Any time you interact with experimental songs, there will always come a moment where you start asking yourself questions. This is a judgment reflex. You do this to see if the part of your brain that can be stimulated by weird sounds is lining up with that other part that actually enjoys listening to them. At the Butthole Surfers show last night, I found myself locked in this reflex, and pondering questions like: “Is this noise for noise’s sake?” “Are those diabolical chipmunk sounds a stroke of genius or the over-reach of artistry?” and “Are gory video clips really that subversive anymore?” Most times, you make your judgments and you pull out of the loop. But I stayed with these distractions because there wasn’t much in the music that could draw me out of them.
Frankly, I was bored. This is probably because each song ran together and featured a monotonously half-cocked recitation of lyrics from lead singer, Gibby Haynes. Whether this set was of the typical variety or something from a band that came in just to collect a paycheck I can’t be certain. I never saw them live in their hey or latter days and only have a minor knowledge of their back catalog. What I do know is that the crowd held up a much bigger pot of love for them than I did. Lyrics were shouted back, bodies bounced in place, and cheers came whenever that rumbling bass dropped out of the air. They were living proof of the band’s cult following. I just didn’t see what the big deal was.
Wasn’t this the group that the Flaming Lips stole some of their antics from? The group that was supposed to conduct destructive, and mayhem-filled sets that many deem as legendary? That’s what I had been told, but never saw. Maybe that’s what I get for coming into this as a casual observer who was untrained in their songs and mainly looking for a cheap thrill. I think I needed more than breast fondling clips and left field sonics to be pulled on board. And by more, I don’t mean more accessible. I appreciate the fact that their music sounds like a stab at the place where your LSD has turned on you. In fact, I love that. Darkness is my favorite direction. I just didn’t see where the art school project ended and the songs became worthy of the effort they begged of my brain.
The act before Butthole Surfers was called Thrones. Probably the worst set I’ve ever seen. Oddly enough, it was performed by somebody that sounded like one of the gentlest people I’ve ever heard. So I’m going to try and be nice. The problem I had with it was that it felt like a never-ending sludge rock jam that also never went anywhere. No structure, just heavy-as-fuck notes. Heavy-as-fuck is quite welcome in my world, and when this lone soul started playing I was fully on his team, but in the long run, this performance was 3 correct notes above me coming home blacked out, picking up my guitar, and pretending to be in an even more narcotized version of Pantera. I would fail under those circumstances, and this performance did too.
Dirty Ghosts featured a lead singer that had the look and attitude of a future icon. You could almost imagine her in some famous picture getting thrown out of seedy New York bar, kicking at the air and devilishly smiling because she noticed a camera was there watching. The music didn’t carry such an enviable stature. The imagery was embedded, but the songs were still like transients without a map. Maybe that was the theme of the night, a bunch of acts that had some of the right elements but never knew where to take them. Of the bunch, I liked Dirty Ghosts the best. Their music was the sound of a big city at night, but in the dirty part of town. It was dark and driving, and framed by words that sounded kind of pissed at you. Like you offended their general sensibilities and they were this close to breaking the top off a beer bottle and leaving a mark on you with it. That’s a great attitude for any song to project, and in time, I hope that an eternal melody finds its way to them.
Two songs go in, one comes out. Pick a side.
thanks so much nadine! probably the best compliment a photog can get!
and thanks for reminding me to embed the video in the post too!
by Steve Benoit on Sun May 20, 2012 at 09.33 am from the entry: Father John Misty + Har Mar Superstar - Brighton Music Hall (Boston, MA; May 16, 2012)
I can’t get over how these photos captured my up close memory of the night.
by nadine on Sat May 19, 2012 at 11.08 pm from the entry: Father John Misty + Har Mar Superstar - Brighton Music Hall (Boston, MA; May 16, 2012)
Or should it be whoever? F my grammar.
by nadine on Sat May 19, 2012 at 10.30 pm from the entry: Father John Misty + Har Mar Superstar - Brighton Music Hall (Boston, MA; May 16, 2012)
Whomever took these photos certainly captured the night!
by nadine on Sat May 19, 2012 at 10.26 pm from the entry: Father John Misty + Har Mar Superstar - Brighton Music Hall (Boston, MA; May 16, 2012)
“Mindkilla” is awesome. I’ve got this music video last week and really impressed through watching every performance particularly “Glass Jar”. Thanks dude. :)
dance contest
by Mark Waugh on Thu May 17, 2012 at 05.54 am from the entry: Gang Gang Dance's Illuminating "Mindkilla"
Also, I have yet to pay this venue a visit, is it good spot? good people, good vibe, good atmosphere?
... man, i hope i win some tickets…
by Jaz Bonnin-Aldatz on Thu May 17, 2012 at 12.27 am from the entry: It's all good, see Fishbone for free at Fête
Looking forward to the show. Would love to win some tix for my pals.
by MC Breath on Wed May 16, 2012 at 07.40 pm from the entry: It's all good, see Fishbone for free at Fête
Why did this reviewer review this show if they didn’t like it for the most part? Honesty is important but if therwinded people in the crowd who enjoyed the show (which the reviewer says there were), why have someone who has mostly negative things to say review it and thus represent it on the internet? I’m not mad, I just don’t see the point of it, it seems like it belongs on someone’s personal blog. And if that’s what this is, I’m an idiot you can ignore me. But of this is like a show review type website, it’d make more sense to send a butthole surfers fan to this show. It was well written it just seems like it doesn’t have enough of a purpose to exist.
@Hh Gregg: thanks for the comment. Thought I would weigh on some of your points since I wrote the review. For clarification’s sake, melophobe will send any of writers to a show if they are interested in seeing it. We are of the mind that if a contributor is a competent music writer, and can describe the concert in a way that brings their particular take on it to light for our readers, then they can go. In this case, we are talking about me, but this extends to all of our writers. Also, sometimes there isn’t a fan of the band around to cover the show, just someone who wouldn’t mind seeing them. I covered the Butthole Surfers partially because I was covering all of MFNW, but also because I had heard good things about their show in the past. So even though I wasn’t a fan, I was excited to go. They just didn’t do anything that lit me up. And since no review can speak for the entire audience, I wrote my words from the only place that I can stand behind, my own opinion. Good or bad, that’s what ended up on the page. That said, I don’t speak for everyone and don’t mean to, which is why I said that other people seemed to be having a good time. It wasn’t a crazed house in there though. It’s not like the crowd was ecstatic, just happy. So, the point of having a reviewer like me cover this is to give a perception of the show, even if that perception was negative. Not every show is going to be good to everyone and I don’t think anyone would respect the site if we only published super positive reviews. A concert review site needs to publish the good and the bad. That’s what makes people feel like they can utilize it as a resource. And if someone gets something wrong, that’s what the comment section is for. We don’t knock anyone for expressing their own opinion. We welcome it. So, as I said up top, we appreciate you engaging with us and hope you keep letting us know what you think. Music is better with discussion.
Thanks for the response, it’s understandable. I just found this cause I’m a fan of the dirty ghosts