
fuck me. what a gig.
the variety playhouse in little five points is an intimate theater, and ani was, as ever, very much among friends. the crowd was a lovely mix of middle-aged women, gay men, straight men (though not too many!), old fans, new fans, trendy dykes, shirt-clad ladies, black and white, butch and femme. i was bowled over by the sense of history, community, celebration and protest all happening in one place at one time.
People used to make records
As in a record of an event
The event of people
Playing music in a room
-'Fuel'.
that's what we got: the event of four incredible musicians making music in a room with a crowd singing along to lyrics which are often devoid of choruses or a simple refrain, narrative songs that the crowd knows nonetheless and mouths in time with the musicians on stage. we got a record of the important work of the schr. we got a record of the need for climate change and of the us government's attempts to dispose of nuclear waste in a site in georgia.
allison miller is drumming on this tour. she is the finest drummer i have ever had the pleasure of hearing. unbelievable. then we had double bass and xylophone and glockenspiel and plinkyplonky noises and, most of all, the strange tunings and finger pickin from the girl up front.
...I remember the feeling of community brewing, of democracy happening...
- 'paradigm'

The play was visually stunning: the black and white costumes, make-up and sets made for a shadowy stage where decadence and desperation thrived. There was the existential Parisian chain smoking, the berets and the moonlit romance, but there was also the threat of violence, the fear of exposure, the commanding onstage presence of an SS officer. Writer/director John Ammerman combined a deliciously cinematic aesthetic with a historically situated interrogation of the nature of war, and how much can be compromised in the pursuit of justice, truth, or simply survival.

the weekend will wind to a close with an evening of wine tasting in the company of emoryites and other alsace and german wine aficionados. purple stained tongue here i come.