Les Claypool and his Fancy Band ~ 6-27-07

What the hell is going in LA? First everyone around us is up and dancing the entire time at The Police’s Dodger Stadium show last Saturday- wait- make that everyone around us was up and dancing for the Foo Fighters who were OPENING up for The Police, no less… then Les Claypool manages to get the masses out for his Henry Fonda show in Hollywood- on a Wednesday night. I’m certainly not complaining with this new wave of LA concert goers- but it is a shock to the system after living here for 9 years with the LA crowds usually being so hit or miss.

Not only was it a pleasant surprise for all of us, but even Les himself made several comments about the energetic crowd, calling us peppy and even going so far as to say it was one of the best LA audience’s he’s ever had and what a great venue it was. It was the first time Les played at the Henry Fonda and after Wednesday night, I’m sure he will be coming back. Claypool’s most recent side project dubbed his “Fancy Band” consists of Skerik on tenor and baritone sax and Mike Dillon on vibraphone, marimba and percussion (both of Garage a Trois and Critters' Buggin), Cake drummer Paulo Baldi and Gabby La La on sitar, ukulele and theremin.

It was my first time seeing this line-up and I have to say- it totally worked for me. I’ve never been a fan of Gabby La La’s before- in fact, I despised her from the moment I first saw her opening up for Les in 2004 during his Bucket of Bernie Brains shows in Hollywood and San Francisco. But after seeing her in this line-up, all of that changed. I don’t know if it’s because she didn’t open her mouth at all or if she’s finally figured out the right balance as to not overwhelm the audience with the sounds of her unusual yet distinctive instruments, but Wednesday night she completely complimented Les without being distracting or even annoying. In fact- I’ll even go so far as to say she actually threw down the gauntlet challenging Les in some duals and adding a nice texture to the new sound Claypool is forging. As much as it shocks me to say it, there’s no need for a guitar player in this line-up- Gabby’s got it covered. And she wasn’t even the good part about the show. Skerik sounded great and while at certain times in the past I’ve felt like he was sometimes out of place or unintentionally trying to steal the show, he also was a perfect compliment to the Fancy Band. Besides Les, who even from across the room always manages to slap me silly with his bass, Paulo Baldi and Mike Dillon killed it- they were both absolutely on fire the entire night, showcasing their solid playing with a hot drum/percussion solo. Baldi is a monster behind the kit and Dillon adds such a cool layer to the overall sound- at times almost adding an electronica vibe. Playing a variety of older and newer songs from Claypool’s entire catalogue, the band took us from hard pounding bass and drum heavy songs to an almost whimsical circus-like dance club atmosphere. During the encore, Les treated us to a couple solos on the bass banjo, sans band, including a hot version of American Life, and once again proved why he is one of my favorite bass players around. We wouldn’t have known he was playing with 2 screws in one of his fingers after breaking it in May, had he not mentioned it.

One thing I love about Claypool is his innovative style which he consistently pushes forward, staying one step ahead of the latest music trends. He transitioned Primus into a “jamband” after playing with Oysterhead and now he’s worked some insane dance beats and grooves into his latest ensemble. Another trait I’ve become fond of when seeing Claypool perform is that the man is not afraid to speak out when he has something to say, my favorite being when he chastises rude members in the audience with comments like: "hey you! yes, you, in the white shirt. Was your only reason for coming here today so you could walk away knowing that I thought you're kind of dick?" and "Hey asshole… seriously. I'm just trying to do my job here... I don't come to your job and slap the dick out of your mouth...” Wednesday was no exception as we had a very chatty Les on our hands. While most of his comments were in praise of the crowd, he did stop mid-song to call out one very enthusiastic person on the rail who was encroaching on a father and his young daughters space, prompting Les to- in an unusually kind way- ask the guy to move away from his spot saying he appreciated that the guy knew all the words to the song, and he liked his enthusiasm, but he wanted the young girl to enjoy the show as much as he was enjoying it.

Speaking of rude audience behavior and dicks, we had a similar situation go down next to us during the show and found pure comedy in Les’ reaction as we had just dealt with our own space and respect issues. I’m not exactly sure why some people feel a certain sense of entitlement at concerts but being short does not give you a free pass to stand wherever you want. It’s called get to the show earlier to secure your spot- trying to sneak into a space when the lights go down, that other people have occupied for 20 minutes prior to the show, is not kosher. After one particular short girl’s unsuccessful attempt at doing just that and a surrender to her original spot with a heated debate as to what to do next- I look over at my boyfriend who is practically being grinded from behind by the girl’s boyfriend. Still in the exact same spot we had been in all night, Mike and I continued to get down- Mike being completely aware yet totally unfazed that he had a dude on top of him. When the drunk obnoxious dude started to get into my space however, I quickly responded with some elbow thrusts, which he chose to ignore. Now, had it been a sold out show and if space was totally limited, it would have been one thing. But looking behind this guy- he had 5 feet of space between him and his crew- there was no need for him to be riding on Mike in such a manner but he just wouldn’t back off. We’re not exactly sure what point he was trying to make either, because again, neither of us had moved an inch from our original spots and hey- we had a tall guy in front of us too. After not being able to take it anymore, I leaned over to Mike and asked loud enough for the schmuck to hear: “Is there any reason this guy is on your dick?” and sure enough- not only did he hear it but he flipped out and finally backed the fuck up. After a slight shoving match with Mike, started by the dick’s buddy, wouldn’t you know it, they bailed before the show ended. Hallelujah!

Another brilliant moment of the night took place towards the end of the show when several people pulled out their lighters to sway along with the music. Les informed the crowd that lighters were totally passé and that the newest thing was to point your cell phone at him, queuing about ½ the audience to do just that while designating the song and subsequent actions as the “new Freebird of the millennium”. A classic moment and at least we didn’t hear any of the usual “Primus Sucks” chanting.

I highly recommend checking out the Fancy Band if they come to your town- just make sure not to stand next to any dicks to maximize your experience.


06/27/2007
Henry Fonda Theatre, Los Angeles, CA

Setlist:
Up on the Roof
One Better >
Glide >
Tommy the Cat tease >
Glide >
One Better
Rumble of the Diesel
David Makalaster I >
Southbound Pachyderm tease >
David Makalaster
IPrecipitation
Vernon the Company Man
A Shot in the Dark
Drums >
Drum and Whamola Jam
Phantom Patriot
D's Diner
Whamola

Encore:
Master of Puppets tease >
^American Life >
^Iowan Gal
^ Riddles are Abound Tonight
Lust Stings

^ - Les solo on bass banjo