Kayo Dot - Atlanta - November 18, 2013

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The Venue:  "The Goat Farm Performing Arts Center" - a hip
little joint in an area of Atlanta once dominated by decaying old
buildings and dilapidated industrial parks, now populated by stylish
loft apartments and hip restaurants and coffee shops.  Where
"shabby-chic" is the look of the day.  I had been to this venue once
before, and was impressed by its intrigue and ambiance. It actually used
to be a goat farm, and was separated by the otherwise industrial
surroundings by a long private drive that dead-ended into a series of
old farmhouses, looking much like an old movie set you might find at
Universal Studios.  Arriving in the dark for a very un-crowded show made
it even more eerily cool.  But here's what it looks like in the day time:

Upon
my arrival, I was glad to learn
that the opening band had already begun playing.  The last time I had
been there, hours had passed before anyone even thought about going
onstage.  Apparently, I thought, this venue abides by the time-honored
Rule of Young Nightlife:  nothing cool ever happens before 11:00 PM. 
But here it wasn't even 9:30 and three guys were playing music onstage. 
This was going to be a good night.  And it only got better from there.

The opening band was a trio by the name of TAKENOBU -
melodious folk rock performed on amplified cello, vocals, violin, and
drums.   Enticing textures and passionate songs, making for a nice
warm-up act.

AND NOW.... PLEEEEASE WELCOME... FROM NEW YORK CITY....  KAYO DOT!!! (*crowd goes wild*)

See
that picture above?  That was the whole room.  Tiny little place.  The
elite backstage area did not exist.  There was no huge announcement, the
band set up their own stuff, and there they were.  TOBY DRIVER IS
STANDING RIGHT THERE OH MY GOD PINCH ME.    And without any ado at all,
they
just.... started playing.  Oh boy, did they play.  They played about 2/3
of HUBARDO and one track from CHOIRS.  Here's what happened:

THE SET LIST:

The Black Stone -- the
band gradually creaks into this ominous opening number, track one from
the latest masterwork HUBARDO.  Keith Abrams took his drum sticks and
SCRAPED them really hard over his cymbals, making a scary and harsh
screeching sound.  Toby Driver performs the low growling vocals while
the band (just a four-piece - Driver, Abrams, Ron Varod on guitar, and Daniel Means on keys and sax) creates abstract swells of discordant
sound behind him, growing in intensity and busy-ness as the lengthy
piece progresses.

Vision Adjustment to Another Wavelength
-- to those of you who have heard HUBARDO this is that song that has
that sudden unexpected flute solo in the middle.  

And He Built Him a Boat -- One of HUBARDO's undeniable highlights, a superbly melodic epic ballad. 

Zlida Caosgi (To Water The Earth) -- another of HUBARDO's, strange multifaceted pieces.  I'm still trying to get my hands around this one.

The First Matter (Saturn In The Guise Of Sadness) --
"Do you all like chorus pedals?  If you do, you'll like this next
one,"  Toby says.  This song showcases the mellow side of HUBARDO's
mammoth reach.  The first half reminds me a lot of The Cure's "Faith"
album, with the prominent echoey lead bass over synthesized backdrop.  Means and Varod both man the keys for this one, with Varod playing what
looks like an iPad.  SCIENCE!  For the second half, Toby switches
to the electric piano sound as Ron picks up his guitar again, and Means trots over to the iPad.  Holy Zart Charts, Batman, Look at them go!

Floodgate --
Have you heard Floodgate?  This song is just relentless.  7 minutes of
tightly controlled chaos and mayhem.  Controlled chaos?  Kind of an
oxymoron but that pretty much describes it.  Driver and Varod playing
all over the neck in 15 different time signatures as Keith Abrams (a
supremely talented drummer) holds it all together with loose-limbed
abandon, alternating blastbeats with swinging jazz beats and oblong tom
rolls at a whiplash-inducing pace.  Mixed in with all this mayhem were
Driver's screams and Means' Zorn-like alto sax decorations.  And yet,
the result was a beautiful/ugly sound painting that may not make total
sense, but it does leave a vivid image in your head (and ears) when it's
over.  After the applause died down at the end of the song, a girl
behind me said, "PLAY THAT ONE AGAIN!"  
I wish I had the perfect comic timing this young lady displayed. 
Perfect way to loosen the crowd's collective sphincter at, let's face
it, A PRETTY INTENSE SHOW SO FAR.  Toby, without missing a beat, replies
that Keith is going to play it again as a solo.   He was just kidding,
of course.

Passing the River -- One
of my favorites from HUBARDO, mainly because there's no death metal in
it (not that I don't like Floodgate, but geez, I'm 44 years old and not
as strong as I used to be).   It's a quiet number for the first few
minutes, with a gentle melody sung (yes, sung!  he can sing really well
in case you didn't know) by Driver. The song then breaks down for a
moment, letting Ron Varod shape some amplifier worship into a series of
thick, dark, detuned guitar chords and feedback.  The band joins him for
an emotional swelling midsection (no, I'm not talking about my
waistline) before concluding the song quietly as it had begun.

And
then the mighty Keith Abrams stands up from behind his drum kit.  He's a
big guy.  He announces that he has just broken his snare drum head.  Oh
no!  This not being Van Halen, there was no helpful roadie to run a
brand new one out to him on the stage.  Luckily, TAKENOBU's drummer was
still in the house and lent Keith his snare drum to play the last song
of the set.  "Don't worry," he assures the drummer, "this is kind of a
nice song," imparting the relieving news that he wouldn't subject his
beloved snare drum to another Floodgate.

A Pitcher of Summer --
I sometimes jokingly refer to this song as Kayo Dot's "hit".  Even
sitting as a relatively puny five-minute song amongst the other
monoliths that make up the rest of CHOIRS OF THE EYE, this song is and
has always been a standout track, and one of the best encapsulations of
what makes Kayo Dot what they are.  Quiet, gentle, lulling you into a
trance, getting more and more tense, and somewhat disturbingly ending with a pair of screams over aggressively played chords.

We
all clapped for an encore, but there was none.  I was a little
disappointed, but only for a moment.  After all, I'd just seen an hour
and 15 minutes of some pretty dense intense music, probably worth about 7
hours of most bands' music.    Plus there was the snare drum problem,
and, well, I was thrilled as punch to be getting home before midnight,
being old (44 years, see above) and all.

Varod and Means were at
the merchandise booth after the show and I bought a couple of CDs off
them.   They had vinyl copies of HUBARDO too.   HEY!  I pre-ordered that
sumbitch back in April, and now some schlubb can just walk in off the
street and buy one while my mail box still sits empty?  Ron says they
JUST got them in, and will mail all the pre-orders out as soon as they
possibly can.  WELL YOU BETTER, I said.  No, of course I didn't say
that.  I'm a real friendly and PATIENT guy who can easily wait another
week or so for my VINYL copy of HUBARDO that I've been anxiously waiting
MOST OF 2013 for.

Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful show.  Please
go support this band.  And if you live in Philadelphia, well, better
luck next time.*

* Philly show cancelled. **

Edited by HolyMoly - November 21 2013 at 12:48