The night started out reeking of adventures, as none of us were too sure how to even get to the Annandale from the meeting point. "I think this is the point where I lamented not turning at that last turn, only to work out that I was on the right route" the driver had uttered. And much later in the night, we'd be lamenting our decision to question and harass a guy stealing plants from a garden in a residential neighbourhood. "That's my business" the man had said, partly to us and partly to the ground. And he picked up his unnamed digging tool and hid behind a large Bird of Paradise until the danger had rolled away. Irrelevant! Arrival was made with 20 minutes to spare before the first band.
The Wax was fairly well represented; but Alex couldn't deal with the poor nature of the opening act and disappeared into the night after 13 minutes.
The same rappers had opened for DJ Shadow, and deep in my heart, I was hoping they'd again be harbingers of a mind destroying show.
Once SPOD was on the stage, the audience went into a great confusion. They were the trendy set; ready to listen to the music that was about to be discovered, so they could wear the shirt and own the CDs first, to prove that they were there first and liked it more. Now lets get one thing straight: SPOD is an entertainer. And he may not be to the liking of the general populace, but he appeared on the stage for nigh upon 40 minutes, and had BJ, Our Driving Compadre and myself uttering words as "genius" and felt compelled to introduce ourselves after the show to shake the hand that helped shake the room. All great wisdom can be condensed and found in SPOD work.
Once SPOD had finished casting his musical Shock and Awe spell upon the crowd, Bumblebeez made their way up onto the stage. It's hard to describe these folks. Sometimes they're hiphop. Sometimes they're noise. I like 'em. I'm not sure the trendy folks knew what to make of them, nor the night as a whole, and were criticised by the tall lanky fellow with the mic for standing like columns, although not specifying Doric, Ionic, or Corinthian. That being said, thoughtlessly, the Bumblebeez set was rather good. They played together as a tight group, skilled and interchangeable on the instruments, determined by the song being played. Some of the material being played is found on their White Printz album, but it's a mystery as to the whereabouts of the rest. It's a real pity that the audience never really got into them.
Reviewed on Thursday, 8 May 2003