This is a sound artist I've heard about for years, and knew he has a ridiculously large body of work...but I've never actually heard anything by him. When I heard he was coming to Chicago, I jumped on tickets.

The Scenario:

Medium sized cinder block room that was very dead (good for a show like this I think)

Lots of mixers and other electro detritus piled up in the center of the room, initially covered in a black silk blanket.

Circles of concentric (or cocentric, never sure of the difference...sorry) chairs blossoming out from the center, getting progressively larger the further out they went.

All chairs were facing outward, AWAY from the center...so no one was actually looking at FL who was doing his thing in the center.

There was a black silk blindfold draped over each chair.


The Introduction:

After a short intro from the curator of the particular series that was presenting this performance, FL made a short little speech about "why the blindfolds?" The gist of it was, while he would never force anyone to wear it, it's purpose was to block out any extraneous light that may compromise your sensory system, preventing you from giving your full attention to the sounds...in effect, forcing you to listen. He ensured everyone that "he knew what he was doing", "everyone was perfectly safe" and "he highly recommends you wear the blindfold if you can." I guess I can understand how some people would be hesitant about this, but in the interest of full immersion, and knowing exactly who I was sitting next to...I donned the thing.


The Sounds:

First of all, this performance was short...way to short, only about 40 minutes at most. That being said, it was 40 minutes of very unique sounds, all recorded naturally and environmentally and then sliced and diced the FL way, creating something really unusual. I've been to lots of acousmatic shows but this one stood out as more unique than others. I thought I heard recognizable sounds but, after the few seconds it took my mind to process, it came to the conclusion that...nah, I dont know what the fuck that was. Horses walking down cobblestone paths? Cascades of sparks falling all around? Human heartbeats? Animal heartbeats? All possibilities I guess, but all of it was organized into something that was, not exactly linear but almost. I wasnt sure if the blindfold accomplished what FL intended, but I guess, at least in this case I will never know since I did not take it off till it was over.

In Conclusion:

Great show, one of the better acoustmatic/soundscape/musique concrete shows I've been to in a while. So, all 3 of you that this may appeal to...if he's in your town...go!

best
Michael

p.s. I made a quick sweep of his merch table, and I heard the girl that was running it saying to someone, while pointing at a digipack that "this was 56 hours of audio on an SD card". I didnt catch the price, I'm sure it's on the website...but 56 hours....damm!!