hentai improvising orchestra @ lola's 6th street, 7.11.2009

when i first reached out to lance from spune and told him, "i've got two prog bands and an improv band i'd like to book" and he gave us a sat'day night, i remember thinking, "wow, the bar biz must be shitty." when we rolled up in front of lola's, late because i had to close at the market, i was heartened at the number of cars i saw, but then i checked the thought. after all, there _were_ 11 people in hentai alone. but most of the folks i encountered inside were actually wearing wristbands, signifying they had paid cover, and all three bands had good, attentive crowds -- a far cry from our room-clearing days with PFFFFT! at the fairmount.

i got there too late to catch harry has a head like a ping pong ball's set, but all the comments i heard from audience members were favorable, and their gtrist travis laminack said he reckoned they played better than they had their last coupla shows. will have to do more shows with 'em in the future.

the underground railroad played their first show in two years. after this was booked, they resumed rehearsing and even wrote a couple of new tunes (heard one of 'em last night; will have to book another show to hear the others, i suppose). i really dig the way the live dynamic between those guys is evolving with kurt rongey on drums. it doesn't even seem weird hearing his pre-recorded keyboard parts. bill pohl joined hembree in the legion of the shorn, and played a strat through a marshall stack. as always, i wished he'd turn up a bit. these days, the railroad is adding some aggression and energy to their complex, cerebral jams, to good effect.

hentai's lineup was in flux up until the last minute. jon teague had to beg off the gig due to recording commitments with the great tyrant, although in the event those plans fell through and he and daron beck were actually in the house. in his stead, clay stinnett came direct from an 11-hour recording sesh in dallas with the boom boom box. the final lineup was as follows:

marcus brunt - trombone
michael chamy - electronics
mark cook - warr gtr, sequencer
bob fisher - alto sax, flute
brent frishman - visuals
matt hembree - bass, percussion
matt hickey - electric gopichand
terry horn - record players, laptop
ken shimamoto - gtr
clay stinnett - drums
billy wilson - theremin

for me, the heroes of the night were clay, who played with exceptional restraint and empathy (possibly a result of recently playing with ghostcar); the horns, who, when they cut loose, alternately put me in mind of '60s free jazzers or the sections from jb's or fela's bands; and zanzibar snails mastermind michael, who added elements of dissonance and chaos to serve as counterpoint to the riddim section's groove. i couldn't see the video projection that gutterth productions / dirty water disease cat brent was running, but it was prolly better 'n looking at our ugly mugs unadorned.

my sweetie took lotsa pics which, in the fullness of time, shall be posted to her photo blog.

post mortem, a few discussions ensued re: things to try in future performances. our next one, at the firehouse gallery on saturday, july 25th, will feature separate sets by yanari and PFFFFT!, followed by a performance by a spatially divided hentai orchestra.

ADDENDUM: opened the market this a.m. on three hours' sleep. will have to wait to hear from ray whether the stoogeband or PFFFFT! won anything at the fw weekly music awards.