I’ve been a fan since the 70s but this is the first time I ever saw them. In such situations I tend to have high hopes but low expectations… but this was one of those instances where they were still everything that originally turned me on to them.
Anybody else seen them on this tour or previous tours?
I saw them about 10 years ago for the first time. I had missed them in 1990 because I flew to Chicago theday after their show. Had I known they were playing, I would have arranged to travel a day earlier.
I hope to tour with them sometime; their lighting director is a friend of mine now.
Oh, and for me their show was even more interesting than I could have hoped for. I’d see them again without hesitation.
They are coming to Chicago and Milwaukee … but not to the Twin Cities (where I live).
Bummer.
I’ve seen them once, also about 10 years ago … and would like to see them again, especially since you’ve said that they can still bring it.
Details now.
There were just three Residents in attendance – Chuck (keyboard), Randy (vocals & harmonica), and Bob (guitar). Chuck and Bob were at far stage left and right, mostly unlit, and wearing monster-like masks. Randy was center stage wearing an old man half-mask (bald head with frizzy hair on the temples, long pointy nose), a robe, white leggings, and clown shoes. The set was sort of a working class living room, with fake fireplace, portable TV tuned to static, and an easy chair. The walk-on/walk-off music was “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing” by the Hillside Singers.
The main theme of the show was what I would call “ghost stories”. There were three main ones – I’m not sure of their true names so I’ll call them “The Talking Light”, “Larry and Ralph”, and “The Unseen Sister”. A fourth story, which sort of occurred as an episodic motif, was “Mirror People”. These stories were multimedia events, incorporating periods of instrumental music, narration by Randy, and projections of characters doing narration (Randy projected these onto three panels in back of the set).
In between these stories were various songs… the only one I recognized during the show proper was “Semolina”. The music was classic Residents sensory overload – both guitar and keyboards were great – and the lighting contributed to the overall … er … lysergic effect. Randy did a lot of old-man dance moves.
Randy explained that Carlos was currently retired from the band – taking care of his elderly Mom, IIRC. He mentioned how much they missed his drumming, “even though he likes Ginger Baker.”
The encore was “Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie”. I got the feeling that the whole show was, among other things, something of a reflection on mortality. (The content of the stories would support this, but I don’t want to give too much away.)
I saw them years ago in, um, 1981? when they toured The Mole Show (with Penn Jillette as narrator)! It was brilliant, and captured reasonably well on the Mole Show Live release, which I’m sure I have somewhere, on coloured vinyl with a Resident’s eyeball head on one side… I still play Tunes of Two Cities from time to time.
(For Scottish readers) I suggested Robbie the Pict come along to the gig; he was extremely bemused, but did stay to the end!
I wanted to get to London the see them again last year (or maybe 2008) but couldn’t free up the time…