Ka Baird, Maria Chavez, Tongue Depressor, DJ Kryssi B 9/28/18 State House

First visit to the new New Haven concert space, State House. Very impressed, parking lot in front, small bar, nice stage and acoustics, plus two gender neutral bathrooms (talk about coming out!, you land on the dance floor). Happily arrived to the metal edged platters from Kryssi B (local axe-wielder for Headroom and The Mountain Movers) who was tapped to dj between sets, some cleverly placed Hawkwind was great. Local group Tongue Depressor started as a duo, two hairy dronesters one on keys, the other appeared to be playing lap zither (if that is even a real thing), played long sawing drones. The lap zither guy appeared to be mitring with a bow, other times he played a metal comb that was scraping the strings, he also played his string thing with what looked like a cigar-like pretzel. Both guys switched to violin and played this awesome drone that sounded like a swarm of bees. A third person appeared and played xylophone with this small multiple mallet technique. His sound was  the harpish run that often accompanies a magic spell on cartoons. The speedy slide on the xylophone looked like the guy was beating eggs or tossing a really small salad.
Maria Chavez is a NYC-based experimental turntablist. Quiet and shy, Maria urged everyone to come on stage and get really close when she was "playing".  The first piece had an LP, a 7", and a 45 on the table. MC screeched and popped the records to a jarring effect. The second picce had an instructional record that she overlayed a broken (almost in half) music record that gave this odd talking-pop-music combo. The final piece had two green vinyl records that MC slowed,sped, and popped the stylus. Very original, MC had this weird twitch in her cheek that seemed to coincide with the feedback.
Experimental vocalist and flautist  Ka Baird was stranger still. She didn't really sing, but scat, purr, and whinny into multiple mics, which had the odd Doppler effect. She had beats, she played two sanding blocks, she crowed operatically, and prowled the stage. Good crowd for this truly original show. Keep your eyes peeled for shows at this new space.