Originally posted at Feed Your Head on Friday, September 12, 2008:
I was glad that the Amoeba shows always get me home early because I knew that Thursday night was going to be a marathon. I wanted to see two shows and four bands. On September 11th Gangi and Lions of Panjshir were playing at Tangier amd The Flying Tourbillon Orchestra and Avi Buffalo were at that legit stage space, The Unknown Theatre, off Santa Monica Blvd…
I got to enjoy some time with Matt Gangi and Lyle Nesse before the show and share some thoughts as Lyle tinkered with their equipment. He explained how much of their sound is blended together on stage in front of us as opposed to just pushing an on and off switch, out of which comes a prearranged back up track.
And watching them onstage you realize how much work both of them have to do to create their sweeping soundscapes. Lyle becomes a whirling dervish of activity, practically dancing while seated. Matt, a figure of intense concentration, playing guitar, playing samples (headphones half on, half off), even drums and then singing with precision, the difficult melodies he composes for himself, creates an hypnotic atmosphere. I think these guys take what they’re doing very seriously.
They opened with “Ground”, my favorite, and continued with the song “Commonplace Feathers”, which they were recently in New York to shoot a video for, and “Animals” among others. Watching the audience reaction and seeing that phenomenon I’ve witnessed a few times, where the audience rushes the stage after the set to grab the band’s CD’s, I could see that this band is on to something. They’re about to leave on their first cross-country tour which I feel sure will bring them legions of new fans.