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| Founding members John Goodsall and Percy Jones |
"Thanks for having us back... Especially after last
time."
Sometimes it's tough to figure out English humor. The
"last time" to which John Goodsall, founding guitarist of the classic
progressive/fusion band, Brand X, was referring was the band's appearance in October
at New York's Iridium jazz club, their first gigs in the city in over a decade.
Goodsall's self-effacing jibe notwithstanding, the hotly anticipated reunion
shows went off brilliantly, with the band proving that they were still a
powerful force, musically: Tight, yet free, aggressive, yet ethereal. Brand X
was back.
It was the initial run of shows with this new line-up,
which featured Goodsall and co-founder Percy Jones on bass, along with Kenwood
Dennard on drums, who had done a stint with the band in the late 70s (after the
previous drummer, Phil Collins, went back to his day job in Genesis), and two
new members, Chris Clark on keyboards, and Scott Weinberger on percussion.
Celebrating the 40th anniversary of the release of their live LP, Livestock, the set lists of those shows
had centered around material on that album and their previous studio releases:
1976's Unorthodox Behaviour, and
1977's Moroccan Roll. The
reconstituted band executed the material
admirably, and the music felt energetic and fresh.
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| Percy Jones |
However, the band that returned to the Iridium stage last
Tuesday was even more confident, more cohesive. It was clear from the start
that the band was gelling even more than they had in October, and the unique
skills and personalities of the new members were becoming more evident.
"We're a real band," Goodsall announced, and if the shows last fall
had a feeling of testing the waters, on this evening the band's future seemed
brighter and more certain.
Still largely basing their set around Livestock era material, in the past
several months, the band began expanding their repertoire, opening this show
with "The Poke," from their 1978 Masques
album (the first time with this current band, I'm told), and later including a
playfully funky instrumental cover of The Beatles' "Tomorrow Never
Knows." Also, the band continued to assert its musical identity by playing
the older material based not on how it had been done before, but based on the styles
of the current members. The differences were sometimes subtle, drastic at
others, but always noticeable.
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| Scott Weinberger |
This band's reading of "Euthanasia Waltz" was
more driving than its original recorded version, with drummer Kenwood Dennard creating
a more propulsive groove while percussionist Scott Weinberger played on top and
in between, alternately adding elegant splashes of color and jarring
counterattacks. Weinberger's unique percussion rig, self-constructed of numerous
disparate pieces, including an actual mounted garbage can lid, was sight to
see, an ingenious construction, and he used it to great effect.
Meanwhile, "Born Ugly," from the band's debut
album Unorthodox Behaviour had been
taken down in tempo, with Dennard burrowing in deep alongside Jones' bass which
churned out deep, gurgling, bubbling tones to create a raunchy, swampy funk
that gouged right into the gut. All the while, Chris Clark's piano dexterously
danced on top, weaving the melody in unison with Goodsall's guitar.
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| Kenwood Dennard |
The band pulled out the stops on the concluding song of
their first set, "Nuclear Burn." The hyper-
kinetic performance
dazzled listeners with its frenetic pace and the band's ability to start and
stop on a dime. Did I say a dime? I meant a goddamned ha'penny (look it up).
Meanwhile, Dennard was playing with such head-shaking intensity, that his
plastic New Years Eve prop hat fell off his head.
Jones opened the second set with a bass solo that
exhibited his dazzling technique and his capacity to generate atmospheres.
Improvising over a loop that evoked a digital didgeridoo, his bass work ebbed
and flowed, harshly percussive one moment, lyrical and harmonically dense the
next.
Dennard joined in with Jones and the two set off on a
high energy, be-bop fueled duet , before the rest of the band came in to play "Nightmare
Patrol," the opening track on Livestock.
Co-written by Dennard, he displayed here an energetic, flamboyant showmanship
that would appear distasteful on a lesser musician. As it stands, though, his
pure, uncut chops stand above all else, and the visual element of his
performance is simply icing on the cake.
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| Chris Clark with Jones, Goodsall, and Dennard |
New member Chris Clark, on the other hand, showed himself
to be the complete opposite, visually. In contrast with the with the cliché
of the prog rock keyboardist, instead of hunching behind a giant array of
keyboards, he sits high above his noticeably scaled back rig (after all, you
can do more with far less these days)
perfectly postured, poignantly free of eccentricity while his interprets
the songs with a dexterous ease (his reserved onstage demeanor is fitting given
his time John Entwistle's solo band). His solo piano interpretation of "...Maybe
I'll Lend You Mine after All" from Moroccan
Roll, was a stand-out performance, working dazzling improvisations into the
haunting, simple melody.
They concluded their set with "...And So to F...,"
arguably the band's best known song (mostly due to the fact that former drummer
Phil Collins frequently would include it in his shows when he went solo). A good
old fashioned rave-up, or at least the closest thing you'll find in the prog/fusion
world, the high energy workout had the crowd enthused and chanting along with
its wordless chorus.
After the band bid the crowd good night, the more astute
members of the audience not only knew that there had to be an encore, but knew
exactly what it would be. There was just a feeling like something was missing,
like there was unfinished business. Sure enough, the band returned to the stage
and broke into "Malaga Virgen." Originally featured on Moroccan Roll featuring Collins on
drums, Dennard's version on the Livestock
album reinvented the track with a mind drilling beat which he was more than
ready, willing, and able to recreate here. For a band that refuses to be
pigeonholed, "Malaga Virgen" does a great job of encompassing their
style and strengths. At times propulsive and at others atmospheric and then
somehow managing to be both at the same time, it features a delicate, tickling,
crystalline melody dancing over an intense groove with sudden changes of mood
and vector.
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| John Goodsall |
In all, it was another excellent show by band that is
continuing to coalesce. In retrospect, I think it was a bit strange that they
ended their set with "...And So to F... " and encored with "Malaga
Virgen." It was a little like having crème brûlée for dinner and a forty
ounce porterhouse for dessert. But at the end of the day I'm always glad to see
a band changing it up. They're trying out new things, rediscovering instead of rehashing,
continuing to explore. After the show, Jones told me that they are going to
continue to expand their set lists, both through further digging into the back
catalog as well as writing new material for this current band. That, of course
is welcome news indeed.
In short, Brand X came back, they delivered, and they
showed that they still have more to deliver.
Photos by Jeremy Gordon
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