Live

Rip It Up, Issue 99, 1 October 1985, Page 34

Live

Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers Six Month Club, Oct 1 & 2 As often seems to happen, considerably more people turned up to see Jonathan Richman in Auckland alone than have bought his recent records Indeed, it seemed there were a few people who turned up and got down not because they liked Jonathan's music, but because he’s semilegendary ... On both nights, the announced "support bands" played after the Modern Lovers, because they were gonna be too damn loud to go beforehand. The Heptocrats stepped

in and filled the time beforehand admirably, making an entertainment out of simply playing their instruments.

Then along came JR and his persona ... those bulging, imploring eyes, the childlike pout... Unfortunately. if you happened to be at the back of the Six Month Club, you didn't see those cutesy features. In fact, you pretty much missed the gig altogether, because the Modern Lovers play at a volume that simply doesn't carry in a venue like this one with this many people in it.

The music was a stripped-down version of the style of the Modern Lovers' utterly charming last album, Jonathan Sings!, with two guitars, a small drumkit and vocals. All the people who bellowed out for 'Roadrunner' were never going to get it, as instead Jona-

than sang songs about chewing gum wrappers, jeans that didn't fit round the the bum and UFO men. Sometimes it seemed a little too

nice. And a couple of times it seemed bland. The first night saw the band leave the stage for a time after a

scuffle at the front and on both nights the whole performance was fragile Jon-Jon’s a health freak and he doesn't like drunk people, and where a loud band might have swept aside minor crowd disturbances, every obnoxious inebriate seemed likely to tip him off his perch. But when Jonathan told the crowd they were going off while someone “gets rid of the drunks”, he should also have recognised the role that alcohol played in the positive crowd reaction. Because to make the most of this performance you had to kind of suspend judgement and selfconsciousness and play along with it a 11... sing, clap... and that’s where the warmth came through. Jonathan Richman has a beautiful, broad, natural singing voice and he led the crowd through his world, if they wanted to shut up and come along. Personal favourite amidst it all was the version of the last LP’s That Summer Feeling; which took the doo-wop feel of the recorded version and brought it around to something from the third Velvet Underground record.

But, yes, he is weird. The cleaned-up Lou Reedisms, his wholesome concept of rock 'n' roll, his determined naievte. But that, apparently, is Genuinely Jonathan and you can't really ask other than that. The second night in particular left me feeling warm inside and, in the right venue, I suspect

Jonathan and the Modern Lovers could be some kinda wonderful. Russell Brown The Rainer Bruninghaus Trio Maidment Theatre, Oct 8 Two hours of percussion heaven. Indian born Trilok Gurtu knelt stage centre on a mat surrounded by an extraordinary array of things to hit, shake, stroke and even, at one point, lower into a bucket of water. The rhythms produced by his two hands often rivalled anything two dextrous drummer could achieve in unison using all their limbs. Seated behind his traditional tabla Gurtu seemed able to engage at least six different fingers playing in syncopated independence. His ultrasupple, free-flowing, propulsive polyrhythms could evoke anything from melodies to funk. They provided a rich cushion for the keyboards of Rainer Bruninghaus and Hugo Read’s sax. Bruninghaus, last here in 1981 with Eberhard Weber’s Colours, composes music which he describes as a mixture of "modern American minimalism, Asian meditation and contemporary European jazz.” It is also immediately accessible. His pieces often involve a repeated melodic and rhythmic pattern on piano or synth as a structural basis for improvisation by himself and Read. This in turn raged from the gently contemplative to roaring intensity. Par-

ticularly exhilirating were the occasions when the music built to furious intensity "outside" conventional harmonic bounds. Read usually stayed on soprano

sax which he plays with a clean, almost identifiably European tone. His lyricism was sometimes a little constrained by the intensity of the keyboards but, as the encore alone could prove, he is a superb. Brumnghaus is a thoroughly assured pianist, at times even willing to forsake the keys for direct employment of the strings. His use of synth and (very sparingly thank god) drum machine were equally

tasteful but nonetheless robust. Very rarely did his soloing become self-indulgent or florid. ■ The only serious question about this extraordinarily talented group was concerning its absence of a bass player. To a very large extent the strong rhythms and Gurtu's percussive carpet precluded any. obvious lack. Yet those who have heard Eberhard Weber's contribution to the piece Bali' (on record or at the 1981 concert) knows how much a bassist of his quality can enhance Bruninghaus's music. ■ But let's not complain about what we didn't get. As anyone who attended the sold-out concert will testify, this was one of the year's musical highlights. The Goethe Society and QEII Arts Council are to be applauded for securing such a rare treat. May they feel encouraged to repeat the exercise soon. Peter Thomson