On Fillmore east coast shows

[Three dollars and 63 cents]

Glenn's duo On Fillmore will be playing at the Philadelphia Arts Alliance (sponsored by Ars Nova Workshop) on July 14 at at Le Poisson Rouge in New York July 15. Tickets for both shows are $15. Philly show info is here, and NYC show info is here.

[LouieB]

How come he isn't playing Chicago? I volunteer my living room....fuck it.

 

LouieB

[Three dollars and 63 cents]

Don't forget that they're sharing a bill with the experimental group Huntsville in Millennium Park on June 28, and that Nels will be joining them. I may come out for that.

[Preferred B]

And Columbus, OH on July 17th:

http://www.wexarts.org/pa/index.php?eventid=4713

[Gobias Industries]

And Columbus, OH on July 17th:

http://www.wexarts.org/pa/index.php?eventid=4713

Ok, so totally going to this show.

[nalafej]

Tonight is the show in Millennium park w/ Nels! I'm planning on going - perfect weather out there.

 

http://www.millenniumpark.org/parkevents/event.aspx?id=1004

[Three dollars and 63 cents]

I'll be interested to hear about this show. I was going to come out for it, but I'm doing a lot of traveling in the next few weeks and just couldn't fit in another trip.

[radiokills]

i'm there on july 15. excited.

[LouieB]

I am already downtown waiting for ths...well not quite waiting, since I am not at the park yet. Frea...YEAH!!

 

Actually coming out for this show would be alot of money for a relatively short show I am guessing. Nels and Glenn are opening for some Norwegian group. They should be headlining, but so it goes. Atleast it is a big time opening slot in beautiful Millenium Park. I can't imagine it will be very crowded,since most folks will be over at Taste, but I am going to bet a few non-fans will stop by to digest.

 

LouieB

[LouieB]

Rather than start a new thread, let's just roll with this one.

 

Really fun show. I nearly bailed after On Fillmore, but as it turned out, Nels and Glenn played with Huntsville (what stupid name....) and I am glad I didn't.

 

On Filmore was clearly well rehearsed and played a 45 minute set of intriguing and complex numbers (maybe someone other than me knows the names, maybe only the band...) to a small crowd at Millenium Park on beautiful night. There were probably about four or five distinctly different pieces, a couple of which merged into one another. A great performance.

 

Huntsville came on second and played a rather long drone (lots of cold with long winters in Norway) which may have driven some of the scant audience out of the pavillion and perhaps off the lawn as well. When Glenn and Nels joined them, the MO of the music didn't really change, but the addition of the hometown boys with somewhat different musical ideas really improved the texture of of the event and the second jam went on for the better part of an hour with lots of electronics, small instruments, percussion interplay, piercing guitar, and more droning. By the end the remaining audience (of maybe 200 people in the pavillion itself) was pretty blown away.

 

While the Pritzker is a wonderful venue and the weather was perfect, this was the kind of event that would have been even better in at a smaller venue. If even a tenth of the seats were taken I would be surprised and again my the end, only a smattering of folks remained. It was not music for people looking for melody or structure. Clearly it was one long free form jam, but the interplay between Hunstville and Nels and Glenn helped everyone step up their game just a bit and while the Norwegians didn't let on that they were enjoying the hell out of it, the entire thing was a real kick.

 

(On a personal note, on the week that Fred Anderson passed, the techniques that AACM developed back during the 60s and 70s have clearly spread throughout the world. The use of small instruments, subtle interplay and response between participants, free exhange of ideas, and a sense of play were all things that while not totally unique to the Chicago music community are generally acknowledged as having been developed here. RIP Fred)

 

LouieB

[Preferred B]

Yeah, it was a really good night of music, even if all of Huntsville's stuff may not be for me. One of my favorite things about seeing On Fillmore (and Nels and Glenn playing with Huntsville) was the sheer variety of "small intruments" they used. Stuffed bird through the guitar pickups, dual garden weasel wheels playing crotales, massage tripods and even ... bamboo on a rope, swung like a foxtail? I couldn't quite tell what that was. Lou?

[LouieB]

bamboo on a rope, swung like a foxtail? I couldn't quite tell what that was. Lou?

No real idea. Glenn???

 

My old friend John and I commented to each other that it was reminicent of something the Art Ensemble used to do. Actually if you take a plastic tube and and spin it around like that it makes a pretty cool whirring noise. If you have any old madical equipment that has that sort of thing attached like a resporator tube, try it out. I thought all the small intruments (toys really) including the hand clappers and the chicken peckers were pretty oool too.

 

As for Huntsville, I think the guys need a some personality lessons. Simply mixing in the natural (sex??) appeal of of Glenn and Nels spiced up their set considerably. I know it is because we know them well, but they also radiate some interest even without knowing them, whereas Huntsville (I can't get over how stupid a name that is..) didn't talk or smile or seem to be having fun. What a bunch of deadbeats.....(there must be some Huntsville fans out there who think they are sexy and interesting...... )

 

LouieB

[nalafej]

I thought On Fillmore + Nels were great. Last song was my favorite. Great musicians. My friend was turned off by all the animal noises. Walked out about 4 minutes into Huntsville - glad to hear they got better with 1/3 Wilco, but man oh man was that a painful 4 minutes of boredom.

[LouieB]

The remaining half hour of the first Huntsville jam wasn't any better after you left. You should have stuck around though. It really wasn't that bad for what it was and in another setting and even without 1/3 of Wilco it might have been okay, but honestly it is hard to figure out what exactly the folks booking Millenium Park were thinking with this entire bill. Even the On Fillmore set this was pretty challenging music for someone wanting some free entertainment out on the lawn on a beautiful summer's evening; maybe folks coming off a food bender at Taste. Had it not been Nels and Glenn (plus the preening Darren Gray), anyone not knowing a thing about the group would have been somewhat put off. Having said that I would like to contradict myself and say that compared to the On Fillmore CDs, most of the tunes were pretty accessable as this sort of experimental music goes. But compared to the usual pop, jazz and classical fare played at Pritzker during the summer, this was fairly out there.

 

Actually the animal noises were sort of fun I thought.

 

LouieB

[parallelliott]

Opening for On Fillmore in Philadelphia (July 14 at Philadelphia Art Alliance) is pianist Rachel Grimes. This will be a great show. Tickets still available here.

[Shakespeare In The Alley]

I went up to Pittsburgh to see them at the Warhol museum. What an interesting show. I really wasn't expecting too much, as I'd only heard Extended Vacation, and only liked it a decent amount. But man, they blew me away. Glenn and Darin seemed so happy to be playing in that small theater, and they pretty much played from everywhere in the room. A really neat atmosphere, and the songs were incredible. Obviously I'm aware of how great Glenn is, but it was really something else to see him front and center with all the odds and ends he uses for these gigs. Lots of great banter in between pieces, so it really felt like the band was having a blast playing their music. I'm so glad I made the trip up, and I will definitely see them again if possible. Wonderful show.

 

After seeing the Singers last Thursday, and On Fillmore this weekend, I'm even more bummed to miss Solid Sound. As long as I get to catch the Autumn Defense this winter, I'll be fine.