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Josh Berman, Keefe Jackson, Anton Hatwich, Tim Daisy – The Hungry Brain, Chicago – 28th Feb. 2005

Popularity: 1% [?]

Josh Berman, Keefe Jackson, Anton Hatwich, Tim Daisy – The Hungry Brain, Chicago – 28th Feb. 2005

Popularity: 1% [?]

         After an audience member recited a poem in his honour, M. Ward coolly ambled on stage and began working his way through the instrumental “You Still Believe in Me,” criss-crossing here and there with tunes such as “Color of Water,” blending a medley together however he saw fit. As the next succession of songs took on a more elegiac tone, beginning with “O’Brien’s Nocturne,” Ward could not have appeared more laid back, his guitar rattling out like a rusty cage.                                   

            Taking to the piano for the sombre “A Voice at the End of the Line,” the extent of the audience’s absorbed respect for the performance became clear; between Ward’s softly sung lines, you could hear the purr of the air-conditioning, and the occasional car engine humming past on Belmont. Though the crowd never failed to erupt enthusiastically between songs, the pin-drop level of attention really enhanced the intimacy of a set largely made up of 2003’s “Transfiguration of Vincent” (from which 14 of its15 tracks were played). For “One Life Away” (surprisingly, just one of only six songs from the new album played ["Fuel for Fire," "Lullaby + Exile," and "I'll Be Yr Bird," among the others]) the supporting Jim James vocal from the recorded track was laid beneath for a seamless rendition.

            Following a slower version of “Radio Campaign” (which works far better), and a sparse, piano-only performance of “Flaming Heart,” Ward ended the pre-encore set on “Undertaker.” Adding a gorgeous in-between hum, then looping over himself with breathtaking accuracy (with the help of an effects pedal) to form not two, but three layers of his own guitar, making a sublime song even better, and then simply putting down the guitar to let the music play on by itself as he exited stage left – and, believe me, no one would have complained if that looping melody ran on ad infinitum.

                                        
            While his humorously-delivered version of Daniel Johnston’s “Story of an Artist” (which he recorded for the recent “Discovered Covered” tribute album) had earlier brought out laughter in all the right places, Ward himself admitted that there might be too many sad songs in the set, and opted to make up the balance (not that it was needed – every single song was a joy to hear) by finishing the night on Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World” (“the happiest song, ever”). Few live performances can be called “a thing of beauty,” but M. Ward’s (long overdue) full-length show is just that.

Popularity: unranked [?]

             It’s always exciting when you’re about to see a living-legend perform live; but sometimes, when the artist’s career is long on the wrong side of its peak, that legendary aura and stage presence only has so much mileage to go on. Making up for his absence at the Electric Picnic festival the previous year, Lee “Scratch” Perry is escourted downstairs to the stage wearing what looksto bea pointy witch’s hat. A tiny man, Perry is a colossal figure in the history of dub, and his arrival commands a fitting reaction from the crowd. Meanwhile, out from a locked box comes Perry’s shiny, bejewelled hat (almost as identifiable as the man himself).
                                  

             The vibrations from the bass-lines shake the walls of the cubicles in the men’s bathroom on the opposite side of the building (it’s not everyday that the man on the mixing desk is almost as widely admired as the performer – in this case, it’s the Mad Professor, another icon in dub circles). As the show progresses, and the packed house clambers amongst themselves drunkenly, the on-stage banter descends into what feels like little more than cheap lines repeated over and over to rouse the crowd (e.g. “Say ‘DUB-lin! DUB-lin!’” or “Can I hear ‘Lee Scratch Per-ray’? Say ‘Lee Scratch Per-ray!’”), with chants that call for world peace dwindling into inaudible rants that are most likely a symptom of senility.
                                  

             It was short-lived gig, and leaves one as being considerably unsatisfying, but the question here is: is this enough to keep even die-hard dub-lovers content?

Popularity: unranked [?]

Lee Scratch Perry – Redbox., Dublin – February 19th 2005

Popularity: 1% [?]