NO-FI SHOW REVIEWZ FOR APRIL
GLISS
Live at The Fold (at The Derby), March 2002
Show review by Mary Lenoir Bond
Aahhh, Gliss. Gliss is great. I first heard them on KXLU's Demolisten and liked them enough to look into hearing more- which lead me to hearing the CD at a friend's house. The CD is very dreamy and a lovely little escape that leads you into a world of sunshine, trampolines, clouds, stars, love- the music and lyrics all swirl around in you head and whirl your heart away into a sweet, almost heartaching beauty. So, is Gliss just your typical Slowcore band? I wouldn't say so- with people having compared them to The Velvet Underground, Mazzy Star, and Sparklehorse- I'd say they definitely have created their own sound in the world of dreamy pop/rock. I personally even hear some Beachwood Sparks and Cocteau Twins influence, as well as the occasionally obvious Elliot Smith sound and a slight dash of Mercury Rev, The Clientele, and even some Monkees.
Seeing them live was a surprise that reached far beyond my expectations of a band that I already like. The Derby was a perfect place to see them too- with it's rather dark and moody, romantic "speak easy" charm. The crowd at The Derby's new "Indie" nights (Tuesdays and Sundays) are always rather mellow and mainly college aged kids- similar to the crowds at Spaceland and The Silverlake Lounge. My friend with the Gliss CD passed on going to the show this time- though he loves the CD he thought the band might be a little too "sleepy" to sit through live. I guess I wouldn't have minded even if it was- but what a happy little gift was in store for me as they actually pulled out some extremely catchy and exciting alt. pop tunes- such as Rainbow Star, Been Down That Road and Beautiful Thing, thus further impressing me with their diversity. The bass player, Phillip Watts, especially shines on Beautiful Thing, and he also sings some lovely vocal harmonies for the band. They also have two songs that have a very interesting Beck-ish feel lyrically/vocally called Uncle Vinnie(on the CD) and Herbie Goes Bananas(based on a dream the singer had). They even had a couple "classic rock" sounding tunes, such as Hits the Ground and Inside Out- which singer and guitarist, Martin Klingman, described as "Americana structure depicting the tragic isolation falling in love". Drummer, Al Linker, does a fantastic job all along through every style of music they weave you through, while also singing background vocals. The lead guitarist, David Reiss, showed himself to be a truly talented and an aptly diverse chord arranger all on his own.
But my personal favorite songs, if I had to pick, would be the mellow, sweetly-sad sounding Apple Sky that Martin described as a "50's style waltz/dreamy/ David Lynch feel" with really groovy lyrics such as "love like water, setting over, a moon lit apple sky". Aaawwww' sweet. And I love Be There With You- which sadly seemed to me to be about death, but the music and lyrics are so comforting and beautiful- you smile anyway. (Note: please look for my review of the CD later in No-Fi which will further explore the lyrics of the songs, as I feel they really enhances ones appreciation of Gliss. And I must also say, Summer Girl and Olive Square (both on the CD) are awfully pretty and hypnotic as well.
Besides the foursome all seeming to be rather friendly, polite, and genuinely kind young lads- I had a chance to talk further with the singer after the show via e-mails and he said some pretty cool things about their music "I love creating moods with sound and lyric. If I can connect with a few people or more- I receive the gift no words can describe" and after asking him if he wants Gliss to be huge rock stars or just a humble Indie band, he said: "I know I want to share Gliss with as many people as possible, the way we hear the music. I think the future holds something special, I can't quite put my finger on. We will land where we are supposed to, as far as record labels. (I'm) just writing songs because I don't know any other way to feel comfortable. (It) sure soothes my existence." His optimism and attitude sure are refreshing and definitely do come through in his lyrics, as well as Gliss's music.
These guys also have the fortunateness of being not only good musicians, but they are also aesthetically pleasing- which I am sorry, but it is true, can be a plus in this crazy, kooky world of ours. I even overheard a girl sitting behind me say about the singer "his voice is sooo sexy" Yes, my friend, that it is. Gliss takes you on a lovely little emotional ride- like Disneyland for your soul. The music pulls you in like an ocean breathing water in, then gently caresses you as it sends you back out again on a wave of feathery emotions to a soft, comforting bed of sand and sweet dreams- listening to Gliss feels a lot like falling in love.
And hey, lucky you- they're pretty regular at playing around town- so make sure to keep an eye out for them on the No-Fi calendar of cool events. Groove on Gliss!
(Mary Bond is our newest contributing writer and deals in fakery and smells too... [She an actress and runs her own perfume company, silly!])
GORILLAZ
Live at The Palladium, March 8th, 2002
"Monkey Biznez" a Show review by Roger Boxx
Luckily, I don't feel that my musical taste defines me as a person, so I am not ashamed to admit one of my guilty pleasures has been listening to my copy of Gorillaz (gifted to me by my chum Scott, who works at Virgin). So, recently, when Scott gave me some tickets to see the Gorillaz at the Hollywood Palladium, I decided to use them.
The tickets listed the show to start at 6:30pm Friday, March 8th. We weren't worried about missing the herding and arriving a little late. We parked at the Palladium ($13) and walked down Sunset to The Old Spaghetti Factory to enjoy some browned butter and Mizithra spaghetti with cheesy garlic bread. Mizithra, Italian Sausage sandwiches, and Italian cream sodas being the three reasons to patronize The Old Spahetti Factory. At 6:45, we made our way back to the venue. The line was slowly shuffling through security and remained over a block long. After being radiated with the wand, being frisked for hemorrhoids, and running some forbidden pocket objects (smokes) back to the car, we were inside getting our ID's checked for alcohol
wristbands by 7.
After walking into the showroom, I immediately observed things were out of sorts. I have been to a number of shows at the Palladium in the past, and never had I seen eight video projectors pointing toward the stage. Perhaps signs of a big mult-media show, similar to the anti-drug assembly, set to Van Halen's "Right Now," I was subjected to in high school. Also, Large curtains were extending out, concealing the peripherals of the stage. This seemed odd, but in good confidence, I assumed this to be part of the muti-media show. Perhaps it was going to be something like U2's Zoo T.V. tour. Of course, they would want to incorporate the animated Gorillaz characters into the live show.
I will offer and abridged version through the next part of the show. It mostly consisted of finding comfortable places to sit and wait while observing the wide range of audience peers.
Around 9:30pm the Gorillaz decided to grace us with their presence...sort of. The lights went down, spot lights danced, and Jed The Fish introduced the show as being, "A visual experience unlike anything you've ever seen before." One of the video projectors at the back of the room cast a small image on the curtain. It was a rectangle frame with the animated characters moving around as if they were trapped in the Phantom Zone (Superman II), while the speakers began to play M1 A1 (refer to track 15 on the Gorillaz debut album). The rectangle grew larger and the Sound grew louder until at the end of the song's intro/ lead-in, the curtains parted to reveal two stacked horizontal screens. Animation and motion graphics taking imagery from the Gorillaz' music videos projected on the top screen. While simultaneously, color fields with silhouettes and outlines of the animated characters along with text projected on the lower screen, which rested on the stage. With lights shining from behind the lower screen we could make out silhouettes, shadows, and blobs of color which may or may not have been the musicians responsible for the Gorillaz' music. The ghost band moved around in a way that suggested they were keeping in rhythm with the music coming from the sound speakers. They might have been lip-syncing, or pantomime syncing.
I am a pretty big skeptic, but I will give these guys the benefit of the doubt that they were actually playing live music behind the screens. Maybe they were putting on a real concert for the people who paid big money to see a "live-show" on the other side of the screen. One of the principal motivations for going to a concert is to SEE music being preformed by the artist. There is a great connection between audience and performer enjoyed when experiencing a good live show. I felt like I was in a room next-door to a venue where the concert was taking place. The cartoons were interesting, but they weren't too entertaining.
It reminded me the time I went and saw the silent "Joan of Arc" with accompaniment by a live orchestra. Of course at the "Joan of Arc" film, the orchestra was visible which was a nice touch because really, the audience was there to see a fantastic film.
After a few songs, Shawn and I agreed that we had the general gist of the presentation. We agreed to "Just Say No" and headed for the car. Luckily, our car was blocked in by the stacked parking.
Fortunately, the new Amoeba had opened down the street. I had fallen in love with Amoeba up in San Francisco and Berkeley. Back in November, my friend Piper had told me she had a new job setting up the Hollywood Amoeba music for opening. I had avoided going to the new location when it opened, for fear of spending all my money. The store is just as good here as it is up the coast. It was easy to shop for great buys on DVD's and CD's until the store kicked us out at closing.
By the time we made it back to the Palladium, our car had been freed and we each had two new rare DVD's.
(p.s. I do not work for Amoeba and I did not receive any $$ for mentioning my visit.)
(EDITOR'S NOTE: Just to add my two cents about what I know about that particular show, Most of the "band" were there behind the screen except for Miho Hattori who graced her presence via pre-recorded audio tape. I think she was busy hanging out with Milli or Vanilli that night (whichever one isn't dead). Also they played TWO of their songs TWICE during the set (which I heard elicited "booz!" from thier recent audience in San Francisco). I'm also glad Amoeba Records joined us here in L.A. cuz they got it all and most of it is cheap...only why does the sign look just like the Tower Records logo? Weird.)
(Roger Boxx is a contributing writer to No-Fi "Magazine" and plans to cut in line at the next concert he goes to.)
