You. Go see. Now.

[allynh@calder.berkeley.edu (Allyn Hardyck)]

MANTRAMANTRAMANTRAMANTRAMANTRAMANTRAMANTRAMANTRAMANTRAMANTRA
MANTRAMANTRAMANTRAMANTRAMANTRAMANTRAMANTRAMANTRAMANTRAMANTRA
MANTRAMANTRAMANTRAMANTRAMANTRAMANTRAMANTRAMANTRAMANTRAMANTRA
MANTRAMANTRAMANTRAMANTRAMANTRAMANTRAMANTRAMANTRAMANTRAMANTRA

KuKuKu @ On Broadway, SF, Sat Apr 12

Here is what you are to do.

YOU are to get MONEY together so that the band in question (KuKuKu),
hereafter referred to as GODS, will be able to travel beyond the
Bay Area and BLOW YOU AWAY.

These people played our last wine dinner - unfortunately I was unable
to see much of them.  Boy I saw my mistake this night.
A few of the members had come by the building to distibute 1/2 off tickets
($2 - the best concert deal I think I've ever had), so a large contingency
of us went off.  The On Broadway is right above the Mabuhay Gardens, where
the Swans happened to be playing that night.  Kinda wanted to see that
too, but in-out privileges have been stripped all along Broadway as I
think I've mentioned before.  Besides it was 8 bucks, and anyway we heard
nearly everything vibrating through the floor (a few latecomers to 
our show said we weren't missing much, just a continous WANG WANG WANG
of built-up feedback - no "Time Is Money").

Description?  How bout something cutesy and hyphened, like psycho-folk-funk...
As usual, that doesn't begin to describe them.  Instruments?  One guy
on standard drum kit; another percussionist (female, one of those selling
us tickets) on congas, triangle, woodblocks, windchimes; saxophonist;
bassist, occasionally switching to acoustic 12-string; keyboardist (one
synth, apparently she's a church organist off-hours - I hope she takes
out the red and black strips of cloth in her hair for that); a cellist;
an older guy playing, alternately, violin, trumpet, and African talking
drum (curved stick etc.); and the vocalist, MANTRA.  Oh, and a slide
show going on on about three different screens (including some blobby
60sish stuff, but mostly a variety of intersting shots permeated with
mythos).

The keyboardist smiles gently, the violinist scratches, singing occasionally,
the bassist lays down sweet patterns, the congaist pounds (oh she uses
one of those hand held circular drum things too - a trend?) the cellist
plays in marvelous counterpoint (we must have a few music grads here)...
and MANTRA.  Well, sensual would describe her, yes, but then you're
all probably thinking Madonnaish, like.  No, this is the audience feeling
one with the band (and hell, the band was totally mingling with the
audience before the show), and what with the unfortunately very low
turnout (probably due to the no-shows of the opening bands, Wages of Sin,
and what was described as "Flipper's new band") there was plenty of
space to just go WILD dancing and thrashing and watching the cellist
rub his bow up and down her body.  "How many
people here tonight from Barrington Hall?"  she said, and of course 1/2
the audience erupted.  As the asthmatic coughs started wracking my body, they
came out for their encore, starting as an instrumental (Mantra was still
in the audience, dancing about), then some vocals (did I mention what a
POWERFUL singer she is?  No flimsy falsettoist here...)  then as the
song did an abrupt speedup, she leapt onto the floor, got 2 people together
in a dancing ring, which broke to add more and more and more people,
until we were a ring of 20 spinning furiously around, contorting to avoid
those not in the ring and building up massive torque, sweat, sweat,
exhaustion.  Love.

I told her afterwards that I'd be mentioning the band to youse, if you
care.  I'll try to get numbers, tapes, etc.  So many people want them
for the last wine dinner of the year even though we've had them
already, and I mean people who would not be into this stuff at all
if it weren't immediately available to them.

For those in the Bay Area:  they play again May 8 at the Stone.

allyn