RTP-area local music and culture

[grady <grady AT ibiblio.org>]

I should start out by saying that I was extraordinarily impressed at how 
hard those people played, and at how incredibly fucking deep those first 
three X albums are. I think they played a total of 1 song that I didn't 
know every-single-word to, and they played for a good solid 80 minutes. 
And they totally ripped into nearly every one of them, even the 
superfast ones ("We're Desperate" was particularly intense) despite 
being, well, old. I mean, crap, I'm at least 10 years younger than all 
of them (probably more like 15-20) and there's no way *I* could've 
rocked as hard as they did for 80 minutes.

Having said that, I still felt like the show was verging on the sort of 
reunion that I try to avoid . . . there were times when I thought to 
myself "I could've just stayed home and watched "X: The Unheard Music" 
(which is one of the best music documentaries ever made, to be sure) 
again." What (mostly) saved it, for me, was how damn hard they played, 
and how great those songs are.

(yes, the parenthetical was included in my thinking to myself, thanks 
for asking)

This reunion was the riskiest kind of reunion -- old old songs, a band 
that has played together only intermittently, and that has no intention 
(apparently) of writing new material . . . and so as Dave Menconi 
mentioned on his blog, I felt at times like I was watching the World's 
Greatest X Tribute Band. They played the songs, really well, so well 
that with eyes closed it was occasionally eerily like listening to a 
record. But that's not really what I'm looking for when I go see a live 
band.

And so I spent most of the show sitting there thinking about that, and 
about what I enjoy when I really enjoy a show. Which for me is almost as 
fun as watching a great show, so . . .

I guess the two things that mean the most to me are when a band seems 
like it has a real stake (emotional, intellectual) in the songs they're 
playing, and when the members seem to really be playing off each other, 
so much so that the band is like a single unit that could head off into 
uncharted territory at any moment, and still stay together.

And as great as they sounded up there -- and make no mistake, they 
sounded great, and were playing their asses off -- I wasn't picking up 
enough of the things I look for. The songs are old, and as great as they 
are, the people who wrote them are a lot older now, and presumably 
wiser, and they've written an assload of songs since then. They played 
the crap out of the songs, sure, but did they still *feel* them in the 
same way?

What would've worked better for me? For one thing, if they'd 
acknowledged the fact that they've all continued to play music in the 
~25 years since this version of the band split up. Wouldn't have had to 
be much -- maybe the guys could've learned *one* of Exene's solo songs, 
and likewise for John's?

Or maybe that would've been corny or annoying, or beside-the-point. So 
maybe instead they could've busted out a well-chosen cover or two, other 
than "Soul Kitchen," which at this point they've played more often than 
the Doors did. Something that *wasn't* released on one of the albums?

Or if they'd even just *not* played all the songs so damn faithfully 
(although I did notice that in "Nausea" Exene said "oh no oh no" instead 
of "Christ oh Jesus Christ" -- is she all religious now or what?), and 
instead taken some of them off in a different direction.

Basically what I'm looking for is some hard evidence that they actually 
care about playing music *with* each other, as opposed to everybody 
woodshedding with the CDs.

Although given how fucking creepy Billy Zoom is, I wouldn't be surprised 
if none of them could stand to be in the same room with him for long. 
Back in the old days he already had that ridiculous leering grin, but in 
the movie he always seemed to be looking off into space, or way at the 
back of the room, so it was almost cute. At the show he was aiming it 
directly at people in the first few rows, and it gave me the creeps to 
see it.

Anyway. Pretty much everybody I talked to after the show was totally 
blown away, so I'm perfectly happy to acknowledge that I'm in the 
minority (and I should say again, one more time, that it was a really 
great performance of those songs . . . I'm just apparently more 
interested in surprise/suspense or intensity of emotion, than in 
flawless performances of songs I know by heart already).

And I think that's why the Mission of Burma and Polvo shows set such an 
impossibly high reunion-show standard for me: here are two bands who 
either still care intensely about the songs, or they're gonna rework 
them until they *can* care intensely about them again.

Ross

p.s. I spent about half the show standing next to a middle-aged Chapel 
Hill Dad type (semi-balding, paunchy, polo shirt, cargo shorts & Tevas) 
and his two kids, who looked to be in the 13-14 year old range. The dad 
was going nuts, fist-pumping, singing along, occasionally pogoing, 
clearly having a great time. The kids were kind of slumped there, 
sitting/standing perfectly still, trying as hard as they could to show 
absolutely NO INTEREST in what was going on. Was it an elaborate act, or 
are the kids today really immune to great music? I was 16 when I was 
introduced to, and fell hard for, X, and I don't remember it being a 
difficult process.

local506 AT gmail.com wrote:
> Funny, I felt like eating my words about all reunions being above-par.
> For me, I just couldn't get into X last night and contemplated leaving
> mid-way through.  From where I was standing, the sound was really bad
> (which is rare for a Cradle show.)  I moved back toward the bar where
> the mix was better, but more space for distractions from the show.
> When I finally decided to leave during the last encore, i found the
> sweet-spot near the merch stand where it sounded great - had I been
> standing there the entire time, i could foresee having a different
> experience.
>
> Of course, I was thinking...maybe reunions are only great the first
> time. Again, loved X circa 2000 and definitely thought the Gang of
> Four show in DC trumped the Cradle show six months later (though the
> Cradle show was still really good!)  But now glad I passed on the
> second Pressure Boys show - as the first night is likely the best show
> I've seen all year!
>
> I did think X's song choice was great - played some of my favorite
> album tracks like 'Some Other Time', 'Because I Do,' and 'The Have
> Nots'.
>
> Okay, I must not think bad thoughts...glenn
> -- ch-scene: the list that mirrors alt.music.chapel-hill --
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