[kj] east coast torrent

Rob's Arse gathering@misera.net
Tue, 28 Oct 2003 01:08:18 -0800 (PST)


Looks like Alex has got competition for massive missives. :-)

Todd, a great account. Ta.

Anyone got any recordings of these shows???



--- "fluw" <fluwdot@earthlink.net> wrote:
ok, must not be alone in the pack so here goes my travel diary:
=20
pull up to union square hotel. check in at 5:30. quickly change into battle=
 garb and head down to the yuppy irish bar chosen by our verbose nyc troop =
leader alexinyc. we all had a blast getting to know one another, patronizin=
g the yuppies keen on procuring our camp when we finally gave up the ghost =
for hopes of an arrival by geordie, jaz, nick, raven or ted, and browsing t=
he excellent new malicious damage catalog foldout pocketbooks. otherwise ev=
ents took place at the central bar as alex mentioned already.
=20
the cmj/webster hall gig was a tremendous experience -- the poor nyc hipste=
r kids didn't know what hit them, especially the cerebrally challenged youn=
gster who leaped from the balcony nearly shish kabobbing himself on raven's=
 back up bass. he should be thankful that
cliff was on the ball his first night out of the gates with killing joke or=
 the fool hearty stage bomber may have been pulling golden schecter bass sp=
linters out of his keister and shitting gold lam=C3=A9 turds for months.=20
=20
later, while enduring 90's def leppard music turned to 11 in a bar the size=
 of your average walk in closet, some events enjoyed by myself were swappin=
g punches to the shoulder with alex; gear talk with troy gregory and ted; n=
azi and gaza strip opinions with the duracell powered jaw of jossy; chawing=
 cuban cigars while discussing/having lessons on german demographics with p=
rofessor kingerske; and hoops and handel talk with tim.
=20

thursday am: breakfast with mister coles, wow!!! mike played me the newly d=
iscovered wardance demo - and without a doubt the best version i have ever =
heard. specifically? much more ominous and sinister. the tempo pulls back i=
nto a plodding super zabbath like zone far deeper than killing joke has eve=
r been to my knowledge; the groove alone could frighten you! the definition=
 and punch heard makes it sound as if it where recorded today. some example=
 of that would be in geordie's right hand attack, his guitar technique is a=
s clear as i imagine it would sound if your ear was two inches from his gui=
tar. even when the band kicks in the guitar is not reduced to the raspy and=
 in comparison, slightly indistinct sound heard on the original release. bi=
g paul's drums are more full/round/ and sound larger than ever before. thes=
e demos also contain examples of youth's playing that had me wondering how =
his playing progressed in reverse! yet still, without regard for what the l=
ingering effects of playing me even more unreleased tracks would have, mike=
 proceeded and the same qualities were present. mike then mentions some oth=
ers (2 versions of pssyche etc. that may be available) !!!!!!!!! i talked t=
o geordie about these demos in baltimore and he seemed to be ringing his ha=
nds at the thought of getting these out, as in my estimation, his opinions =
of the recordings where at least as high as mine. so sleep tight with the t=
hought gatherers, as good things are on the kj rarities horizon! anyway mik=
e and i had a splendid chat (family, BPF, kj tales) and much good advice wa=
s passed on to me by mike. thank you so much sir colesy!=20=20=20

=20
thursday evening @ black cat:
opening band was very good at what they do...tricky rhythms delivered on a =
very small trap. the bassist lead the group with a stick electric upright a=
nd effects and samples creating funky grooves and adding textures with his =
bow and effects. yet another sample player and a hunching bopping projector=
 player, as well. in general way too much hunching, knob twiddling, etc. fo=
r my tastes, but they were legit and not just providing a hollow pretense o=
f creativity like "vhs or beta" the night before in nyc.
=20
killing joke came out to faithhealer - communion again. they delivered a bl=
istering set
to a very diminutive crowd considering it was DC! ted is doing some spot-on=
 tom work. geordie was bright toothed to those down front welcoming him to =
dc with a hearty smile and a "wah thank yee sir!" reply.  there was some mi=
ss communication during kings and queens as nick took into the last bridge =
too early and the tight combo never skipped a beat following as if by rote.=
 jaz looked confusingly to geordie at the end and geordie motioned to nick =
to give account, but jaz had already turned to take a drink and missed the =
clarification. so regarding that, this and a few other discrepancies in the=
 performance luckily didn't effect the show negatively and for fans of gold=
en harp noise, those mistakes seemed to propel geordie into more indulgent =
than his usual pleasantly disturbing attacks on the harp following jaz's ea=
rly exit to the dressing room - due to his stage vomiting and general unhea=
lthy state. by itself, the harp fedback and sang for at least three minutes=
 after all humans had left the stage. finally cliff apparently thought it p=
rudent to hit the kill switch on geordie's boss tuner and the tormented how=
ls and wailings of the harp where silenced.
=20
friday baltimore: (believe)?
wtf does "believe" mean? well it seems to have a lot of meaning in baltimor=
e as many cars have it on their bumpers and a giant black obelisk near flet=
cher's bar advertises it as well.  a patron attending the show in baltimore=
 had an apropos response by wearing a black shirt with the rearranged lette=
rs of this phase  "be evil".  before the gig, around six, lurker adam "the =
stranger' elected we eat at fletcher's. fortunately a certain tour bus with=
 a skull on the dash was parked across the street so it seemed like a good =
idea. we walk in and there at the bar are geordie and raven yukking it up a=
nd knockin' back shots of jack. the chatting begins - "the stranger" "be ev=
il" adam asks if he could buy the general and the bird a drink and geordie =
happily accepts a vodka tonic and raven another shot of jack. raven mention=
ed the proposed gathering shows, talked gear, prague, burman, etc. geordie =
politely tolerated endured my gushings about the new/old demos and said the=
y will be released. anyway we proceed to order and eat and just as well lea=
ve geordie and raven hugging and bonding like pirates.=20=20
=20
at the gig, no opening band just some house dub and rob's mp3 of faith heal=
er. the fletcher's performance was the best to date on the east coast leg. =
geordie was in very close approximation of his amp, within three or four fe=
et at the most (a meter, for non US)  so the whistling and cries from the h=
arp provided an atmosphere of impending disaster that gave the performance =
a sense of urgency. geordie was in constant motion on the tiny stage swayin=
g and weaving around like a cobra chugging and chiming his way through the =
vortex of howls and harmonics swelling from the belly of the golden beast. =
raven playfully chided the audience and sang the first verse of pssyche ful=
l on. raven and geordie had particularly good chemistry this night as might=
 be expected after the bonding done downstairs. jaz wasn't throwing up like=
 in dc but was still sick and he didn't deliver any monologues.=20=20
=20
saturday night @ axis boston:
ticket says band goes on at 10:00 the wife and i, after struggling with the=
 boston street routes (boston is worse than paris!), we get there at 8:03. =
checking i.d.'s at the door we hear that the opening notes of communion on =
the keyboards are calling! we settle in front of geordie as usual and enjoy=
 a very loud performance as others have said, but not as intense volume-wis=
e as the nyc gig. jaz is looking better and he is talking more, expressing =
more and spitting up (on purpose, not vomiting). some monologues from jaz f=
inally as we hadn't had much in the nights previous other than the "what ki=
nd of a world will we leave our children" on change and "there will be more=
 war in 2004, in order to win the election" bit in nyc. anyway he made a st=
atement about "needing to get it out" while spitting up and the "hold me in=
 your arms open your arms, hold me in your arms" before DARS as well as men=
tioning something about "needing to parish and be born again" that nature. =
anyway, great gig and then it was over. and the last of 2003 was over for m=
e.

can't wait til 2004 - the US kj tour that is, not the war



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