Sunday, March 18, 2012

The Aristocrats - Madrid, 17-Mar-2012

A phenomenal show last night seeing The Aristocrats (my first gig of 2012) play at Randalls in Madrid.  I had a stupid grin on my face the whole time.

I was stood directly in front of Bryan Beller and his Gallien Kruger rig - Trouser flapping bass, but with a great view of both Guthrie and Marco (front row).

I thought it was a disappointing turnout, considering the calibre of these guys - around 200 people at a guess.  The lack of numbers was made up for by the enthusiasm of everyone in the crowd.

Guthrie Govan was just incredible.  There are a couple of quotes on the Adrian Legg album 'Technopicker' that I think apply equally to Mr Govan, the first from Alexis Korner; "Here's a man who completely understands his instrument, plays with fiery passion and controls his rampant fingers with dexterity and delicacy"  The other quote; "...has the virtuosity of a brain surgeon, the taste of a tuna fish sandwich and the speed of a man with more fingers than the rest of us".  Personally I love the way that although he plays incredibly fast, I don't get the impression that it's mindless widdling using standard patterns, rather that every note seems to have its place, changing modes freely to give sections a different spin.

This was the first opportunity I've had to see Marco Minneman live and I wasn't disappointed.  What can I say.  I'm not a drummer, but even a numpty like me can tell that he is in the upper echelons of the skin bashing fraternity.  Two particular highlights for me of his playing were in 'Sweaty Knockers' where he plays over and across a rhythm set up by Bryan and Guthrie.  A perfect example of polyrhythmic drumming.  The second was his drum solo where he not only played his drums (including 'La Cucaracha' on the toms) but also the hi-hat stand and microphone.  Amazing.  I also had the opportunity to briefly say hello to him after the gig and thank him for a great night.

Bryan Beller played some beautiful bass and used the wah pedal to achieve some unusual lead sounds while not destroying the underlying bass tone (split signal maybe?).  Although he doesn't stand out as an overtly technical virtuoso (certainly in comparison to Guthrie and Marco), his playing was nevertheless tasteful, solid, supremely skilfull and a perfect support for his two band-mates.  Bryan was also the principal 'introducer', including a little bit in Spanish.  He told the audience how they had gone to a flamenco bar the previous night and said "now that was rhythmic complexity".  He and Marco then decided that, being Spain, the audience would have no trouble in helping them out by clapping the 5/4 intro for the next song, which they did without a problem.

The trio seemed to have great fun on stage,  each one listening attentively, appreciating and reacting to the other two.  The joy they obviously got from playing this music was transmitted directly to the audience, who lapped it up and sent it straight back to the band.

Overall the highlights of this great show (for me) were 'Sweaty Knockers', 'Flatlands', 'Blues F**kers', 'Boing!.. I'm in the Back' and 'Bad Asteroid'.  Ostensibly because they were familiar to me (from the album available hereAmazon or  iTunes - buy it NOW!).  It is difficult to single out particular songs other than through familiarity as there wasn't a lull in the whole evening and every track moved, entertained and inspired.

Sadly I forgot my camera so I couldn't resurrect my gig photography, last practiced in the early 80s.

Did I mention that I enjoyed this gig?