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madtempest
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USA
225 Posts

Posted - 06/07/2007 : 21:12:20

http://salemmonthly.com/story/Frank_Black_wThe_Fjord_Company130.html

Frank Black wows small but appreciative audience

By Brian Blair, Section Music
Posted on Wed Jun 06, 2007 at 06:43:01 PM PDT
It wasn’t a secret show, but Frank Black’s Salem appearance certainly
lacked the promotion that one might expect for an alternative rock
icon, especially when you take into consideration it’s his only
scheduled U.S. date in 2007. By design, publicity was kept to a
minimum and, as a result, fans showing up at Lefty’s were still able
to pick up tickets at the door.

The event was kept intentionally low-key because this was simply a
stage for the former Pixies front man to test some material for his
upcoming European tour. Those who were in attendance witnessed a
unique show that may be ushering in a new era for the singer.

Leading up to the show, there was talk that Guards Of Metropolis
would open as it did when Black played Portland this past winter.
That rumor, however, turned out to be only partially true. The Fjord
Motor Company, which features the female half of Guards, handled the
duties with a set of Norwegian folk songs.

Between stories of life in Norway, the duo worked through beautiful
pieces from their homeland. A highlight of the pair’s set came when a
friend accompanied them on a saw. While the addition was interesting
initially, it was a bit that grew distracting and unnecessary as the
set continued.

When Black and his band took the stage a little later, there were
questions as to what musical direction he might take. His past two
albums, “Honeycomb” and “Fastman Raiderman,” have seen the musician
move towards Americana but early talk about the upcoming “Bluefinger”
is that it returns to his edgier material. It’s been rumored that
this is the album he intended to record with the reformed Pixies.

From the start of his set, the 42-year-old singer established the
evening’s tone. He joked that cell phones were fine and that there
was a chance his would be the one ringing during the show. Then he
jumped into an aggressive cover of Tom Waits’ “The Black Rider.” For
the track and the rest of the set, Black eschewed his usual guitar
duties and focused on being a front man. Taking advantage of his new
freedom, Black sang the majority of “Rider” standing in the audience.

Moving back to his own material, Black and company hit some of his
better-known songs — “Old Black Dawning,” “Los Angeles” and “Freedom
Rock” — but a third of the set list was dedicated to “Bluefinger.” If
fans were unfamiliar with material from the upcoming album, which was
produced by Salem’s Mark Lemhouse, it wasn’t readily obvious because
the new tracks slipped in with the older material seamlessly.

Backing him in the show and on the upcoming tour was a simplified
line-up. Two of the musicians — guitarist Charles Normal and drummer
Jason Carter — were drafted from Guards Of Metropolis and bassist
Ding rounded out the line-up.

Two-thirds of the way into the set, Black brought out his wife,
Violet Clark, to sing backup on a few songs. First was “Threshold
Apprehension,” which makes a solid case on the potential of
“Bluefinger.” It was followed by “Lolita,” which was performed twice
because Black claimed that he had messed up the last half verse and
didn’t want to leave the song that way.

Throughout the show, Black was playful with the audience and he ended
the night by talking about his kids and their love of hip-hop music.
With a nod to them, the band went into an amazingly primal and
imaginative cover of Fatboy Slim’s “Rockerfellar Skank.” While it may
not exactly be “hip-hop,” the execution of the song was so impressive
that there’s no need to debate its origin.

Despite prolonged applause from the audience, the group ignored
returning for an encore. But for the lucky few that were there, not
too much more even needed to be said.

benji
> Teenager of the Year <