Eugene Chadbourne, banjo, guitar, vocals ; Roger Turner, percussion ; 2nd set: joined by Andy Champion on bass ukulele. Imagine Ginsberg, sitting centre stage, pulling a both pleased and sneering gurning hybrid, as Captain Beefheart is pushed on in a wheelchair by Tom Waits - easier said than done! Imagine Ben from *zoviet:france* digging the country feel as Dr Chad picks his banjo with epileptic animation, occasionally combing its hair line strings to untidy setting - 'Twang!' - easier said than done. Imagine lurchers stop chasing hares in Mickley, as Roger Turner scrapes his skins with various hand cymbals and the internals from the original radar capacitor - easier said than done. Imagine 8 Chinese gongs balanced on bamboo canes as Eugene and Roger tirelessly spin our senses out from under our comfort blankets - easier said than done! Imagine your visiting aunt insists you sing her a song as you pull that face again, "I fall asleep watching a swan on a canal..." she sweetly floats away but you slyly prick her perfumed bubble with, ".... easier said than done!"
We are treated to Dr Chad's esoteric poetry in songs set to this fantastical accompaniment. Everything he sings appearing like a hologram above his head as we breath in the newly decorated solvent vapours of Upstairs at The Bridge. Look, now it's an old piano that nobody knows how to play, the strings are turning rusty and the keys are turning grey. He'd rather be a mole in the ground - easier said than done ; the repetition and the hesitated timing hold us like children in his clown's spell as we ask ourselves, "Who knows the thoughts of Mary Jane?"
This is unabashed progressive music cabaret ; the banjo that Dr Chad certainly knows how to play and, as we wait for AC to animate the Uke of Northumberland, who sits on a stool, we look in wonder at Eugene's single resonator guitar. This plays us into the 2nd set with added bass ukulele (thanks to Tom Johnson and Ray Cowell) providing some of Andy's favourite low notes to the best rendering of The Byrds, So You wanna be a Rock n Roll Star? I ever did hear - Cream meets Led Zep in a Berlin bar - FIGHT!
I knew it was my lucky day: Dave Clarke let my great nephew George in for a fiver as Russell beamed, "You're gonna love this!" and I won a CD in the raffle - 306 to 310 for number anoraks!
If you missed this gig and want the music cabaret experience of a lifetime - visit The House of Chadula through Eugene's web site for a good choice of UK gigs before he floats back to the US. Last appearance in Cardiff on 30th.
Visit http://www.eugenechadbourne.com/eugenechadbourne/default.htm and spot the 11 actions - easier said than done!
Photos.
George M
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