Sometimes things turn out right. The band Pere Ubu was playing at Prospect Park Thursday night and I wanted to see them. If you haven't heard of them they are a semi-obscure, but very influential art-punk band from Cleveland that has existed in various mutations off and on for thirty years. The one constant has been their founder David Thomas. One way to think of their influence is Pere Ubu is to the Pixies as the Pixies are to any number of current bands.
But I was not having a good afternoon. I was dead tired. There was a horrendous traffic jam getting to the bridge. I stopped in a deli to get the smoked turkey and brie sandwich advertised on their specials board only to be told "we don't have any brie". I guess that's what made it special. I got home, ate half the curry chicken sandwich bought at another deli and fell asleep on the couch for 15 minutes. I was not in the mood to go to Brooklyn, but decided to check the schedule to see when the show started.
What do I see? A picture of Ray Milland in X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes, a classic Roger Corman film that I haven't seen in years. Pere Ubu will be playing along with the movie. Hmmm, a band from Cleveland whose music often has science fiction overtones playing along with a sci-fi classic? Having lived in Ohio and being a fan of old horror movies, I suspect this can only mean good things are about to happen.
Minutes later I'm on the 3 train to Grand Army Plaza.
I get to the bandshell just as the opening act finishes. I find a semi-decent seat. After the huge screen is set up David Thomas comes out and introduces the band because "after an hour-and-a-half movie I'll have to leave to take a pee." He pauses and says "This is dedicated to 'Ghoulardi' Ernie Anderson." and mentions something about Anderson's son.
My suspicions are correct! Back in the sixties Anderson played an anarchic horror movie host named Ghoulardi on WJW TV in Cleveland (great Fangoria magazine profile of Ghoulardi written by Michael Weldon, another Cleveland native and publisher of Psychotronic Video). Ghoulardi would interject himself into the movie, blow things up with firecrackers, and played records over the movie. The band was going to play the role of what must have been one of their childhood heroes.
They played off the movie almost perfectly. They played over the movie, under the movie, sound clips from other movies ("Calling Dr. Howard. Calling Dr. Fine."), and interjected new dialogue into scenes. It wasn't the concert I was expecting. It was something rarer and more than this sleepy guy could have hoped for.
Comments