BLOODYMINDED
October 27, 2007
The Flowershop
Chicago
with:
Air Conditioning
Mammal
Cadaver In Drag
Paranoid Time
BLOODYMINDED
Heber Burguette - Synth
James Moy - Live Mix + Synth + Vocals
Isidro Reyes - Synth + Vocals
Mark Solotroff - Vocals
01. LAKE STREET
02. ANGEL OF DARKNESS
03. THE LOVE HATERS VS. THE HATE LOVERS
04. MIND THE GAP
05. SEXUALLY TIMID GIRLFRIEND PUTTING HERSELF THROUGH ART SCHOOL BY WORKING AS A STRIPPER - RAPE VICTIM
06. BOOST
07. OUTSIDE THE GATE
08. STICK INSECTS
09. BLIND FURY
10. TWO DROPS OF BLOOD
11. DAZED (INTRINSIC ACTION)
12. BECOMING AN ANIMAL (ENSEMBLE SACRES GARCONS)
13. GRAIN (ANIMAL LAW)
14. VISITING AN EX-GIRLFRIEND IN THE HOSPITAL - AIDS WARD
15. WITHIN THE WALLS
16. A SONG FOR LISANNE, A YOUNG MODEL
17. TROPHY
We were up against a lot of competing events on Saturday night... Diamanda Galas at the Museum of Contemporary Art... Jesu at The Empty Bottle... a zillion Halloween parties, etc. I put the word out that things were starting on time, too. And I'll be damned, there was a pretty great, full room by 8:15 PM at The Flowershop. It was great to look out and see people who had driven from Cleveland, Milwaukee, Saint Louis... nice! I think that everyone was "in the mood" for this show, so we certainly did not need to kick things off with that one. From the opening second of "Lake Street," I knew that James had the sound worked out perfectly --- the best blend of synths, feedback, and vocals that I could possibly ask for. Even if I could barely see Heber during the set --- he does like to lurk behind those amps --- I could tell when his mid-range MC-202 was cutting through the mix --- and Isidro's high-end cut through like a knife! The long spaces between songs were pretty brutal, I think, adding to the marathon-like length of the show. I had so much to say, as I recall, but after listening to a recording of the show (thanks Arthur!), I appeared to be having trouble gathering my thoughts and spitting it all out --- lyrics, too, at some points. Sorry, I have been pretty distracted these days... Thankfully, I had Isidro and even James backing me up on vocals - not to mention Greh Holger's animalistic grunts on the Cleanse cover, "Dazed." And was it just me, or was it hard to move that night? I felt like I was swimming in molasses, or something. Weird. Anyway, we made it through all seventeen tracks, eventually --- in 42 minutes, actually --- hey, who ordered the double??? --- it was our last Chicago show of the year ----- finally retiring the floor to our esteemed guests.
Paranoid Time was up next, and once we sorted out the PA situation - after a funny declaration from Pat - he proceeded to quickly lay waste to the room with a short, loud, and heavy dose of harsh noise - and perfectly timed interjections. I guess that I should have looked more closely, because it appeared that his main sound source was a scrap-metal sculpture, of some sort, which was insane. That was how harsh noise should be done. Fast, hard, and too the point, with the perfect amount of crowd interaction and flair! What a great introduction to a Chicago audience.
Cadaver In Drag were up next, with two to three times the usual number of members that I have seen... with additional guitar, organ/keyboard, and synth. This six-man enhanced line-up brought the best elements of the new album, "Raw Child," to life. Dense, heavy, plodding, psychedelic, doomy, sludge... well composed and executed epic tracks... Someone please book them a world tour... and let me tag along. I completely got lost in some sort of zone during their set... it was just that transcendent for me.
Mammal was up next, and clearly Gary has upped the ante - yet again - since his last Chicago show - with Thrones and Growing. His live sound - for me - is the perfect blend of the pure electronic Mammal that many people expect --- and the bass guitar and drum machine style that has been emerging more recently. I think that he opened with "Repulsion" - I hope that I got that right - but even if not - that relentless track off of "Lonesome Drifter" is such a good indication of what this show was like... bass guitar as a machine caught in a series of shifting, horrific loops... relentless pounding rhythms... totally bleak... In some ways, the most true industrial music -- in a more antiquated use of the term -- that you could imagine. The physical nature of the sound caused the audience to immediately withdraw from the primal swamp of C.I.D., moving into a more active headbanging phase. Amazing! As much as I would have liked to have heard "Fatherlands," it made sense to leave the truly morbid vocal tracks out of this set - for the sake of the hellish momentum that Gary maintained.
After a brief transition to set up a different mountain of amps, Mssrs. Jurgensen and Franco built up a hideous wall of bass and guitar sound that had a much greater physical impact - which one would hope for -- but in contrast to the experience of numerous listens to their CD on Load, "Dead Rails." While there was not always a lot of differentiation, it was clear that at times the bass was winning the fight, while the guitar sometimes got the other hand. At other moments, feedback took on a life of its own, or maybe a shock of electrical noise rose up through the heavy mix -- while a true climax could be marked by Robert's "let it all out" vocal movement. I could not have asked for a better meltdown -- in an "exploding volcano" sense -- to the entire evening.
Thanks to Jake, for getting the show set up. It is much appreciated! Thanks to Thorn, and everyone else at The Flowershop, for the great hospitality, as always. Thanks to Marlene, for videotaping. Thanks to all of our friends - and to everyone else - who came out to support the show. The crowd's energy was excellent!
What followed? A really bad Halloween party. People in costumes - out on the street - fighting --- Actually getting let in, then closing Continental --- finding Slim laying on a dark, empty sidewalk in Pilsen shortly after 5:00 AM. Tasty carnitas at Don Pedro on 18th Street. Fourteen guys spread out all around my place, crashed out. A couple of hours sleep... a couple dozen espressos... eventually getting to brunch... a trip to the Conservatory... a quick show... and off to see really great sets by Burial Hex, Oakeater, and Yellow Swans at AV-Aerie on Sunday night.
There you go...
