Sonic Circuits artists

I rode one bus for a while, then got off that one, then rode another bus for a while.  After that, I was in DC, where I met Raff and Micky.  There was great celebration.  Then, we rode on the metro for a while (I would have been completely lost alone, the metro system is a maze ) and eventually got some dinner at a great pizza place near their house.  Then, we got to their house, talked for a bit, then I fell asleep.  

OK, now I'll do Saturday morning.  I wasn't able to sleep in very long, not even until my alarm was set to go off (alarm was set for 8, I woke up at 7).  After we all got ready (and listened to UZ's Relaps and some other albums as well), we went on the "DC in several hours" tour.  Saw a lot of the "big sights" and then went to the restaurant Micky talks about on his status update on Facebook.  Good food was had, then we started on the trip through Georgetown to the French Embassy.

We got to the French Embassy and got inside.  They had some merch on sale, though only for the earlier four bands (and Magma shirts), so I picked up a couple Muffins albums and a Magma shirt.  Then, the music started.  First up was a one-man act, Pilesar.  He made tracks with a keyboard and a sampler and a loop pedal and his voice.  It was interesting and fun to see live, not sure if I'd want an album though.

Next, Vector Trio came on.  I was interested in them, as I liked the tracks on their myspace.  The performance, though, was a lot more free-form than I remembered, so it was basically well-constructed noise...still enjoyable, but I would have liked a bit more structure.

Next up was Hume, who were a pretty fun band.  They started off with two guitarists, drummer, cellist, and vibes player, which was the lineup for the first several tracks.  The cellist and vibes player were guests, though, so the last track was the basic trio.  Interesting again, and I was going to pick up their CD but I forgot to.

Finally, the one we were waiting for from the earlier show:  The Muffins!  Needless to say, they were quite good.  They're definitely used to playing together, used to playing fun material, and used to being quite awesome, funny guys in general.

OH YEAH!  Between Vector Trio and Hume's sets, I was outside talking with Micky, when I saw this guy and got this picture taken (thanks Micky!):


First, something I forgot to mention about this portion of the day; for the first ~10 minutes of the Muffins' set, I stood and watched it with none other than Philippe Bussonnet!  I talked with him a bit before they started, but I don't think he speaks much English and I know I don't speak much French, so communication was difficult.  Nonetheless...epic.

After the Muffins set, we had some time off to relax and (for those people who were hungry) eat some food before the Magma concert.  I wasn't hungry, so I just relaxed.  Then Steve from Wayside showed up with all of the Magma merch, and I got really happy and my wallet got really sad.  See the Recent Purchases thread for my cumulative purchases for the day.

Another sidetrack:  I talked a lot with Dan Britton, the mind behind bands such as Birds and Buildings, Cerebus Effect, and Deleuge Grandeur;  he is, as should probably be expected, another truly awesome guy.  He's really down to earth, knows his stuff, and shares my enthusiasm for both Magma and the Cardiacs.  We chatted on and off throughout the day once Raff and Micky introduced us.  He didn't have any music with him, though.

8:00 got close, so we all started to queue nicely (read: form a mob) around the entrance to the auditorium Magma was due to play in.  They opened the doors a bit before 8, and we all rushed in.  We got seats three rows back, on the right side of the stage.  I could see everyone on stage, though Vander's head was usually hidden by a cymbal.  We got to play the waiting game for a bit; the band didn't end up getting on stage until almost 8:30.

The first two pieces were the new pieces (I assume the ones James says are boring) which we all thought were pretty incredible.  The first one was generally in line with their darker stuff, while I like to think of the second one as almost a Kobaïan lullaby since it has some very dreamy parts to it (though be assured, still thundering parts as well).  They were both at least half an hour long, I'm sure.  After those two, we got Emehntehtt-Re.  It's at least as good live as it is studio, probably much better (since you're sitting there watching them play and it's at least as epic as the studio version.  Everyone was playing at the top of their game last night - by the way, James Mac Gaw wasn't there, and the guitarist who was with them has only been playing with them for three days.  Even after such a short amount of time, he pulled off everything very well.  My only (nearly non-existent) complaint about the whole show is that I think Bubu was mixed just a bit low - could have used some more monster bass.  After they powered their way through E-Re, we the crowd gave epic applause for several minutes after the band left the stage, so they came back and played a very rock/blues version of Kobaïa.  After rocking it out like crazy, they were finally done playing for the night.

The adventure is not over yet, though!   Next was the post-concert reception.  I was under two main impressions about it - 1) the hors d'oevours wouldn't be very filling, and 2) the wine would be "pay by the glass".  Both were wrong.  The "hors d'oevours" turned out to be chicken marsala, some sort of salmon steaks, and various side dishes, so I was able to actually have some dinner.  The bigger surprise is that the wine was free. 

Isabelle was the first of the members of the band to show up at the reception.  She didn't talk to very many people, but it was nice to see her there nonetheless.  After another 10 or so minutes, Stella showed up, then a bit later Christian.  The fanboy line started to mass up while he was eating, so I was nice and waited until he was done to ask him to sign an album for me (I got Retrospektiw III signed, because it had a red cover instead of black, so I can actually see his signature).  After getting the signature and thanking him for an amazing show, we left after a little while...it was already after midnight.

By the time we got back to Micky and Raff's place, it was about 2am, and I passed out pretty quickly.  Then, after some hours of sleep, today happened.  We listened to some more music and talked some more about the show, etc., then left to get me to the bus station "early" for my bus.  Turns out I thought the bus left half an hour later than it actually did, so I got there about...2 minutes before it left.    I got on that bus, later switched to another bus, then finally ended up back here at school.

fin


Edited by SaltyJon - September 19 2010 at 22:49

Awesome review there, Jon  I envy you for meeting all these musicians (particularly Dan Britton whom I've been following (not in a stalking way) since Cerebus Effect).
 
Thanks for posting this. I'll be at the Magma show in NYC tomorrow, with my wife; I'm sure it'll be a blast.

Damn son.

Phil and Assaf, get ready for an evening of epic awesomeness of mind-blowing proportions! I've seen a lot of great concerts in my life, but Saturday evening was something special. Anyway, it seems that the opening piece (incredible!) is called "sl*g Tanz", and can be found on YouTube. As of yesterday, no one seemed to have any idea about the second number they played - the one which included a piano solo. 

We just arrived home from the NYC Magma show.

wow....


That'll do till I get to write a fuller impression for both my wife and I (which will take a while, as I have a busy week ahead).

avestin wrote: We just arrived home from the NYC Magma show. wow.... That'll do till I get to write a fuller impression for both my wife and I (which will take a while, as I have a busy week ahead).

I'm glad you enjoyed the show, I knew you would.

Nice to see so many new believers... Yeah! 

^ that is correct

Raff, was the UZ venue full? Once the festival started they announced student admission to UZ for $20, I probably would have gone if I had known that in advance but it was too late, I had to work. I was talking to somebody before Merzbow and he said that they also discounted Magma to $35 for both sets, I guess they didn't sell as many seats as they had hoped. 

Edited by Henry Plainview - September 26 2010 at 22:19

I still would really like to have seen Merzbow.