Legendary Pink Dots at Cafe Du Nord

 

Last Saturday Lao Elanya, Black Dahlia, Guitar Mike & I ventured out in the worst downpour we’ve had in quite a few years, at times (near Vacaville) with zero visibility, to drop into the basement of San Francisco’s Cafe Du Nord to partake in the artistry that is the Legendary Pink Dots on their (unbelievable) 30th Anniversary tour. 

Nothing could have kept NØ away.

Anyone familiar with this blog knows that I’m a LPD junkie, but honestly, it was the best show I’ve been to in years. Cafe Du Nord is always a great venue for LPD. Everyone in attendance was ready for some great entertainment. They were not denied. LPD played for nearly two hours & did two long encore sets without much begging (some begging, not too much). Words fail me, so I’ll let this approximation of their set speak for the band & my feeble attempt at review.

 

 

I will briefly add that Phil Knight (aka: The Silverman, Phil Harmonix) on keyboards, soundscapes, electronics devices, gadgets, technology; & Edward Ka-Spel (aka: Prophet Qa-Spel, Qa'Sepel, Che Banana, D'Archangel) on vocals, keyboards, devices, gadgets, interference, & premonitions work together as a finely tuned machine & new-comer Erik Drost was , as they say, a thunder of stringed things including acoustic, electric, bass & Hawaiian guitars. It was all lovingly presented by Raymond Steeg, LPD's long-serving mixing & engineering guru. 

 

 

The Legendary Pink Dots - Cafe Du Nord, San Francisco, November 20,2010. 

Endless Time 

The More it Changes The More it Stays the Same 

Waiting for the Call 

Another Kind of Violence 

Love Puppets 

The Key to Heaven 

The Brightest Star 

Remember Me This Way 

encore -

Soft Toy 

A Crack in Melancholy Time 

another encore -

Close Your Eyes, You Can be a Space Captain 

Enjoy the show, NØ

TWO BEAUTIFUL WOMEN! AN UNHOLY LUST!

Out of the harrowing days of the Spanish Inquisition, across the centuries, comes the torturous & unforgettable saga of Ambrosio, The Monk.

Proud & powerful, Ambrosio commands legions of adoring followers until violent, forbidden passions drive him from the holy embrace of the Church into the waiting arms of Matilda, an enchanting & treacherous temptress in league with the Devil. Desperate with depraved desires for yet another mysterious, though innocent, woman, Ambrosio is plunged into the terrors of profane, unspeakable acts & dark occult deeds from which there is only one escape.

THE GREAT CLASSIC --- NOW A POPULAR PAPERBACK!

Matthew G. Lewis - The Monk,
Avon (Publishers of Bard, Camelot, Discus, Equinox, & Flare Books),
First Avon Printing, September, 1975.

Just got back from driving a LA round-tripper this weekend. Crazee good hash/sinsemilla voyage. Ate at The Supreme Masters Loving Hut after a mad rush down I5 to the high desert past Palmdale & into the back-door of the Inland Empire. The pure-energy food woke our bodies & souls. We called our contacts & met them on Baseline. They gave us two nights in a plush sweet suite with in-room jacuzzi; the place had a state-of-the art work-out room & indoor pool & sauna. I swam & sweated. We then headed out to Bright Star Vegan Thai for late dinner. They emptied the place out as we munched on Shrimp Batter 1 (vegan tempura from on high!). Then the chef cooked up a presentation dinner that equaled anything from Greens or Millennium.

Somehow through all the insanity of the past few weeks (Tobee dying, Tony in the nursing home), I’ve somehow read my way through the Stieg Larsson The Girl trilogy, The Monkey Wrench Gang (thanks Michelle, I finished it & lent it to a friend who had read it years ago & had been wanting to read it again), & am now reading this.

Enjoy the tune..."Amen" by Bardo Pond from 1993s No Hashish, No Change Money, No Saki Saki. Thought Amen went with THE MONK.

Enjoy,
NØ

State of Decay Across the USA

Again re-uploaded 6/24/2024 per request. Enjoy!

 

 

I dug this out a little while ago & it’s been getting a lotta play aroun’ heeyah. 

Great goth-tinged post-punk from Don Diego & Linda LeSabre. They had both been members of Washington D.C. post-punk outfit Grand Mal. After leaving that band, they moved to Los Angeles in 1987 & their four-song EP followed shortly thereafter. 

I originally had the four-song Elvis Christ EP which features the first four songs of side two of this LP. Then came The LP. This is the original vinyl release from 1988 on Gymnastic Records, a great goth/industrial label out of Germany. It was also released the following year on vinyl by Flipside Records & as a CD by Little Sister Records. Both 1989 versions are identical but the 1988 version not only has "Drums Along the Mohawk" (which was replaced in the later versions by "Chain of Abuse") but it contains earlier different mixes. The 1989 versions have been remixed, & the sound is more clear, the vocals more to the forefront. 

I prefer this original version which is a bit muddier, but is much richer instrumentally. The bass of Don Diego is the lead instrument on all the releases, but on this earlier version there is more use of studio effects, yet it conveys a much more raw sound. 

Credits: Don Diego - bass & vocals; Linda LeSabre - drums & vocals; Dave Haas - guitar (B1 - B4); Wrex Mok - guitar & vocals (A1 - A4 & B5); & Danny Frankel - percussion, voodoo shakers & rattles. 

 

Death Ride '69 - The LP!, Gymnastic Records GYM 102, 1988.
decryption code in comments

Side A -
Mescalito
Blue Gel Green
God Tab
Drums Along the Mohawk

Side B -
State of Decay
Sex Drive '68
Elvis Christ
Crash & Burn
1969 (Stooges cover)

 

 

 

 

Enjoy,
NØ