The Singing Saw Shadow Show were completely hidden by a white curtain while they performed, while their on-stage projectionists kept the curtain alive with various dancing, swirling shapes. Now, I'm not one to complain that the band isn't doing jumping jacks on stage -- my enjoyment of a show isn't predicated on needing to see people looking energetic. The SSSS's music seems highly improvisational, led melodically by a euphonium backed by a chorus of five saws. The problem is that it sounds like sleepy accompanient to a pastoral ballet, something that could have been composed by Mercury Rev at 5AM on the tour bus following a gig, featuring Grasshopper and whoever else happened to be awake.
As for Caribou ... for weeks, I made a mental note to go to this show, but I didn't get off my ass to actually buy the ticket until the moment I read that they toured with two drummers. Of course, this night's gig gave further confirmation to my theory that a band with two drummers cannot possibly suck. With only three people in the live band, there was a lot of switching between guitars, electronics, and percussion -- even during the songs themselves. That's something else I love to see at shows -- instrument swapping. I can't remember too much from the Cranes gig I saw in 1994, but I do remember seeing a prodigious amount of instrument swapping.
So forget about the gentle psych-folk on the records, live, Caribou are beastly, coating nearly every song with dense white noise that wouldn't be out of place at a Black Dice show. It's Can's funk filtered through early JAMC's chaos. Easily the best concert I've seen in about a year.
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