It has been too terribly long since I have written anything of major musical related significance
for reasons fully detailed within the first posting of this month, so any new material is indeed long overdue.
Very recently, I had seen a news article detailing the benefits of experiencing live music events and how they are in actuality beneficial for maintaining good health. That is reason to celebrate without question, so I I figured at this time, I would devote this new series of Synesthesia postings to the live shows I had seen over the past two months or so.
With full disclosure, my intent was to write full reports of each live concert experience as its own individualized entry, just as I have performed since the inception of Synesthesia. But, once again, those aforementioned events and obstacles over the last two moths prevented me from doing just that. Yet, instead of just allowing those not yet entries wither and evaporate, I still feel a purpose to sharing what I had experienced with all of you albeit a bit truncated as the memories are simply not as fresh and as present as they had been. Yet, what I hope for is that my words and images can still give you a sense of what it was like to be in the presence of all of the skilled musicians and artists and the emotions every event stirred inside of me.
ANNA WANG with DASHCAM and IMMORTAL GIRLFRIEND
LIVE AT HIGH NOON SALOON
MAY 25, 2019
For all of the love and attention that I have given to so many members of the music community here in Madison, WI., I have rarely seen these individuals perform live.
My rare attendance at the shows of the artists that I have admired, to even those that I would consider as to now being my friends, is not due to a lack of interest or even funds as their performances are ALWAYS of interest to me and they are all exceedingly affordable. Everything that keeps me from seeing these individuals in a live setting is all due to the time itself--literally, the time at which these shows tend to begin...and on weeknights at that, when I have to be an extremely early riser to face the days in the classroom with my very young students each day!
So, when I saw the notice that local
singer/songwriter/keyboardist Anna Wang would be giving a rare performance at the High Non Saloon at 3 in the afternoon on Memorial Day weekend, it was inconceivable for me to skip this one...and, at long last, I could give proper support to my friend, who has already enchanted me with her electronically driven, dance floor ready, exquisitely dark pop songs, and has also graced my radio show by allowing me to interview her.
When I have ventured out to witness friends or one of my favorite Madison bands, they typically sit upon a bill of two or three acts during the evening and truth be told, I do not think that I paid any strict attention to how those event line-ups are constructed. Is it purposeful to have artists that are within the same musical wheelhouse banded together for a show or are the artists all friends regardless of the musical genre in which they create or are there even more factors that I have not even thought about?
On this particular day with Ms. Wang featured as the headliner, what I received was a full afternoon of rich, textured electronic pop of the very sort that transfixes me, which are the warm, enveloping soundscapes that I remember mostly from albums that were released in the late 1970's and early to mid-1980's, when synthesizers possessed so many dynamics,
personality and that decisive
warmth, elements that I feel are lacking in the current synthetic musical technology, as to my ears, everything sounds too clean.
Simply stated, the old synths had some broken hearts and fitful dreams to them.
First on the bill was
Dashcam, the project of Milwaukee based
songwriter/producer/musician Donny Jankowski. Adorned with an ever present pageboy cap plus a fully ingratiating demeanor and enthusiasm, he and his two bandmates (my apologies to both of them for not remembering their names at this time) delivered a set that captured me from the very first song. The synthetic wash instantly whisked me back to my 1980's teen years yet the singer's jazz inflected, almost behind-the beat vocals carried the music into adult oriented territory and the combination was absolutely intoxicating all the way to the final song of the set.
When it was time to experience the afternoon's second act,
Immortal Girlfriend, the Milwaukee based duo made up of brothers
William and Kevin Bush, I was especially intrigued for three reasons, two of which I will openly share: the music I heard from their soundcheck which felt as if they had created a lost
Prince b-side as well as Anna Wang's gushing endorsement of them to me when she said,
"You are going to LOVE them!!! You are going to love them more than me!! I adore them so, so much!!!"
Before I go any further, I would ask of you to indulge me with a memory. I am remembering periods during my high school years when I would be doing homework at night in my darkened room, illuminated solely by one tiny desk lamp. On my boom box with the volume turned down low, I tended to covertly listen to
Prince's "1999" (released October 27, 1982) and
Tangerine Dream's "Tangram" (released May 1980) in succession and repeatedly. I have shared this memory with you to try to weave an impression. One that can illustrate just how we all find ourselves listening to something...
anything for no other reason than the sound delivers an alchemy to the experience itself--regardless of how mundane, in this case, doing homework for school. Those deep warm water baths of synthesizers from both albums solidified the two works to each other in my mind and both albums to the experience, thus generating powerful emotional memories to return to anytime I hear those sounds.
Like Dashcam, once Immortal Girlfriend began their set, I was hooked. Yet even moreso, the sound of the band carried a hefty sense of nostalgia that whisked me into the memory I just described to you, as the
sounds they concocted from their synths, vocals and sprinkles of guitar felt like a dream. And while watching and listening to them, it hit me once again of how much of a privilege it is to be able to bear witness to this luxurious homegrown talent and artistry that I otherwise would never have known existed.
Furthermore, I was also supremely warmed to witness African American artists working within a musical genre in which I have not typically seen of ourselves participating, something that could strike some ears as being European and even a tad esoteric yet without sacrificing any sense of grit, swagger and soul.
Because of Anna Wang, I was able to gather a slightly larger glimpse from the Madison music community into the Milwaukee music community, which at first glance from my vantage point, felt to be as supportive and as communal as I have witnessed in Madison. As Immortal Girlfriend performed, I looked over to find Wang and the members of Dashcam at the front of the stage, listening and taking photos and videos and why not as Immortal Girlfriend was completely seductive, succulent and spellbinding!
And then, it was time for the main event!
To know Anna Wang as a person, even from my limited experience with being in her company, you would find an individual who was loquacious, superbly bubbly yet compelling and even riveting in her depth of wisdom. She is an individual that will very easily capture your attention and hold it closely. In many ways, one would think that she was meant to be on the stage. What surprised me on this afternoon was her admission to me of her aversion to being a performer as she is most content with the writing and recording process. Essentially, if she did not have to perform live, she most likely would not. Yet, I am here to inform you that if she ever did decide to never perform again, what a mesmerizing talent you would miss.
Experiencing Anna Wang as a live performing artist rather than just listening to her music through headphones or in my car is uniquely captivating. Yes, she possesses a magnetic allure through her appearance, which on this day featured a sparkly gold jacket, and her signature green colored hair. But what gripped me was her command of the stage, especially for someone who is an admittedly reluctant performer. To hold that stage completely alone and augmented only by scant technology and her enormously rich voice--to me,
that is artistic bravery.
This afternoon, Wang performed the bulk of her debut album "In Your Head" (released November 3, 2017), recent singles "Ritual" and the ominous, enveloping ballad "Hindsight" as well as her crystalline cover of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" plus her infectious cover of Cheap Trick's "Look Out" (a song she quizzically described as being "a bit rapey," something that gave me, clearly the only Cheap Trick fan in attendance some considerable pause).
Anna Wang's stage performance is superbly charismatic and in a way, very much like it is to be around her in person when she is off stage as you are incredibly drawn
to her. What I mean by that is how Wang actually does not "work the stage," so to speak. She remains at her technological post throughout, never walking from center to either end of the stage as she performs, therefore she does not bring herself towards you. In doing so, like a siren at sea, she beckons
you to approach
her, using her superior vocals and almost surround sound electronics like a tractor beam you are unable to escape from...and trust me, you will not want to!
What Anna Wang showcased on this afternoon was her clear, direct and superb ability with sculpting a stage performance. How to structure the pacing via her set list, when to rise and fall, to ebb and flow, to bring the tension upwards and when to allow for release. She demonstrated how to merge dance floor rhythms with brooding electronic bedroom pop and intricately written from the inside out lyrics detailing the darker corners of love, sex and relationships. And without question, Wang delivered her utter brilliance with always unleashing "the hook," a skill that reveals itself every time I hear her music, as I am able to detect yet another grabber that refuses to let go.
And if I have that opportunity to witness Anna Wang and her brethren in homegrown Wisconsin made yet world class songwriting, performance and electronic ingenuity, noting will stop me from cheering them onwards and upwards.
