Well, that was fun! Stick Men were dizzyingly virtuosic, as expected. There was exactly one duff note that I heard, during the first set (I think during "Brutal," actually -- the first public performance of the piece! I did note who made it but I will not say further).
The members of Stick Men were also funny and charming, as last time, but I took no notes: the funniest bit involved Pat coaching us how to clap along to the intro of a song. Even the explanation quickly proved impossible to even follow ("when it starts, it's 3-3-2, but then it shifts to 3-2-2, then it's 2-2-3, then..."). Everybody laughed, even the band. All my pics of them playing look dead serious, though:
Most of the band's humour in fact dealt with the challenges of presenting this music live, but they made it seem quite effortless; Markus had commented about one of the appeals of seeing the band play is that they are on the edge, in a situation of "fragility," but what is interesting is that unless they actually do encounter problems, you don't actually notice that any such fragility pertains. From an audience perspective, it's basically like seeing wizards, except it's really wizards who know first hand that sometimes their magic might fail them, like someone is going to pull back the curtain and go "aha!"
But that one duff note aside, no curtains were pulled back that *I* noticed. In a way, it was that one duff note that proved their wizardry otherwise... maybe it was even deliberately duff, like they sneak in one single flaw, an act of humility, a point of contrast for their expertise per every other note they played...?
It was further curious that Tony tended to actually look at his hands (or at Markus), while Markus tended to look out at the audience, but in a thousand-yard-stare kind of way. It would be interesting to know if he is seeing anything at all, what his visual intake is at such times. It's almost like his brain is too full of the music he is playing to bother with mere acts of "seeing." Tony, meanwhile, wherever he was looking, was in full focus. He has very intense eyes, actually... which figures; he has a page about his photography here.
Speaking of which, Tony's photograph of last night's audience, the first of the tour, is here... I can't see myself but I do see Barry "Boom Boom" Benson of the Spores and Aging Youth Gang in the bottom left. (He's going to be part of a Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band tribute on Dec. 12th at a Legion somewhere, but I didn't take notes. I think David M. might be involved. Mostly Barry and Rob Frith talked about the times R&B Brewing, his former company, had provided Neptoon with beer for in-stores).
I cannot presume to review the show last night, despite these observations. Epiphenomena dominated my perceptions: the first set, I was upstairs, which was the wrong place to be, because really, the "close your eyes and just listen to it" approach to the music just wasn't working for me. I can do that at home with headphones on, y'know? You really do want to be able to watch their hands; that seems key to the Stick Men experience, or at least my Stick Men experience, so the one vid I am posting (I hope with their tolerance; I did not check) really is quite hand-centric. Shooting their hands was actually really the correct way for me to focus on their music, was the stuff I enjoyed most: I was unable (unlike a couple people) to really commitedly DANCE to this music, and, y'know, there's nothin' much to sing along to (though Tony did sing "Prog Noir" at one point; Markus says he is working on vinyl reissues, and that's the album of theirs I'm keenest to snap up. I did see some people with the CD in hand, later in the night, but even that seems to be out of print and pricey).
By the end of the night, my brain was full and I mostly checked out the sparse remaining merch and waited to get stuff signed, but this is no reflection on the amazing music being made.
Said merch sold quickly. They had cool purple t-shirts that I thought I might buy, despite never no more needing no t-shirts, especially with this upcoming deal with the House of Exu (more on which later), but they were all gone before the mid-set break (except for a sole XL one of a lesser design). Ditto most of the vinyl. The merch person was actually Deborah Mastelotto, Pat's wife, who was one of the performers on the Mastelottos album which some of us bought (it figures that a bunch of King Crimson fans would arrive primed to shop). She writes about that record here -- I am glad to have gotten it on CD (that was the only CD I got signed, by her and Pat; getting people to sign CDs just feels a bit silly once you've gone back to records, y'know?). It actually sounds like a really interesting project. I wish I'd had the requisite cash to buy it on vinyl before it sold out -- I went to the ATM but didn't come directly back, so... do not hesitate and be prepared with the cash, folks!
Seattle note: she does have one copy there... but only one!
Deborah was very charming and reminded me, oddly, of an ex-girlfriend of the guy who turned me onto THRAK by King Crimson in the first place, many years ago. One note: the CD players she was selling -- a brilliant move, to sell portable CD players for people who say "they don't even have a player" -- are *not,* apparently, bluetooth enabled, which was how she had described them (there's nothing about bluetooth in the booklet, anyhow -- I spent half an hour investigating it just now). The charging cable was a piece o' junk too, but otherwise it seems to work fine, say with AA batteries (or my other, better cable), so that's good. I am still not quite sure what I am going to do with it. It might end up a Christmas gift for a friend who only has a turntable -- that was ostensibly who I bought it for -- but it would be nice to have a plug that works, first!
Anyhow, I'll get use out of it. Thanks, Deborah, nice meetin' you!
In fact, for whatever reason, there was a much higher women-to-men ratio last night than at the Dream Syndicate show the other week, though the audience still tilted towards men. That was one of the reasons I left the balcony, actually: I didn't want to hear the guy in the seat below me mansplaining King Crimson to his wife ("A Mansplainer's Guide to King Crimson," ha).
Afterwards, the band came out and signed stuff. Pat and Markus had read about Rob Frith's Beatles story, followed up here, and were interested to say hi; Tony had not and was not, at least on that topic, but chatted with Rob about a mutual friend named Bob Jeniker of Park Avenue Records, who ran out of money for a record he was making by an artist he managed, Pamela Golden, and got Rob to send him some money via Tony, who Bob was staying with (and who is on the album). Tony remembered Bob but not the transaction! "Bob gave me a Butcher Cover as a thank you for lending him the money to finish the recording," Rob notes. RIP Bob Jeniker.
Tony graciously took in everyone's stories, but by the time he got to me and my stack of album covers, kinda had no interest in the one funny thing I was going to tell him (but he had signed all my vinyl, so how can I complain?). This involved this ridiculous item I bought off Rob Frith last year: a King Crimson album that Adrian Belew is NOT on... which did not stop Belew from signing it. But -- and Rob enjoyed showing me this detail -- Robert Fripp, also signing the record, noticed Adrian's signature and wrote a little query, "Hey, pal, what are you doing here?", challenging Belew's right to be on this album cover. Which is pretty funny! Around the time of the Beat show, I posted about this somewhere and Adrian Belew himself commented that Fripp was absolutely right, "I had no business signing that record, shame on me!"
Alas, Tony did not want to spend a minute listening to my story: "I don't care, I've got to pack up, if you want me to sign it I'll sign it." And I had to think for a minute. My idea, unexplained, had been to ask someone to comment on Fripp's comment, to go meta-level and smartass, something like, "I stand with Adrian" or "vive le revolucion" or "I'm not on it either" or something. But well, whatever. I can't blame him for not having been amused -- I am sure he's been asked to sign this record before, too, and who is less likely to be wowed by a Robert Fripp inscription, however witty, than someone who has been in King Crimson? But what the heck, I got him to sign it and let him get on with his night. Deborah Mastelotto reports that people get Pat to sign that one too, but he was gone by that point. I guess I could have gotten Markus to sign it with, "I've never even been in the band!"
Thanks for signing my stuff, though, Tony! You handle your fame much more graciously than I would, if I had any. All these people wanting to tell you their stories would be absolutely... fucking... exhausting -- a long queue of people who want you to sign things, listen to them, and pose... sign things, listen to them, pose... I'd be like Richard Thompson, myself, and just stay backstage. Fuck that noise!
I took no selfies with the band but I did shoot a ton of stuff with Rob in it. Maybe Sir Paul will see these? Ha!
Markus gave me a copy of one of his limited-edition CDs as a thank you for the article (see also my blogpiece below, which is also pretty good, and got lots of views). He and Pat seemed really to enjoy mingling and signing stuff more than Tony did, but they had much, much shorter lineups. And JJ Caithcart, who I hadn't seen since Scrape Records closed down, had even more stuff for Tony than I did! (But he didn't try to bend Tony's ear).
Oh, and Deborah Mastelotto recommended, of Markus' albums on the merch table, Truce 2, which definitely leans more in the rock direction than the subtle, ambient one. Like me! I listened to a bit of it on the very CD player which she sold me; sounds great!
So I had a great night, a bit epiphenominally-loaded for me, with the high point actually being my Markus Reuter interview the other week, but whatever. I'll see these guys anytime they come to town. Don't waste the chance, if you have one! (And don't slouch on the merch, or it will all be gone).
Wizards, seriously. Mere mortal wizards.
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