Bleu
Kats 2
Saturday,
April 5, 2003
Friday,
April 4, 2003
The
second evening of Bleu Kats 2 continued the nonstop barrage
of art in the form of music, dance, poetry, films and
visual art projected on two large screens. Congratulations
to the Underground Artists Association (UAA) for another
successful show of cutting edge performances. If the
UAA keeps pushing forward with this event the Stew may
rise to a level of popularity that equals anything else
throughout the year.
In addition to the artists reviewed below there were performances by
Naomi in the Living room (Durang-1-act play), The Young American (performance
art), Chuck Joy (poet) and Douglas Leader. Due to PlayErie's focus we
are keeping the reviews within the realm of local music.
Telefonics
Telefonics opened
the show tonight with danceable, new wave influenced
pop. However, the band has a dark side that ventures
heavily into into noise and chaos. The blend between
these two extremes are what makes Telefonics so appealing.
The final tune of Telefonic's set tonight was a reworking of the Beatle's
classic, "Give Peace A Chance". During this song the band gave
out t-shirts bearing the motto "More candy, less war". Guitarist
John Johnston then proceeded to toss handfuls of candy into the audience.
The
Human Being Lawnmower
The Human
Being Lawnmower plays heavy, down tempo metal described
by the band as "doom punk". Actually they
reminded me of early Black Sabbath in the vein of "Iron
Man", "Sweet Leaf" or "War Pigs".
(This is intended as a compliment!)
The guitar tones were excellent for this genre of music, with feedback
and tape loop manipulations added in for good measure. Other textures
utilized included keyboard and synth effects.
Black
Rose Diary
What
can be said... the members of Black
Rose Diary mean it. When they play it's for real.
Click on the link above to hear "Devil Town" which
is from their new release.
Be sure to support them at their CD release party and pick up a copy
of "Burned Bridges and Broken Hearts". The dates are April
25th at the Hangout for all ages and May 9th at the Beer Mug for 21 and
over.
DJ
Something Else
Turntable
master DJ Something Else established a groove and then
proceeded to twist and mangle it in every way imaginable.
He worked three turntables and a sampler with precision
ability. A highlight was a section with "Steve Austin" dialog
and bits of "Xanadu" by Rush and "War
Pigs" by Black Sabbath.
Several audience members hit the floor and displayed their break dancing
abilities. Near the end of his set DJ Something Else left his post and
surprised the audience with his own talent to break, trading off with
several members of the audience.
The Witching
The
Witching is an all-female group from Ithica, NY fronted
by Ruby Biel. Ruby
is formerly from Erie and still returns to play an occasional
show with Nostromos.
The Witching rocked hard tonight and the audience always loves Biel whenever
she returns to her hometown. Possessing a very unique voice, Ruby growls,
pants, screams and whispers in a totally uninhibited manner. The rest
of the band was solid, energetic and fun to watch while the audience
responded with over the top enthusiasm.
Diecaster
In
a rare appearance Trevor Huster performed solo as Diecaster.
Sillouetted by disco lights, strobes and billowing fog
Huster manipulated his keyboards and electronics to produce
beat-laden industrial textures. Over this machine-like
wall of sound Trevor screamed out barely discernable
lyrics processed through a distortion box. The overall
flavor was reminiscent of Nine Inch Nails, Ministry or
Front 242.
PlayErie.com
would like to thank Garrett
Skindell and the entire UAA team for providing an
example of what is possible in the Erie music/art community.
We eagerly look forward to next year's event (whatever
it may be called) - John Trevethan
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