had never seen them live until yesterday at the Metropolis (part of the jazzfest), and what a concert it was...The show started with a drums/electronica duo that consisted of Kieran Hebden, the man behind the highly acclaimed electronic music-oriented solo effort Four Tet, and "jazz drummer" Steve Reid. Although I've listened to a couple of Four Tet albums and I really like Hebden's work, I found that the set performed by the duo last night was poor, uncoordinated and extremely boring. This is mainly due to the terrible drumming of Steve Reid, hence the bracketed "jazz drummer". In the first tune I noticed that Reid was completely off, and I wondered whether it was on purpose or not. But then as the set progressed, I figured that the drummer was just having his own trip in his own world. At many instances I felt a lot of confusion and uncertainty in his drumming. He was reacting too late or too early to the music played by Hebden which made the entire sound really awkward. Aside from the bad time-keeping, I found that his drumming style was also pretty boring, he kept doing the same "drum phrases" over and over again and they were off time over and over again... This really threw me off and I couldn't really enjoy Hebden's electronic sounds. I frankly hope that Hebden will reconsider performing with Reid because I feel that he would sound so much better with a REAL drummer.
Praise TORTOISE. Praise them over and over again for the WONDERFUL set they played last night. The Chicago quintet played tunes off their older albums (Millions Now Living Will Never Die, Tortoise) as well as their newer ones (Standards, It's All Around You). The tunes were very well picked and the order in which they were played made the set flow very nicely. I was impressed by the stellar musicianship of all five band members. Needless to say that everyone plays everyone else's instrument.Oftentimes there were 2 drummers playing in the same time or 2 bassists playing in the same time which created a very interesting and unusual "soundscape". My favorite moments in the set were the double drum moments where the entire stage turned into a percussion festival with amazing Tortoise sounds in the background. Both drummers would be playing a fat beat together and then they would drift into syncopated rhythms that sounded so good together. One last note about the drumming during the show, I particularly enjoyed the drumming of John McEntire who played the drums until they reached the tune "Benway" in their set but I also really liked the drumming of John Herndon who was on vibes until this tune and switched to drums afterwards. I find that each of them had his unique style which is great for the overall band sound and I think that this shift in drum styles also opens up new territories for the rest of the band to explore. The other thing I've always loved about Tortoise is the vibes and vibe-like instruments they use on pretty much all their tunes. I feel that it makes their sound very warm/dreamy and percussive in the same time. I really like the fact that the vibes is a major instrument in the band and that it's not just used once or twice as a filling "layer" of sound.
I was also impressed by the fact that this band really has its OWN sound. It's impossible to imitate it. I believe that this is due to several factors such as the unusual instrumentation of the group but also the unique playing styles of each musician in the band. I think that "secret" behind the "Tortoise sound" lies in the unique guitar style of Jeff Parker (who was the only band member that stayed on his instrument for most of the show). I find his guitar playing one of a kind and I really love the perception he has of his instrument i.e. the way the guitar fits in the whole picture. I feel that his chord voicings and arpeggios feel so good and they sort of tie the rest of the sounds together. I also love the "sound" of his guitar , it reminded me of Scofield's sound that has a constant overdrive or crunch to it, it feels like its always a bit dirty. Hidden in the right corner in the back of the stage Jeff Parker's guitar playing provided the harmonic support for the rest of the sounds to be laid on last night.
You know that there are certain bands you respect so much more when you see them perform "live". To me, Tortoise is one of those bands.
nad
