how were the shows this weekend?

i missed the first set on friday night, and showed up right when unnatural ways were plugging in. i bumped into this show listing at the last minute, but if you go to their bandcamp site, it seems like a who's who of contemporary no new york - mixed by colin marston, produced by jason lafarge, signed to john zorn's label and featuring one of lydia lunch's bassists. where's the thurston moore guest spot? saajtak were also on the bill, so i had to take a run out to the beach for the first time, to enjoy the armageddon induced by the sound, if not by the venue.

they were a sort of a strange set, in that i'm not sure how organic the sound actually is. i just dropped a lot of stuff, and you can hear bits and pieces of it in the sound, but i actually get the impression that what they'd rather be doing is some kind of demented blues that is strictly vocal driven, and they're kind of just throwing out some flashy stuff here and there to hook people like myself. so, i kind of came to see the production flourishes on the thing, rather than the thing itself, and i'm not sure i actually like the thing itself. so, what i'm initially thinking as i'm watching them is "they'd be better if they sang less and jammed more", but by the end of the set i'm realizing that they'd actually rather be singing more and jamming less. so, there's not any point in arguing for a reversal of their agency - it won't be compelling if it's fake, either. but, then, it's not really sustainable, is it? it's a decent racket while it's broadcasting, even if it's kind of scattered and disconnected and even if it doesn't last much longer.

saajtak tend to mix their sets up, which is nice for people that see them semi-regularly. hey, they're just often the best show in town. i've learned that they sound better in small rooms, and that if they want to play in larger rooms that they'll need to get bigger amps. it was otherwise a mix of new and old material, and while i can't claim that i know their tracks inside and out, i did recognize a few bits, and did enjoy the talent as it was coming out at me.

i spent the rest of friday night at the goth club; it was fairly empty, as it usually is, but the cover was cheap, and the other spots weren't going to be late enough. it was too cold for the park, if there was anybody there. and, those 3:00 closes at marble are iffy - especially when the cover ends up being $20 after midnight. i suspect people were sent home fairly early. i would have rather found a later party, but there wasn't one. rather, the parties this weekend seem to have been all set for saturday, and that just didn't make much sense for me. i was out of there a little before 5:00, which is actually a bit on the late side for goth club, and caught the 5:55 bus back over.