Starship Frond Lands in NYC The Bevis Frond live at the Knitting Factory New York, October 20, 1999 Well, the mystery is finally over. Having spent the better part of the last decade running up the tab on that capitalist plot to take over the world (plastic money) by hunting "high" and low for Mr. Saloman's recorded output, the missing ingredient in the total experience has always been not catching Nick & Ade in a live setting. Last night's performance (the final stop on their whirlwind 4 1/2 week North American tour) at New York's Knitting Factory put a huge exclamation mark on the oft-quoted mantra, "Yeah, 'their' records are great, but you gotta catch them live!" If there's a better "power trio" working today, I've yet to hear 'em. Opening to the strands of what appeared to be some variation on all things Miskatonic, Nick, Ade and drummer du tour, Joe Propatier (sp?) launched into "Hole Song #2" from North Circular. I missed Nick's little explanation about the source of the title (something about another song being "Hole Song #1"), but from such humble beginnings, it was clear we were in for a special night - Nick pointing out that this was the last gig on the tour. Reaching back to extract "Maybe" from the initial release (Miasma) was a welcome indication that there were no intentions on the band's part to stick to plugging Vavona Burr at the expense of Nick's vast, VAST back catalog! A little anecdote about the band's "recreational activities" and the hopefully unrelated circumstances behind the recent train crash in Britain preceded a killer version of Superseeder's "Stoned Train Driver," featuring Nick's first extended workout of the evening. Hearing the song under these conditions was extremely unnerving, certain lyrics sending shivers up and down the spine. A few tastes of Vavona Burr followed, "Leave A Light On" and Nick's self confessed "little pop song," "Virus." I had read or heard somewhere that "Stars Burn Out" (North Circular) was written about Teenage Fan Club, so having Nick mention them (and Blur) in connection with "Virus" illustrated to me that he still has his finger on the pulse of the current "pop" scene. Ade grabbed the mike to introduce the next song and explained the concept of devising setlists: "Nick and I always have a private party after the gigs where we discuss setlists." [I'd love to be a fly on that dressing room wall!] "We were armwrestling and I won so I got to pick tonight's songs. Here's one that Nick doesn't really like, but I think it's a great song." Whereupon, they wrestled all the demons out of the title track to the much maligned "London Stone." [Methinks Nick doth protest too much. Perhaps he still tastes the bitter bile of the Reckless feud? No matter. His lead breaks shook the paint off the walls and probably left most of us with some sort of permanent hearing loss!] If you recall the lyrics to "The Pips" (North Circular), you wouldn't be surprised at Nick's tongue lashing of the wankers from the Village Voice who trashed The Frond in this week's edition for leaving listeners "in a trail of Fairydust on the way to the land of nod." "What the fuck's up with that? That wasn't terribly nice of them, was it? I'm sure if the person who wrote that [the author hides behind the surname of Sprague] was up here on stage, we'd all be off to the land of nod!" A brief audience discussion followed, all agreeing the Voice were a "bunch of cunts" anyway. (To be fair, Nick said that wasn't exactly the term he'd use in mixed company, but "Yeah, they are a bunch of cunts!") Ade seemed a bit uncomfortable by all this and was anxious to get on with it. And we were immediately transformed to another dimension courtesy of the most amazing rendition of "God Speed You To Earth" (New River Head) imaginable. Nick slowly built up the tension via a near-solo rendition of the verses, Ade closed his eyes and envisioned nirvana and I swear I spotted Joe copping a few hits off a joint preparing for the ear shattering climax. Sesame Street's Animal-incarnate beat the living shit out of his skins and we all heaved a communal sigh of relief as the last cymbal shattered our collective consciousnesses back to earth. "He'd Be A Diamond" (New River Head) gave us a chance to recapture our senses and proved that Nick can write a 3 minute pop song better than anyone. Vavona Burr's "Temples Fall" began to get things hopping again and the night was permanently imbedded in my brain under "concerts of a lifetime" with the sublime jam which housed the next song. [Unfortunately, I don't remember the title, but it was one of several tracks Nick's written with mountains as the lyrical focal point. The opening went something like, "If you're gonna climb a mountain, make it the highest one."] Of all the artists that Nick has covered, it's nice that some folks have chosen to honor him by covering some of his tunes. "Lights are Changing" (Triptych) has always been one of my favorite pop songs ever and tonight all traces of Mary Lou Lord's straightforward but memorable rendition were erased. This only set the stage for the earth moving experience known as "Well Out of It" (London Stone). I think if the blistering (literally, as Nick plays completely and startlingly pick-less) extended psych jam which closed out the song (and set) went on any longer, either Joe would have needed a new arm transplant or the audience would have required immediate cerebellum-saving brain surgery. For a few seconds, time stopped and you could almost hear a pin drop as the band bade polite farewells to a totally stunned audience. The gale force from our collective "whew's" could've knocked the smaller in stature amongst us over! I almost feared permanent braincell frying during the encore, Vavona Burr's "Begging Bowl." Just when you thought it was safe to mellow out and go gently into the cool night air, Nick, Ade and Joe pulled out all the stops feeding inspiration off each other to send us all home in mental bodybags. I immediately thought of the title to Ade's new Woronzow Records solo outing, "Headcleaner" as a fitting description to what just happened over the course of the last 90 minutes. Best wishes, guys. And no offense to all of you who captured this juggernaut as it stormed through your town, but I want to thank Ade, Nick and Joe for saving the best for last. Let the spirit of the verticle stripe remain with you always! Jeff (I think. Lost a few brain cells recently!) Back to the News/ Tour Dates Page.