Re: Zoe Keating/Loop!station show

[Zoe Keating <cello@zoekeating.com>]

Thanks for the review Daryl!

One of my Repeaters gets "jammed" sometimes. It's like the software  
freezes, the LCD just says "Not Ready" and you can't record, stop,  
erase...do anything. Only solution is to kill the power for the  
machine. It's happened for a couple of years that one...

Irritating, but I try to work it in where possible!



On Jun 27, 2007, at 8:14 AM, Daryl Shawn wrote:

> I saw Zoe Keating and Loop!Station on Saturday night in San  
> Francisco. I unfortunately missed the other performers who were  
> part of this all-cello evening (dubbed "Mondo Cello"), though I  
> understand they were more conventional bands using cello as an  
> instrument in addition to guitars and drums.
>
> Loop!station is a duo, cello and vocals, made of Sam Bass (who I  
> knew from the interesting cello/violin/drum trio Deadweight) and  
> Robin Coomer (who I knew from the really really loud rock band  
> Birdsaw). They had a bunch of different Loopstations (natch)  
> between them, plus at least one DL4. Sam's silver-painted (or could  
> it have been metal??) cello did a very nice job of setting up  
> varied textures, with his loopers, which are definitely used as an  
> accompaniment with his live playing being the main focus. My  
> girlfriend actually didn't even realize he was looping until he  
> started doing some percussion stuff. Robin would do some looping  
> also, as well as some generated harmonies. She has an ASTOUNDING  
> voice.
>
> They definitely play "songs" with "parts", which I suppose the  
> Loopstation pedals are pretty good for. It was somewhat amusing  
> watching them share patch-switching duties; if one was occupied  
> doing something involved, the other would take care of the  
> switches. Though they definitely had a lot to deal with technology- 
> wise, it never got tedious to watch, and the focus was really on  
> the cello and voice in the performance, just with a lot of foot- 
> tapping going on. I really enjoyed their set, very passionate as  
> well as interesting musically.
>
> Zoe came out last of the evening with her cello, a couple of  
> Repeaters in a rack with a laptop perched on top, and a single  
> floor controller (FCB1010, I think). She was the only solo  
> performer of the evening, but was immediately arresting with her  
> amazing tone (those low, bowed fourths and fifths are like the  
> voice of a god!) and slowly building compositions. There were some  
> technical problems (laptop crashes I believe), which ironically  
> didn't happen until she introduced one piece by describing that it  
> came about while dealing with a technical problem on tour. But she  
> handled it well and the problems didn't detract from the music. I  
> found it mesmerizing, really really beautiful stuff, and never even  
> thought about all the technology happening (well, until the  
> crashes). The audience seemed totally captivated too, and  
> definitely weren't a crowd of music geeks.
>
> It was interesting in that these were looping performances that  
> weren't built from improvisation, and moreover, involved the  
> performance of very specific pieces built from very specific loops,  
> as opposed to the seemingly more frequent improv-based looping.
>
> Daryl Shawn
> www.swanwelder.com
> www.chinapaintingmusic.com
>
>
>