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Legendary Pink Dots
- Live
By Andrew Lochhead
When we think of the Dutch Masters usually thoughts turn to persons
like Jan Van Ecyk,or Rembrant Van Rijn and his painting "The Syndics Of The
Cloth Guild" which has become famous as the design for the "Old Dutch
Masters" Cigars. But rarely do we think of musical masters coming from
this small European country. Yet for twenty-odd years the multinational
collective known as The Legendary Pink Dots have kept their home base in
Nijmegen, in the Netherlands, where the group, which currently features
Dutch, English and Canadian performers, has recorded over twenty-seven
albums since it's formation in the late
1970's.
Inspired by experimental music pioneers such as Throbbing Gristle and it's
various reincarnations such as Psychic TV, Chris and Cosey and Coil, The
Pink Dots offer up a wide selection of musical styles which when combined
with vocalist/keyboardist Edward Kaspel's instantly recognizable voice,
provide listeners with a sonic-psychedelic experience that on CD or LP is
phenomenal, but when performing live is far beyond what even the most
adequate words could describe.
This being their fourth U.S./Canada tour in as many years, it is hard to
give the excuse that "they don't come around enough" to justify missing one
of their shows. Frankly speaking, to only ever see the Dots once is a
crime in itself. The band knack for improvisation makes every live
experience worth attending.
Accompanying the Pink Dots this time around was another band well known for
their improv. Techniques - industrial/experimental demi-god Mark Spybey's
Dead Voices On Air, a project that has featured such electronic music
luminaries such as Cevin Key of Skinny Puppy and collaborated with folks
such as Invisible
Records' Not Breathing, with whom they performed an amazing show last
December at Detroit's Gold Dollar.
This tour however, the collaborations would be with punk-folk singer Aimee
Lane, who when I first was introduced to her thought I was being introduced
to 80's pop singer Aimee Mann, never mind the fact that there was no
similarities between the two other than the spelling of Aimee with two
"e"'s, and the Pink Dots' appropriately named woodwinds master Neils Van
Hoorn .
The set began with Aimee playing a short little folk ditty and then playing
the role of MC and introducing Dead Voices On Air. After starting the show
off with "Geong G'uma" from 1998's Piss Frond double disc (Invisible) and
the ever mellow "Sulphur" from the same album, Neils picked up his horns
and the collaboration began.
Spanning about thirty minutes in length, it was difficult to tell what was
improv and what was specifically set out, however all those questions
should be answered when the new Dead Voices On Air Cd is released in July.
It will be titled Frankie Pett and the Happy Submarines Play The Music of
Dead Voices On Air. In case you're wondering, Frankie Pett is the Pink
Dots' producer and live sound engineer.
Back on topic, the mix got even crazier when Ryan Moore, drummer and
bassist for the Legendary Pink Dots, joined the duo on the skins. Even
Aimee Lane, who had previously relegated herself to dancing on the corner
of the stage, took up
the vocals with Mark. This crazed and crowded stage then exploded into a
furious rendition of "Sidewinder" from Spybey's Download project (for the
uninitiated). Download was one of Spybey's most successful projects which
saw himself and Cevin Key along with the late Dwayne Goetell and Philth
collaborate with Throbbing Gristle/Psychic TV's Genesis P.Orridge.
The track's break neck beat style gripped even the most rhythmically
challenged of audience members and forced them to dance. Mr. Van Hoorn's
dutiful accentuations in the form of phenomenal double saxophone (
playing two saxes at once) blasts.
Although the set itself was of rare form the decision to approach it in a
song type format rather than the continuous mix really seemed somehow
inappropriate, as did the presence of Aimee Lane who was not only
inappropriate but extremely irrelevant to this performance.
After a brief intermission, the hall lights at the 7th house dimmed once
again and this Pontiac crowd was in immediate silence. Opening with
"Lent"a song from their newest and self proclaimed "best album ever",
entitled "A Perfect Mystery" it was clear that this show would focus almost
entirely on this the group's twenty-seventh
LP release. And this for the most part was quite true.
Edward Kaspel's somnambulistic vocals guided those in attendance through a
well engineered and entirely engulfing performance, which as previously
mentioned, was made up of mostly brand new material. Some exceptions to
that were performances of "Dissonance" from 1998's Nemesis Online
(Solielmoon) which had been lavishly woven in to the fabric of the
previous track " Disturbance". From there a bit of a surprise as the Pink
Dots reached back to 1985 to perform "Close You Eyes, You Can Be A Space
Captain" from the Prayers For Aradia Cassette.
However, with the crowd reacting the way it did, it was obvious to every
body in attendance that whether we knew the songs or not, this show was
exceeding everyone's expectations. Perhaps this was because of the return
of long time Pink Dots guitarist Martijn Vander Kleer, and the subsequent
departure of the abrasive Edwin Von Trippenhoff.
Strangely reserved though was drummer/bassist Ryan Moore, who of late has
been finding much acclaim including a top ten placing on
the Canadian College Music Charts for his Twilight Circus Dub Sound System
project. Moore's usual quirky stage presence was buried but his bass
playing and percussive talents shone through providing the sometimes only
constant elements of the heavily improvised sets.
After a brief pause for the audience to pick up their now scrambled brains
off the floor. Kaspel and Vander Kleer returned to the stage to perform
about one half of "Belladonna', a classic acoustic number that left very
few dry eyes and unchilled spines in the house.
Soon the rest of the band rejoined the duo, and our night of
experimentation was back on, with the group working through "Nine Shades"
and then into yet another of Kaspel's fine narrative tracks.
No sooner than he left the stage the lights were up and security was
hurrying the crowd out, much to the Pink Dots chagrin, as Kaspel had
mentioned in a previous interview that he and the other band members loved
to talk to the audience after shows. Yet despite the security efforts,
many fans were able to obtain autographs and speak briefly with the band
members, all except Kaspel who was kind of being held hostage by this
woman in a red dress who had been making absurd gestures of submission to
the band all throughout the performance.
A performance by which it stands that the moniker of these particular Pink
Dots is truly an exercise in modesty. Believe You me, 'Legendary' doesn't
even come close.
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