Thursday, June 21, 2007

Concert Review: Les Claypool at the House of Blues

By Todd Maternowski

Wednesday evening, Dallas' beautiful people (and a few ugly types) were treated to a hell of a show at the recently-opened House of Blues. Experimental bassist, novelist, fisherman and A-List Hollywood star Les Claypool was in town, and treated a mostly-full room of adoring fans to quite an entertaining spectacle.

Les Claypool: Man, Myth, Legend. Me: Crappy Photographer.

Before I get into reviewing the show, I have to say something about the venue, the House of Blues. This was my first time in the new place, and I must say it's very impressive. As a music venue chain and merchandising giant, in the overly-uppity Victory Park area no less, my expectations were (unfairly) low. But HOB is easily one of the best musical venues in town. The decor alone is worth the trip, and the sound system has to be one of the best in the DFW area. Drinks were pricey but not prohibition-era expensive. And as a genuine all-ages venue (as opposed to the Door, as one example, which is de facto "20 and under only") insures an eclectic crowd. I'm actually a little pissed this wasn't available to me when I was in high school all those eons ago.

Now, the show itself was, as expected, ludicrously enjoyable and firmly experimental without ever losing its charm or pop. Mr. Claypool was in fine form from the get-go, slaying the wide-eyed audience with his bass playing bravado and making sure the two-hour long set never dulled or tailed off.

At the beginning of the set, Les Claypool and His Fancy Band came out in a motley of outfits loosely resembling something out of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Les himself was dressed like a dapper 19th century English scribe, complete with bowler, goatee and tiny round Fu Manchu sunglasses. He was accompanied by the visually-lush Gabby La La on sitar and theremin, demon-headed Skerik on saxophone, and tireless drummers Mike Dillon and Paulo Baldi. For added effect, Dillon also threw in a healthy dose of xylophone and various bells as well.

The enigmatic Gabby La La on electric sitar

Claypool himself was expertly strumming his legendary fretless six-string Rainbow Bass, as well as a Whamola bass and some sort of modified electric upright bass. The band opened with some enjoyably long, almost jam session-length versions of songs off his latest solo album, Of Whales and Woe, including a 20-some-odd minute version of his hit "One Better". In fact, by my less than scientific count, an hour into the show the band had played just four songs --not that anyone was complaining. Les' tremendous showman instincts were on full display from the start, his impossible-to-duplicate funky bass-slapping style more than enough in itself to keep the fans drooling.

Combine that with constant costume changes --from George Bernard Shaw to pig-snouted upright bassist to a kabuki Pinocchio in a pith helmet-- and the sober members of the audience might have felt as if they were experiencing a surreal dreamlike state (I can only imagine what those members who were sufficiently under the influence must have experienced). Among the costume-based highlights was during the song "Back Off Turkey", when a monkey-masked Claypool wailed on the Whamola while his similarly-masked kids flanked him, shooting spark-guns and confetti into the crowd.

For fans of Primus, the show might have been somewhat bittersweet --as Claypool announced towards the end of the show, "Were any of you expecting some old Primus songs? Well, yeeerrrr scrreeeeeewwwwwwed!" Fortunately, the material off his new album is more than enough to carry a show, as Claypool's Fancy Band did not have to rely on throwing out some "Best of Primus" to sate this crowd's appetite for funky, insane music.

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