New Pledgemaster
Evenings
Jason Soliday + Mark Solotroff
Winters In Osaka
Quetzalcoatl
Enemy
Chicago, IL
June 28, 2008
It looked a bit grim as Quetzalcoatl was about to start, but the room started filling up nicely as the band launched into a really stellar set of violin charged drone and doom. I had a feeling, based on their MySpace material, that I would like them, but they were even heavier and more idiosyncratic than I expected.
Winters In Osaka was up second and they played their most seamless and flawless set yet, of the performences that I've seen. They struck a great balance between organic and electronic sounds. Never too harsh and never too droned out. Excellent.
Jason and I were up next and we went with a more minimalist approach. Drones, pulses, and carefully restrained feedback. I need to listen to the MiniDisc recording to get a sense of the outcome. Jason also got a clean computer recording, I believe. Vadim from Whitechapel found a handful of our double-CD, which I thought were all gone, and which he was kind enough to drop at Enemy. I have a small stack left, which I will add to my July catalog.
Evenings was next and Miles launched into a loud piece that typified his always interesting balance between harsher noise and gritty, dirty, Michigan-flavored basement-style sound work. It seemed that just as things really got going, he cut the sound and ended his set. Evidently, he had some major technical issues, which was a shame, as people seemed to really like what they had heard.
New Pledgemaster came on and began a feedback-driven set of lo-fi power-electronics with a strong nod to the Broken Flag era. Harsh electronic frequencies mixed with muffled, distorted vocals (which I always want to hear more clearly, especially after reading his excellent lyrics!). Paul did three main pieces, I believe, always fully dressed, and accompanied by a bottle of Smirnoff Vodka, which took a tumble off of his large amp at one point, to the shock of some audience members. Hints of leather were never fulfilled.
Thanks to everyone who came out to the show! That was two nice weekends in a row at Enemy.
I am now done with solo and collaboration shows for the time being, until I figure some things out for the next phase of performances and recordings...
