I finally mustered up the interest in writing this note on the Elephant 6 gig.
Elephant 6 is a music collective that consists of artists from Georgia, a surprisingly booming music scene in the 1990s with acts like Elf Power, Neutral Milk Hotel, The Gerbils and a few others to note.
A big weakness of mine entering the show was my lack of prior familiarity with the individuals playing at this show. I, like most people in attendance bought tickets to this show in the slight hope we'd see Jeff Mangum hop out on stage for a very rare appearance. Well, just weeks ago a solo Jeff Mangum show was announced with two gigs in Toronto. Our slight hopes were shattered at that, but still there enough to keep me for the whole four hour set Elephant 6 played last Friday.
I have to admit I enjoyed the first half of the set much better for the musical spectacle, while the second half felt like I witnessed some serious musical wanking. By the end it just felt like an unemotional display of tunes that were slapped together, my mind wasn't in it at all. How indulgent. But for the hope that something amazing would pop up and sheer boredom with nothing else to do on a Friday night, I stuck it out.
I was pretty glad I did because they played an amazing closer with a cover of Sun Ra's jazz insturmental tune "Enlightenment. They smacked on some infectious lyrics on heavy repetition and voila! - the perfect closer. Apparently, these lyrics were regular lyrics that Sun Ra clunked onto live performances of the tune. I can't convey to you how fun this was live, there was just a lot of energy flowing with a song that few people probably knew -
Studio:
Live, pulled from a fantastic French documentary, the video is brief but you'll get the point -
Elephant 6:
What made their live rendition of "Enlightenment" so engaging was the fact that they half way through their twelve or fifteen minute rendition they started playing to play in the audience. It felt like more of a La Blogotheque Take Away Show than it did a ticketed concert at Lee's Palace. Again, I think many people like myself stuck it out for a spectacle finish. Another reason that made me stick was their engaging opener and middle bit. Their opener was a walk up to the stage with vocals and horns from the back of the venue. You found the band scattered through the crowd, it was absolutely exciting and fun. They also took a short intermission between sets to catch a breath, coming back on stage to play a game with the audience and one lucky audience member to ring in the spring season. They were set up with a twenty foot tall blow up snow man and a faux moon that just looked like a coat hanger bent into a circle with paper strewn across. The lucky person was to throw a soft ball at the coat hanger moon and break the paper. I was situated right next to the guy in the band holding up the moon and where the balls were flying. The girl throwing the ball got to go on stage and sing, loads of confidence I'd say! The idea was that she was to request a song they don't know so they'd have to wank their way through. Instead, they just played ACDC's "Hells Bells." An absolutely boring tune, original or cover.
I really also loved the cover of the Kink's tune "Alcohol," one of the few covers I actually latched on to. I'm sure there were more, I just didn't know them! It was the perfect fit for their odd ensemble. Neutral Milk Hotel horn player Laura Carter took the lead on this drone tune:
I thoroughly enjoyed Julian Koster's (the Music Tapes and Neutral Milk Hotel) presence and performance at this gig. I was familiar with him as an artist and his place in the Athens, Georgia, but had never really heard him. He's a little thing with loads of energy, he played practically every instrument on stage with a specialisation in the singing saw. I have never heard anyone play the singing saw so perfectly and with such great range. At half time a friend of mine was telling me about his house tour he did a couple of years ago throughout North America, with four stops in Toronto. This was in support of his album The Singing Saw At Christmas Time. Regret!
Koster was a talker, wasn't charmed by that just because of all the absurdity that was leaving his mouth. Just so off - like his bit on his Romanian roots. His performance was breathtaking and awe inducing:
A scripted bit! I hate finding that the artist says the same thing every show. This was a carbon copy duplicate of my show's performance.
His performance following his Romanian rant (different show):
Scott Spillane, of the Gerbils and horn player of Neutral Milk Hotel also got my attention to with his odd look - heavy beard, silver hair and a Dr. Seuss looking horn instrument. I really stuck (!!) to his tune "Glue" - that was originally done by his band The Gerbils, but covered (successfully) by Netural Milk Hotel.
I really like the original version which they played in the first half of their marathon of show. I was really feeling the singing guitar line following the choruses.
Shows like this one remind me that there's so much I don't know, and so much I need to wrap my head around. It's all very exciting!
Jeff Mangum in August, can't wait.
A great review of an Elephant 6 gig in Phoenix, Arizona.
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