I saw Charlemagne Palestine last night...outstanding!!!
The scene: Large dark space with a big Baldwin grand piano in the center lit by a few spots and strewn with a myraid of stuffed animals (some of questionable intentions... if they were alive that is) and stringy rugs. There was a small table next to the piano with a laptop, two glasses of cognac and a half full bottle from which it came from.
Sitting at this table was a small, stout elderly fella with a bright red chapeau, a bunch of beads and medallions around his neck and 2 pairs of glasses attached to elastic bands. He also had a vest of many colors and a shirt to match. Yes...he is an eccentric. As we were filing into the space, he was manipulating the laptop to produce a steady drone of what sounded like barnyard animals mixed with human voices imitating barnyard animals. This gradually built in intensity till finally the rudely talkative audience shut the hell up realizing the concert had already begun. When it finally reached a (very loud) peak, it abruptly stopped and there was dead silence for about 45 seconds.
Then the elderly gentleman with the bright red chapeau got up, took a sip from his cognac glass, stuck his finger in the liquid, held it up to the mic and gently rubbed his finger around the rim of the glass producing an ethereal ringing tone while the kindly looking man made soft dolphin like noises. This went on for about 12 minutes or so.
He then abruptly stopped, sat down at the grand piano and, for the next 30 minutes or so played some beautiful swirling motifs that grew louder and louder culminating into a huge, monolithic even, whirlwind of sound. This stopped abruptly (he's into abrupt stops) and he began to play a sweet little naive childrens melody that was quite beautiful. This ended, the kindly old chap picked up two stuffed bears, squeezed them in rotating succession making them emit a gorgeous tune while their mouths opened as if they were singing. It was lovely and the perfect ending.
After many bows and raising of cognac glass to the audience he uttered the words "Bye Bye" and then did many more bows and toasts to the audience (he was actually starting to remind me of a little faerie folk character) and again uttered "Bye Bye"...and then walked off.
Charlemagne Palestine...yes...I'm really glad I saw him!
best
Michael
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