Godspeed You! Black Emperor w/ TNG 3/25/18 College Street

Knob twiddler TNG opened the show. Solitary figure at center stage with two boxes of wires and connectors that unleashed a wall of synth sound. It's hard to assess the skill needed to "operate" the synth, it appears the musician (electrician?) is jump starting a car in slow motion. It was an interesting juxtaposition to open for GY!BE because the wall of sound was just getting started, but the tools used were about to change dramatically.
Canadian outfit GY!BE came with two drummers, two bass players (one often bowed a standup), three electric guitars, violin, and an occasional female apparition who played sax with her back to the crowd. No vocals, no inter-"song" banter, the evening was a wordless affair. The music was accompanied by grainy black and white video of epileptically scrawled "hope", desolate country scenes, a MAGA rally, train tracks, a bird trying to fly among others. The sound was meant for the live experience, droning passages coalesced and diverged. I couldn't help but relating this music to a metal-tinged Philip Glass offering with some passages sounding like a lonely Ry Cooder playing on the soundtrack of Paris, TX. I was able to get close to the stage so I could feel the wash of sound and reverberations that added to the music so impact.

David Bowie Is 3/25/18 The Brooklyn Museum

First time visiting this museum. Cruised through the vast permanent collection to get to the crowded but enlightening exhibit on The Thin White Duke. The exhibit rolled out in sections with an accompanying audio tour that synced to the video playing in the room. Bowie in Beatles-soaked England, cheesy "futuristic" Space Oddity, gender-bending glam-drogyny, Berlin trilogy with Iggy,Lou, and Eno, and uncompromising artistry through it all. David Bowie's career offered a template for diversity inclusion that seems to have sunk into a black hole in 2018 U.S. Bowie's passing on 1/10/16 sent shock waves through the music world and had me revisit the chameleonic stages that formed my appreciation path. "Can't Help Thinkin About Me" early single played by my sister that I heard through the wall. The Man Who Fell To Earth movie that took a little boy from it's cool to be an astronaut to space is scary. Golden Years on 45rpm showed that a white guy could get funky, thanks AM radio. My parents taking us to the Broadway version of Elephant Man with Bowie as John Merrick. My college years devoted to all things peripherally attached to Brian Eno and time spent with Hunky Dory, Low, Alladinsane, and Heroes ( what happened to that 45 of Bowie singing Heroes in German?). The over the top success of Let's Dance and The Serious Moonlight Tour at the Hartford Civic Center. Who could forget the restless, post -over the top success of  Tin Machine and the Toads show with one of the Sales brothers playing slide with a monstrous metallic vibrator. One video snippet of a producer got to the heart of it, "we had long hair, we took drugs, but Bowie added a gender fluidity component to youth rebellion that struck a chord with so many... And then there was the music." RIP Ziggy.

Chris Kasper w/ Instant Treeline 3/19/18 Cafe 9

Caught the last couple tunes from Instant Treeline a high energy garage-punk outfit. Strong vocals, everybody sang, had kind of a Tom Verlaine Television feel.
Chris Kasper was a singer-songwriter from Philly. He was joined onstage by a young woman who played fiddle, mandolin, percussion, and backup vocals. Chris on guitar, acoustic and electric, had a swampy drawl and used distance to the mic to great effect. At one point, Chris gushed praise on his female band mate. The woman sounded like Nicolette Larson and was able to shade the original tunes to lend a gypsy or country or swampy feel. I have lauded this band configuration in the past, whether it be the Spanish tinged tunes of David Wax Museum or the gypsy freakouts of local hippies Fuzz and Carrie. Very welcome cover of the Grateful Dead's "Mr. Charlie", and Tom Petty's "You Don't Know How It Feels".

Zachary Cale 3/12/18 Cafe 9

Zachary Cale was a hip quintet from Brooklyn.  Lead guitar, keys, drums, bass, and Cale on guitar and vocals. Original songwriting, Cale reminded me of the cerebral snarkiness of Luna's Dean Wareham. Dressed in black, Cale oozed downtown hipness ( which he probably disdains). The band was tight, even veering into a krautrock freakout jam. I think it is a curse and a blessing to be slogging it out as a musician from NYC. Your game has to be elevated by the vast array of artists, but how to differentiate from the crowd? Cale and company have a good sound, he even played a Roger Mcguinn type of hollow body. Look for Zachary Cale to show up in the summer festival scene.

Epic Beard Men 3/5/18 Cafe 9

Sage Francis and B. Dolan are two 30-something bald white guys with epic beards. Armed with a programmable beat machine, these two spat phat rhymes at the manic Monday crowd. The vocal interplay was intense, one song centered around a Hunter Thompson pastime Shotgun Golf. Their hiphop shtick could have been summed up with one tune "DIYMFS" (do it yer mutha fuckin self!). It seemed that the beat machine was random because they seemed genuinely surprised by some beat intros.

Tal National w/ Wet Tuna 2/27/18 Cafe 9

Wet Tuna, not to be confused with Hot Tuna, is usually a drone oriented duo. On this evening, three local musicians added to the sound. Churning trancey guitars and garbley vocals played to a crowded house.
Tal National is an African quintet from Niger. Two guitars, bass, drums, and vocals played traditional music. Like Tinawarien, the group was high energy with a big guy lead guitarist as the de facto leader. It was amazing how this group bumped and swayed like the Temptations. Their ability to dance in unison made me jealous. Tal National plowed through a couple hours of original music. They said that a five hour concert is not unusual in Niger. The crew had multiple encores ("one more?!"), with the singer weaving through crowd. Even the drummer came offstage and pounded some tom while snaking through the crowd. It struck me how happy this group was. No Trump, no country going to hell, just  traditional music delivered in an ecstatic fashion.