NIK: LA Show

[Chuck Rosenberg]

Hey. Well, here's a quick review from me, for whoever is interested. First I
met Doug Pearson at his friend's place in LA. We got to the venue too late to
catch Subarachnoid Space. Met Dan Ductor in the pool-room. I was already
pretty buzzed when he came up to me later and said "Hey, Chuck, this is Len".
I thought he said "Lynn" and just sort of sat there staring like an idiot.
Then I noticed the beard/mustache, put two and two together (or whatever) and
realized it was Len Del Rio. Then I stood up, shook his hand and tried not to
embarrass him w/adulation. But I finally got to tell him personally how much
I liked his Zero Gravity album, the last Anubian Lights album, etc. He talked
mostly about how he didn't like Cleopatra and intended to move on,
label-wise. Very nice guy.
Then 5:15 came on. Keith Henderson made me a CD-R of various bands recently,
one of which was the song they kicked off their set with--"Starship Dark
Sun". The hookey riff caught my attention when I first heard it. The next
time I heard it, it struck me as being kinda poppy for space-rock. The night
before the concert, I glanced over an old issue of Aural Innovations and its
5:15 interview, which perplexed me even more. By the time of the concert, I
seriously had my doubts; Doug's friend Doug kept turning to me, saying
"Spinal Tap". Exactly. Finnish pop-psyche style. Nik came out during the last
couple tunes to play sax. Oh well... I came hoping to see Nik's Space Ritual
and that's finally what we got. At the end of the set, Grenas gave me the
play-list, so here it is:

Ghost Dance
Master of the Universe
Watching the Grass Grow
D-Rider
Sonic Attack
Ejection
Soul Herder
Opa-Loka 2000
St. Anthony's Fire (Farflung tune, I assume from a recent album)
Utopia
Brainstorm
Encore: Do That (which was never done)

I guess by the time they finished BS, it was 2am, so they had to split
despite the nice reception from the tiny crowd.
Excellent. I can't think of anything else to say--if you've seen 'em or heard
the albums, that's what went down--no surprises. The sound/acoustics were
perfect. I just wonder who the other musicians were, other than Nik, Len and
Grenas (I didn't recognize the other guys, and Nik never announced the band
members).
Dan Ductor video-taped the gig, and I'm curious to see/heard how that turns
out, however at the same time kind of dread watching my-self bouncing around
w/hands in the air like an ass at front-center (the stage wasn't much
elevated from the floor). Maybe Dan managed to truncate me.

Maybe Doug or Dan can offer some more technical observations (I was pretty
blitzed, too, so maybe they could offer more accute observations in general).

Anyway--It was great to meet you guys. Can't wait 'till next time. Anubian
Lights apparently gig there pretty regularly, so maybe Dan and I (and any
other SoCalers lurking out there) can get together more often.

Chuck