Cycles w/ The Alpaca Gnomes 7/29/19 Cafe 9

Local gnome-hatted groovers AG are ever present in jam oriented shows. Whether I'm standing with them in the crowd, or they are on stage plying the jams, AG implies a hippie presence that I usually felt at the Vibes festivals. While I missed most of their set, there was enough pixie dust in the air to welcome Cycles. A true power trio, Cycles consisted of guitar/ loop pedals, furious slap bass, and multi-genre frenetic drumming. Like many in this genre, their woeful singing/ songwriting capabilities took a way back seat to their instrumental prowess. The guitar player was stellar and could easily switch from Jeff Beck to Eddie Van Halen to Jimmy Herring. At times, the loop pedal sound distortions detracted from his game. The bass player loped and slapped his way through songs reminding me of Rob Derhak from jam originalists moe. The bass also had some Claypoolian thumpery that could give tunes a sinister edge. The drummer kept pace with it all, shading funk and hiphop where necessary. The big question is what to do when you know you can't sing, Cycles took the approach of sampling people who can sing and blending them through the loop effect. One rap tune that audience members under 30 seemed to know was chopped and screwed to sound like a fourth member. Show highlight was Madonna's "Ray Of Light" put through the sequencer. Spotify this tune from 2001 GHV2 Madonna release and imagine an ecstasy-fueled jam blowout of the tune. Maybe Cycles should get Madonna to guest vocal.