Thursday, April 17, 2008

Jim Campilongo + Club d’Elf @ Galapagos 4/16/08

I finally made it to the This is Our Music series at Galapagos. I wanted to go last time, but I was too tired to head to another borough. Really, it’s kind of silly of me since it’s closer than a lot of places in Manhattan. Also, it’s tough to ignore Brooklyn, it’s got too much awesome music, etc.

I really enjoyed Jim Campilongo. He’s got a great bass player with him. I was so happy I could dance without hassle. I only saw him once before at the Living Room, it was rather late since he plays Mons at 12am. I think it was after a Bustle in Your Hedgerow show a couple of years ago. I was kind of drunk and got mad when they made me stop dancing and left early. I always wanted to make it back. He also plays 55 Bar from time to time, but that’s another no dancing spot. He plays all different styles and his music is great. There were up tunes and down tunes, blues, bluegrass-ish, and many things in between. All good. I enjoyed it. Afterwards, he kind of thanked me for dancing and then mentioned how you can’t do that at the Living Room. He said they need some kind of special license. I informed him that the law is only if 3 or more people are moving in a synchronized fashion. He got a kick out of that.

That was also my first time at Galapagos, even though I wanted to go many other times. It’s great. This was in the back room and I couldn’t help but be reminded of Tonic. It was quite different also, but it had a feel kind of similar. Chairs in front, sound guy upstairs in a little loft, not a lot of people there, lighting kind of low and on the dark side. I didn’t miss Tonic quite so much while I was there.

Next up, after a wait for them to get some sound issues figured out, one of my favorite bands, Club d’Elf. I was psyched to see 3 percussionists! Oh yeah! 3 percussionists, Matt Maneri on electric viola, and Mike Rivard on bass. It was as awesome as it always is. Always different, and always great. It’s a shame more people don’t know. Bummer, I don’t see the 3rd percussionist listed, and he was great. He played all hand percussion, both acoustic and electric. Electric! I don’t know what that thing was but it sounded great when he played. On all the super intense drum jams, he was playing a djembe in one hand and balancing another drum on his lap. It was all awesome.

Toward the end, the Knucklebean fans started showing up and they seemed to like d’Elf. I would like to check them out sometime, it was just too late for me. However, there was some kind of problem with the train, and they were temporarily suspended due to an ongoing police investigation at 6th Ave. I was able to get a cab and share with a few people without too much of a hassle. Still, I keep forgetting to find out more about alternatives for when the train isn’t working right. I think there are more trains at Lorimer, which is a quick walk.

Anyway, it was another great night and I hope this series continues.

Wednesday, April 16, 8PM Doors, $10
This Is Our Music II
Curated by Brad Farberman
This Is Our Music presents the finest in exciting and adventurous sounds, with an
emphasis on autophysiopsychic music. Unexpect the expected.
8:30PM – Jim Campilongo Electric Trio: Jim Campilongo (guitar), Brad Jones
(bass), Tony Mason (drums)
JimCampilongo.com
9:30PM – Club d’Elf: Mike Rivard (basses), Dean Johnston (drums), Brahim Fribgane
(oud, percussion, voice), Mat Maneri (electric viola),
Clubdelf.com
11PM - Knucklebean: Brad Farberman (guitar), Adam Minkoff (bass), Nick Anderson
(drums), Matt Silberman (saxophones), Matt Thomas (saxophones), Kevin Moehringer (trombone), Ben Syversen (trumpet), Phil Rodriguez (trumpet)
myspace.com/knucklebeanmusic

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