Mythrus Tour: Skinny Puppy in DC

Skinny Puppy are one of the few bands that still put on a very theatrical performance, with Ogre wearing costumes and projections through out the show. It's always interesting to see what they'll do, and this show did not disappoint. When tour dates were put out, they announced a DC show, and a show in Baltimore. I decided to go to the show in DC, as the 9:30 is a superior venue compared to Sonar in Baltimore. Apparently, many others thought the same thing, as the promoter canceled the show in Baltimore the day of the DC show due to low ticket sales, and the 9:30 Club was packed. Doors opened late, but it was made up for later. Otto von Schirach was the first opening act. He opened for SP the last couple of tours, and is somewhat entertaining. He had a superhero/black metal thing going on, which was amusing. His set was better than the last time I saw him back in 2004. The next opening act was White Mice. They are a grindcore band that use some electronics. What's cool about them is they have mouse costumes. Imagine if the Animaniacs were from an evil insane asylum and Disney made character costumes for their theme parks, then you'd have something close to what the White Mice were wearing. Their set wasn't that long, probably cutting it short so that SP could have a full set.

Skinny Puppy finally took to the stage, which was a very different setup from the last tour. Cevin's setup was one side, with the drum kit in the middle, and to the other side was a two panel screen with white fabric and blood splattered on it. The projection video started up and Cevin Key and Justin (tour drummer) took to the stage and did a very short intro before going into Anger. Once Ogre started singing, there was rear projection behind the screen he was behind, illuminating the screen and leaving his silhouette there. He had some pretty cool costumes and headpieces that he wore behind there, which looked really cool with the projections. Next up was Ugli, and the projections were compiled of pictures of Jesus, (the chorus of the song being "Jesus wants to be ugly"). Orge had a rosary, and with his hair at the length it is, he actually looked like Jesus behind the screen. Orge came out from behind the screen for Tormentor, wearing an eye patch and another costume with tubes running everywhere. The blood made it's appearance later, along with black "oil". He went back and forth behind the screen through out the show, which made for a nice mixture. Overall, the projections were very psychedelic in a way, like an hallucination. I wouldn't be surprised if Cevin was hanging with the Green Guy when working on the projections. The sound was extremely loud, the loudest show I think I've ever been to. I ended up putting the earplugs in during SP's set, which helped cut out the high end distortions. Usually I only where plugs for the opening acts. I think I'm going to invest in some professional earplugs designed for concerts. The encores for this show were Far Too Frail and Blue Serge, which couldn't have made me happier, though I do which they would have added Testure.

Highlights of the show were Ugli, Rodent, Amnesia, and I'mmortal, which was better without the live guitarist, allowing Cevin to do some master keyboard action. They only played 4 songs that they played during the last tour, so it was really cool to have a completely different setlist. I was surprised there wasn't much brapping going on, but overall, this show was better than the one I saw in 2004. I probably would have gone to the Baltimore show as well if they hadn't canceled it. Hopefully they'll do a tour in the fall, as SP are one of my favorite live acts to see.


Setlist:
Anger
Ugli
Dogshit
Tormentor
Politikil
Rodent
Pedafly
Worlock
I'mmortal
Dig It
Amnesia
Hardset Head
Fascist Jock Itch
Haze

Encores:
Far Too Frail
Blue Serge

INLAND EMPIRE

Last night, I was in attendance at the AFI Silver for INLAND EMPIRE with David Lynch. There was a 7:30 showing during which Lynch introduced the film and participated in a Q&A afterwards. For the 11:30 showing, Lynch just introduced the film, but AFI filmed the Q&A from earlier, and it was shown after the 11:30, so we still got to see it. When I got there shortly before 11:00, there was already a huge line inside waiting to get into the theatre. While waiting in line, our tickets were exchanged for wristbands so it would be faster to get everyone in. Shortly after 11:30, we were let in to the theatre. Some dude from the AFI Silver did a quick introduction, and then he introduced David Lynch. Lynch's introduction of the film was just a short thank you to the "hardcore crowd" who came to the late show, and he joked that he hoped we had a good breakfast when it was over. Then he introduced his composer friend and concert pianist, whose name I don't remember, and the two proceeded to perform a strange introduction on two synthesizers with Lynch reading a poem of sorts, which may or may not have anything to do with the film. Then the film began.

About the film, I can't really say much except it is a great film. It is about "A woman in trouble", as the poster's tag line says, and really, that is the best explanation of the film that I've heard thus far. Laura Dern plays the woman in trouble, Nikki Grace. She is a actress who is cast in a film directed by Jeremy Irons' character, and who co-stars with Justin Theroux's character. The film they are cast in, "On High In Blue Tomorrows", is said to be a remake of a Polish film that was cursed and never finished after the two leads were murdered. It has a ton of other people who have appeared in other Lynch films, most notably Harry Dean Stanton, who has some really funny moments. It would be useless for me to try to explain anymore about the plot, so I'll just mention a few observations about the film. Some have criticized the image quality of the film because it was filmed entirely in DV with a consumer quality camera (the Sony PD-150). I agree with Lynch's explanation, that the film quality of DV is like the early days of cinema when the picture wasn't perfect, and that adds to the overall feeling of the film. When something in the background is a little blurry, Lynch says it leaves more "room to dream". Fitting that "Room to Dream" was the title of a piece that Lynch did for Avid/Digidesign last year about doing a film with DV. I think it looked good and that the pros of filming in DV (longer takes, ease of movement, and less restrictions) greatly out number the cons. The story is non-linear, much like Mulholland Drive, but he gives you enough of a linear plot during the first part of the film, so that during the second half when things aren't as linear, you don't feel left behind, and you can draw your own thoughts as to what's happening. This film, like all Lynch films, can't be absorbed in a single viewing. I'm going to try to see it again before it leaves the AFI, as that will be the last chance to see it until it is released on DVD.


After the film credits, they showed the Q&A from the early show. For the most part, all of the questions and Lynch's answers were things that have been discussed in recent interviews. He did mention that INLAND EMPIRE is somewhat of a companion piece to Mulholland Drive, as it shares some of the same themes. He was asked what music he has been listening to lately, and he mentioned a group from Brooklyn called Au Revoir Simone. They are a three piece keyboard group who performed with him last week in NYC, and he said their music is just dreamlike. He talked a little bit about meditation and themes from his new book as well. Overall, it was just funny to hear some of the questions that were asked, and to hear David's responses or avoidance of them.

It was over around 3:15, and I didn't get back to Baltimore until after 4:00, which wasn't fun since I had to be at work at 10:00 this morning, but it was well worth it. This film is an amazing piece of cinema, don't miss an opportunity to see it if you can. It's playing through this week and as of now, it's scheduled for next week as well, so check out the AFI Silver site for more info and tickets.

Baltiless is Baltimore: KMFDM Review

Having not paid attention to KMFDM in a while, I was excited to see them live this time because of the many older songs being played. While Hau Ruck is better than the previous two albums they've done since regrouping in 2001, it can't be compared to the work coming from the KMFDM of the previous century. Having never been to Sonar before, I wasn't sure what to expect. After the experience with seeing Covenant at Envy (shitty new DC club), I was hoping that it would be decent. The only thing not so great about the club was the low ceiling, it didn't help the sound, but it wasn't that bad. I met up with Joe, a fellow employee of CS, which was cool, cause going to shows alone isn't as exciting. I hadn't heard of the opening band Combichrist before, but I was given a CD of their stuff by Joe a few weeks ago. I gave it a listen, but I wasn't really into it for whatever reason. Then I saw them live. Now I've been playing that CD non stop.

KMFDM chose to go with the classical music playing preshow, which works quite well. It was something quite famous, but I don't know the name. I'm going to have to look into that. They opened with DIY, which is elite as always. Highlights of the show were Son Of A Gun, Adios (the live drums and guitars owned) and Megalomaniac. More and Faster was a nice treat too. I wish they had played Waste, because the live version on the 20th Anniversary DVD is awesome, but the show was good enough without it. Sasha was pretty talkative, but a lot of it was lost in the sound system. One rambling in particular stood out as quite hilarious, "Baltiless is Baltimore!". It makes no sense at all, but was just really funny. To sum it up, the best KMFDM show I've seen thus far.











Setlist:

Classical Intro (Strauss)
DIY
Every Day's a Good Day
More and Faster
Free Your Hate
Light
Terror
Son of a Gun
6 Feet Below (KGC)
Hau Ruck
Mini Mini Mini
A Drug Against War
Last Things
Ready to Blow
Adios

Encore 1:
WWIII
Flesh
Megalomaniac

Encore 2:
Godlike