OlyMusic Experiences

Friday night went to the very end of the Urban Arts Festival, caught the last couple dj's and the Visionaries at the Long House. The dj's were good, and the Visionaries were very good. They are opening for Cyprus Hill on 4/20. I've been appreciating dj scratching I hadn't paid enough attention to in the past. A friend showed me the movie Scratch, and I've had more appreciation for the art since then. There were a few people breakdancing at the show, and the Visionaries reminded me of that group that Rokko Grolshnikov played a clip of at his 50th Anniversary Blowout Spectacular. They were a Japanese group sponsored by the government in an attempt to help people feel happy. These guys did a "wave your arms in the air, dance like ya just don't care!", thing at one point and had me dancin' like a fool. Walked around the building with a friend to listen to the very loud danceable music from outside each window. We decided the best acoustics if we were to record the show with a hand held recorder would be outside the window at the back, ducked down below the window - it cuts out abrasive highs for a nice balanced sound with crisp vocals - important when there are a bunch of guys on the mic at the same time. Had a great time. Liked that they finished up with getting everybody to display their peace sign fingers, chanting Peace Peace Peace - sounds like a very simple direct sort of thing for a million people walking through the streets to chant together.
Peace.

Last night I saw/heard 3 bands that all made me dance at Speed Limit 35. I caught the end of Archibald Tuttle - really the last 2 minutes of their set from the lobby/lounge when I got there. It sounded familiar, and quite rockin'. Then there was OGGATRON. They amazed me. GREG plays guitar with 2 strings. Sounded like a low pitched and a high pitched, and it sounded really good. They got me dancin. JEROMY played his new double bass pedal with gusto, expecially when one of GREG's strings broke, and he patched it up on the fly. I like that PUMPKIN BOLWING. They are a little scary with the screaming, but in a somewhat friendly way. After a bit of time, Breaker Breaker came on, and had me dancing so that when they were done playing I slid down the wall into a pool of my dance sweat. They were good. Last up was the bad dudes. They played well. I remember enjoying it. I think that guy with the wine and dave matthews thing going on at the first Speed Limit 35 show actually had Perrish on the back of his jacket, or it might have been Parrish. That guy should/could start a label or something.

Saw Our Lady of the Highway last night at Le Voyeur. The music is very beautiful. Emotional changes, the band is SO tight. On tour from San Francisco, all the songs they played and all the songs on the album are ABOUT LEAVING - the end of a relationship, which is where I'm at myself, so it was just perfect. Great break-up songs. I'm listening to the disc now. Got all the folks in the band to sign it. They belong on 103.7 the Mountain, a good radio station out of Seattle that comes in as well as KAOS in Olympia. I know they got a disc to KAOS and FRO - the Mountain would break them into Seattle big time, and they fit the genre. Also got a Poster. Now I will attempt to recall all the shows I've attended since last update: Ah, the show at the 4th Ave Tav presented by Space Gnome Records with Resident Anti-Hero and the Biznautics. That show with Dante's rap and the scratchin' dj with all those guys on the mic with the biznautics was crucial. Those guys are very good and very chill. Got to talk with Chris R. a bit. I tried to explain that Tommy thinks he is funny and is actually doing a good thing by stirring everybody up, but doesn't mean any harm. He pointed out something along the lines that being chill is being chill, and things that don't seem chill, probably aren't - that's my paraphrase, he did say that he doesn't have anything to prove. That makes a lot of sense. I feel like I am meditating in a good dancin way when listening to Resident Anti-Hero - feel like I'm spinning in a fun house listenin' to A-Kamp - all y'all's are talented with lots of good stuff to put out there. So, that show rocked. Earlier that same evening I caught a bit of a group called Bevy (hope that's spelled right) at the Spar. The Spar has lots of great jazz and jazzy groups play there. This group was a large group of women (more than 6, less than 10), and I noticed drums, big deep resonant sax, upright bass, keyboard, and I'm trying to remember the rest of the details... they played "Brazil" very well, and I am fond of that song. Hot Club Sandwich played that on March 20th in the park when people turned out to express a desire for world peace and an end to the disgusting war our corrupt government administration has brought about. I do believe the song I heard them play before Brazil expressed a strong desire for peace, and suggested activism for those listening. I wish I had written sooner to remember the details better.