wails and shrieks from the torture chamber (teague: "i want all these emo kids to hear just how ugly keyboards can sound") with the riddim section of teague and his longtime sectionmate tommy atkins' penchant for odd time signatures, hypnotic ostinatos, and general heaviosity (they rock harder at slow tempos than anybody this side of the melvins-esque japanese band boris) is sounding tighter and better integrated than ever before.
while their stage is still all dark 'n' moody atmosphere, and the air between songs is filled with static and spooky electronica, they've dispensed with some of the dressing (no more drapes 'n' flowers) but actually seem more theatrical. in particular, beck, who's sporting a zappaesque goatee these days, has become a lot more physical in his performance. teague originally played with daron on one of the last pointy shoe factory gigs, and says beck approached him about forming a band the night of the final yeti performance, at the wreck, which felt exactly like a large behemoth dying, with atkins holding his hands behind his back for most of the set, and guitarist eric harris repeatedly playing a single note, like syd barrett after his mind came off the rails. forming the great tyrant saved teague from having to endure "what-am-i-going-to-do-now?" angst, post-yeti, and while the drummer says the new frontman was initially intimidated (who wouldn't be, standing where the late doug ferguson once did?), he's effusive in his praise of daron's musicianship.
the two musos from the touring band who were standing by the stage immediately after great tyrant climaxed their set with the beck-composed space-rock hymn "still birth" would prolly be inclined to agree. "best band we've seen on this tour," said one muso. "just beautiful," said the other. and indeed, it was.
the great tyrant be's at 1919 hemphill this sat'day, march 24th, and in dallas at the double wide the following one, march 31st.
i hadn't seen a g.t. show since june, and intend not to let it be so long before i catch 'em again, 'cos they've grown by leaps 'n' bounds these past eight months. in that time, they've been writing 'n' rehearsing relentlessly (i know 'cos their drummer, jon teague of yeti fame, plays with me in stoogeaphilia, and he'll frequently have to beg off proposed rehearsal dates with "the tyrant demands it"), and their confluence of frontman daron beck's anti-pop wails and shrieks from the torture chamber (teague: "i want all these emo kids to hear just how ugly keyboards can sound") with the riddim section of teague and his longtime sectionmate tommy atkins' penchant for odd time signatures, hypnotic ostinatos, and general heaviosity (they rock harder at slow tempos than anybody this side of the melvins-esque japanese band boris) is sounding tighter and better integrated than ever before.
while their stage is still all dark 'n' moody atmosphere, and the air between songs is filled with static and spooky electronica, they've dispensed with some of the dressing (no more drapes 'n' flowers) but actually seem more theatrical. in particular, beck, who's sporting a zappaesque goatee these days, has become a lot more physical in his performance. teague originally played with daron on one of the last pointy shoe factory gigs, and says beck approached him about forming a band the night of the final yeti performance, at the wreck, which felt exactly like a large behemoth dying, with atkins holding his hands behind his back for most of the set, and guitarist eric harris repeatedly playing a single note, like syd barrett after his mind came off the rails. forming the great tyrant saved teague from having to endure "what-am-i-going-to-do-now?" angst, post-yeti, and while the drummer says the new frontman was initially intimidated (who wouldn't be, standing where the late doug ferguson once did?), he's effusive in his praise of daron's musicianship.
the two musos from the touring band who were standing by the stage immediately after great tyrant climaxed their set with the beck-composed space-rock hymn "still birth" would prolly be inclined to agree. "best band we've seen on this tour," said one muso. "just beautiful," said the other. and indeed, it was.
the great tyrant be's at 1919 hemphill this sat'day, march 24th, and in dallas at the double wide the following one, march 31st.
posted by stashdauber at 11:32 PM
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