Patton&Fennesz, Rolodex - Freaks without leashes
This would be my second time that I would witness the duo of Mike Patton and Christian Fennesz perform live together. Although the last time was not too impressive to me (compared to other projects I’ve seen Patton perform), I was still curious about this show, because I don’t believe they perform the same thing twice. Lets see what these two high class musicians had to offer us.
Three happy hopping dudes on clubby electro, that’s what opening act Rolodex was. Rolodex consisted of a DJ, bass player and the third guy found a bin which he surprisingly used as drums. The music was more of a level on which a packed venue should bounce until the morning, but there just come wouldn’t come any movement in the audience and that’s not strange since it just didn’t match the vibe of the evening. It was good to see that these guys were having fun and living it out on and off stage, but their set seemed to last forever. Rolodex was not remarkable enough and was a mismatch as an opening for Mike Patton and Fennesz. (Sledgehammer Messiah)
After a short wait, the two freaks entered the stage and started a set of experimental electronic and vocal noise. The idea for this evening was somewhat that Fennesz created the bottom layers of the tracks (meaning low-tuned, space beats and noises almost without rhythm, at least so it seemed), while Patton created the upper layers using electronics on very high and very low frequencies, and of course abusing his voice with three different microphones and a shitload of electronic effects. Their set lingered somewhere between the vaguest techno ever and just plain experimental noise. Compared to the previous time I saw them, this was way freakier, and therefore a lot better of course. I guess the more they perform together, the better and weirder the “tracks” become. In the end I was very happy I decided to go and see this show, because it provided another unique, boundary-expanding evening in experimental music. (DemonDust)