3 Drops of Blood 2004

An excellent evening of entertainment you can't find just anywhere tonight and tomorrow night at Dance Mission Theater at 24th & Mission in San Francisco. I came to see Nanos Operetta, yet another band containing a member of Rube Waddell. This one's a whole other point on the compass from Max's music with the Rubes and from his soul band, Lord Loves A Working Man. He described Nanos Operetta to me as "what would happen if Leonard Cohen, Ennio Morricone, Carl Stalling, and Phillip Glass all got stoned together at a Greek restaurant and decided to play a game of Twister to get over some kind of broken hearted depression"

This turned out to be a surprisingly accurate description. The band produces the most cinematic sound you're likely to encounter away from a movie screen. They work in soundscapes which evoke scenes as strong as the occasional noir words added by Ali Tabatabai. The lighting tonight, by Lyndy Rieman, was an ideal accompaniment to the music and definitely enhanced the performance without intruding upon it.

The other pieces in the show ranged from the I'm sure very talented and acclaimed but not exactly my cup of tea Rova Saxaphone Quartet to excellent modern dance from InkBoat to what I understand is one of the better gamelan bands in the world, Gamelan Sekar Jaya. 12 people played giant bamboo marimbas called the gamelan jegog and 2 more joined in on small flute-like instruments. It was fantastic, my favorite part of the evening. Though I think I'll have a few images lingering in my mind as well as that wonderful sound: Nanos Operetta lit dramatically in greens and reds and the first of InkBoat's two performances, "2 Without", and its moment of a woman with a peeled orange gripped in her mouth bent forward dripping the juice into the mouth of a man in a gas mask, the orange peel in one long spiral in his hands as he lay on the floor curving his body up under the sweetness. Fine, edgy creativity.

I highly recommend this series of entertainments. If you're going, go early, I'm sure they're going to start selling out as word gets around. This show, installment III, repeats tomorrow night at 8pm. The next installment will be Thursday & Friday October 28th & 29th, also at Dance Mission Theater.

By the way, I had a nice chat with Max after the show and learned that Mahatma Boom Boom (sometimes also known as Wink Pain or "Freddi") is greatly enjoying his extended European tour. He (and the Extra Action Marching Band) did make it to the brass festival in Guca and is apparently loving his time in Serbia. Best wishes to the Mahatma in his enlightened quest for the good stuff.

Comments

3 Drops of Blood

An excellent evening of entertainment you can't find just anywhere tonight and tomorrow night at Dance Mission Theater at 24th & Mission in San Francisco. I came to see Nanos Operetta, yet another band containing a member of Rube Waddell. This one's a whole other point on the compass from Max's music with the Rubes and from his soul band, Lord Loves A Working Man. He described Nanos Operetta to me as "what would happen if Leonard Cohen, Ennio Morricone, Carl Stalling, and Phillip Glass all got stoned together at a Greek restaurant and decided to play a game of Twister to get over some kind of broken hearted depression"

This turned out to be a surprisingly accurate description. The band produces the most cinematic sound you're likely to encounter away from a movie screen. They work in soundscapes which evoke scenes as strong as the occasional noir words added by Ali Tabatabai. The lighting tonight, by Lyndy Rieman, was an ideal accompaniment to the music and definitely enhanced the performance without intruding upon it.

The other pieces in the show ranged from the I'm sure very talented and acclaimed but not exactly my cup of tea Rova Saxaphone Quartet to excellent modern dance from InkBoat to what I understand is one of the better gamelan bands in the world, Gamelan Sekar Jaya. 12 people played giant bamboo marimbas called the gamelan jegog and 2 more joined in on small flute-like instruments. It was fantastic, my favorite part of the evening. Though I think I'll have a few images lingering in my mind as well as that wonderful sound: Nanos Operetta lit dramatically in greens and reds and the first of InkBoat's two performances, "2 Without", and its moment of a woman with a peeled orange gripped in her mouth bent forward dripping the juice into the mouth of a man in a gas mask, the orange peel in one long spiral in his hands as he lay on the floor curving his body up under the sweetness. Fine, edgy creativity.

I highly recommend this series of entertainments. If you're going, go early, I'm sure they're going to start selling out as word gets around. This show, installment III, repeats tomorrow night at 8pm. The next installment will be Thursday & Friday October 28th & 29th, also at Dance Mission Theater.

By the way, I had a nice chat with Max after the show and learned that Mahatma Boom Boom (sometimes also known as Wink Pain or "Freddi") is greatly enjoying his extended European tour. He (and the Extra Action Marching Band) did make it to the brass festival in Guca and is apparently loving his time in Serbia. Best wishes to the Mahatma in his enlightened quest for the good stuff.

« I'm back and I have some questions | Main | Stop. Design. »

Blog (noun) A weblog or similar brief journal usually containing links and commentary thereon. Term coined by Peter Merholz.
Visit Typepad or Blogger to start your own. (I began with hand coding, then switched to Blogger when it first became available, then to Movable Type when I wanted more control over my weblog and to have it hosted at a place of my choosing (Hurricane Electric). Now I use Typepad, built by the same folks who made Movable Type and I love it).

You may write to Dinah @ this domain.

Except where otherwise noted all content is copyright 1965-2012 Dinah Sanders. Please do not repost my writing or other creations elsewhere. Instead, copy a tiny bit and link to the rest. Thanks! Images are copyright of their original creators. MetaGrrrl logo and photos by Dinah are copyright 1965-2012 Dinah Sanders. Inkspot Books and the Inkspot logo have been Service Marks of Dinah Sanders since 1993.