Pere Ubu

I saw Pere Ubu last night. I went for two reasons. First, I had spent 6 years with a boyfriend who would get in a mood and blast the entire box set of Pere Ubu at full volume. I fucking hated it and finally banned it when I was around. Secondly, the boyfriend I speak of had incredible taste, and seemed to know about all the coolest stuff that few people knew about. So I figured that maybe, just maybe, I had decided that Pere Ubu sucked because I'm a chick and prone to hating something for no good reason. It was possible that I may enjoy the show, and if nothing else, I could brag to the 8 other people in the country who thought the band was cool that I had seen them live.

So I bought the ticket and showed up last night. The first band was a noise/experimental band. I didn't think they were very amazing, but I dug the 10 minute sax solo that ended with the guy crawling on his back across the floor in a 70's tux wailing away.

Just to clear it up, Pere Ubu is fucking weird. And weirder than the music is the frontman, David Thomas. He's the only original member, and after 10 minutes of him onstage I understood why. He is a total dick. During his set he stormed off 2 times screaming at his band and/or sound guy, and one time sauntered outside to smoke while his band did the "artsy intro" to a song. He should be on meds, at least onstage. At one point when the crowd was standing there in a quiet bar after he stormed off, a girl said meekly "Does anyone else feel really awkward and a little.... scared?" Yes, we did.

I remember seeing The Business at Bojangles, and I remember thinking that the singer was such a prick and so didn't give a fuck about the audience that he may start beating people with his mike stand. I felt a bit like that. He didn't beat anyone though, at least not last night.

In this case, after he calmed down, he actually started to seem to enjoy himself a teeny bit. Not that he smiled or looked at all happy, but he wasn't red faced with rage and rocking back and forth like an autistic child. And the show was amazing. Maybe the best live show I have ever seen. The energy coming from the performers and the complexity of the music was unlike anything I've ever heard. The music was so jumbled and random, but there was a clear musical core that ran through it all. Never once did I think that they were "jamming." It was perfectly constructed and executed. The drummer deserves his own fan club, I've never seen anyone as good as him. I don't have the words to explain how perfect he was.

After the show I ended up talking to David Thomas for a bit, and he wasn't at all the psychotic asshole I had seen earlier. He was soft spoken and funny and random, with a fair amount of pervy cad thrown in for good measure. We discussed shoes, and make wonderfully hasty judgement calls about the people milling around based on their shoes. (This is something you can get away with when you're chatting with the singer of an adored band, but I wouldn't recommend it otherwise.)

After declining an offer from the drummer to take off my shirt (who managed to suggest it and not seem creepy) and buying the obligatory tee shirt I wandered home. Ear's ringing and strange music filling my mind. And I was so grateful to the man who would blast Pere Ubu at 4am in my living room. Without him, I never would have had this wonderful experience.

If this was a PBS show, I would now ask my loyal 3 readers to think about how someone in their past has shown them something that has made their lives better, even if the person isn't around anymore. But of course, this isn't PBS, so I won't.