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A Legendary Pink Dots show can be as much a voyage as a performance, oddly appropriate for a band whose 20+ years has taken them around the world too many times to count, through more music styles than most people ever hear and left them with more CDs than many bands have songs. Described as everything from psychedelic Goths to the perfect Twin Peaks lounge band, the Dots have a sound reminiscent of bands as diverse as Skinny Puppy and Tangerine Dreams, yet really like none other.
Front man Edward Ka-Spel's thick English accent provides the focus for this Netherlands-based band, mixing visions of romance, apocalypse and the spirit with intensity and style. His fellow Dots accompany him on everything from guitar to saxophone to violin to bass to flute to keyboards to barely identifiable wind and sting instruments.
Topping it off, however, is Frank Verschuuren's incredible sound effects wizardry. Sitting off to the side, but as much a part of the band as anyone standing center stage, Verschuuren takes the band's sounds and plays them as effectively as his mates play their instruments. At one point, Damien from The Changelings, a talented effects man in his own right, challenged me to determine which sounds were coming from which instruments. This task proved as daunting as guessing whether someone used a Talon or Tat-Kat machine for a tattoo.
This all results in an intoxicating amalgam of sound and fury that mesmerizes its audience from the start and then builds its intensity to a fevered pitch. The band works on this, with saxophonist Niels Van Hoorn practically attacking the crowd with his horn before wandering through the Cotton Club crowd, playing hypnotic melodies the whole time. The show ends with a chaotic symphony, as each Dot seems intent on outdoing the others with the force of their playing. The final product yanks the audience in and holds it spellbound as its energy builds to an explosive crescendo.
Along the way, they mixed songs from their immense catalog, such as "When I'm with You" from their A Perfect Mystery CD with more recent releases from All the King's Horses and All the King's Men.
The Norwegian-based band, Origami Galaktika, opened the evening with a more noise-oriented show, featuring some truly impressive musical collisions. Interesting in and of itself, Origami Galaktika seems an excellent accompaniment for a night of serious hallucinogen-assisted flights of fantasy.
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