[Jandek] seattle jandek impressions

[p g]

I don't make it out to shows much, but this was a must see.  On The Boards
here in Seattle was a great venue to see Jandek perform...a performance art
space rather than a club setting.  My wife and I sat in the front row, in
front of the Representative From Corwood Industries.  He was all dressed in
black, which seems to be his uniform.  He is amazingly gaunt, thin.

The band was guitar, bass and drums with two back up singers.  What struck
me the most was the interplay between the drummer and Jandek.  They both had
a great sense of dynamics, and really played off each other.  I thought Sam
Coomes' bass playing for the most part was very distracting and annoying at
times. He seemed to be disconnected, too loud and had little dynamics or
variation in his playing, a lot of plodding through and over the others.  I
kept trying to image the music without the bass in the mix at all.  He
didn't strike me as much as an improviser.

The back up singers were both awesome, each doing solos as well as chorus
stuff.  I loved how they sung in that deadpan Jandek way, as well as singing
off key with other.  The entire thing, the whole band would be just off
kilter, off key and it just sounded amazing and surreal.

I kept wondering about how Jandek works with musicians the day of the show,
like how they structure the set, work out the music etc.  I understand that
he writes lyrics the day of the show.  One of the songs referrenced Queen
Anne Ave, the street the venue is located near.  One of the funniest parts
of the show, was Jandek basically throughout the show doing a little
slo-motion boogying around movements, getting into playing.  He'd turn his
back and kind of do this slow motion walking/stepping thing.  He has a great
stage presence, but also blends with the musicians well.

Overall, I didn't know what to expect, but it was really great, my wife and
I loved it.  I love seeing a show like this, in that kind of quiet
atmosphere.  Jandek is amazing and so completely unique.  I loved his guitar
playing and lyrics/voice.  I currently only have Chair Beside A Window and
Ready For The House, but after this performance, I'd like to hear some more
recent recordings.

P
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