MrFizzyCola
06-18-2005, 07:22 PM
Hey all,
Just thought i'd post my review of the Virgil Donati Band at the Mercury Lounge, that I did for the magazine I write for (Inpress) here in Melbourne.
Enjoy!
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THE VIRGIL DONATI BAND The Mercury Lounge
A chain of fateful events left me standing right at the front of the stage, literally able to touch the mind-blowing drum kit of the supreme overlord of drums himself, Mr Virgil Donati: complete with three hi-hats, double-kick and hanging sky-toms! I filled in some time, laughing to myself, gazing at the ridiculous notation on the bass music sheets and spent a further 20 minutes OMGing at the set list waiting on the floor.
And so, after an hour of frightening pre-show music, Virg and the team (Tony MacAlpine on guitar, Rufus Philpot on bass guitar and Steve Weingart on keys) emerged and shot straight into The User. It was what everyone had been waiting for: a polymetric punch in the face of Virgil’s extreme power. Straight away, you could tell that the technical skill and overall tightness of the entire band was at an ungodly level; the rest of the band had no trouble keeping up with Virg. Although, with the amount of odd-times, metric modulation, whacked out polymeters and ridiculous figures, most of the audience were struggling to keep up. So I rocked out to the lowest common denominator, watching fans tumble in the tempest of numbers and rhythms.
After Empire, Virg took the mic and gave a warm welcome: as it was the last night of the tour, the band promised a little extra, and boy did they deliver. The next song began with the low pulsing intro to Pyramids on Mars, an old favourite from the OTV album. This was indeed a highlight of the band’s ambiguous volatility. What you thought was the backbeat was actually a cycling 7:4! Rufus took the limelight for an extreme bass solo, as did Steve on keys and Tony on guitar, and this followed again in every song. But who’s complaining! It wouldn’t have been The Virgil Donati Band if they didn’t take a solo every song.
After Proto was Primal: a very Tribal Tech-esque groove, with Steve’s Latin taste seeping through intermittently in solos; Virg fanged a brilliant solo to finish. As Khymera neared the end, so began the epic drum solo, in true melt-your-face-and-your-brain Virgil Donati style. It was an incomprehensible experience watching the benchmark setter for drumming extremes ripping an extreme solo right in front of me (and by extreme I mean inhuman), and so I was left perplexed at the end of the first set.
The second set kicked off with a rad trade-off battle between Tony and Steve in Dawn of Time, with an even crazier solo each turn; Tony’s nutty classical training shone through in his Jason Becker-esque shredding. The band then ripped through Mind Over, with an awesomely in-your-face unison riff between the bass and drums. “Now it’s time for the ballad!” Everyone had a good laugh as Virg introduced Iceland: spacey and laid back, moving to the heaviest riff of the night – very chunky. Next was possibly the jewel of the gig: Nothing Personal - a lightning fast Jazz/Fusion extremity, with the most ridiculous figures known to man: complete with trades from everyone; the true epitome of Fusion. The night finished with an extended version of Alien Hip-Hop (another favourite from the OTV album), with a mighty cheer from the crowd as the opening riff started. After their Herculean performance, the band walked off and left the crowd screaming, chanting and cheering for more; we were graced with a single encore, finishing with high-fives a plenty from the band, and ringing ears for the next week.
Atticus Bastow
Just thought i'd post my review of the Virgil Donati Band at the Mercury Lounge, that I did for the magazine I write for (Inpress) here in Melbourne.
Enjoy!
---
THE VIRGIL DONATI BAND The Mercury Lounge
A chain of fateful events left me standing right at the front of the stage, literally able to touch the mind-blowing drum kit of the supreme overlord of drums himself, Mr Virgil Donati: complete with three hi-hats, double-kick and hanging sky-toms! I filled in some time, laughing to myself, gazing at the ridiculous notation on the bass music sheets and spent a further 20 minutes OMGing at the set list waiting on the floor.
And so, after an hour of frightening pre-show music, Virg and the team (Tony MacAlpine on guitar, Rufus Philpot on bass guitar and Steve Weingart on keys) emerged and shot straight into The User. It was what everyone had been waiting for: a polymetric punch in the face of Virgil’s extreme power. Straight away, you could tell that the technical skill and overall tightness of the entire band was at an ungodly level; the rest of the band had no trouble keeping up with Virg. Although, with the amount of odd-times, metric modulation, whacked out polymeters and ridiculous figures, most of the audience were struggling to keep up. So I rocked out to the lowest common denominator, watching fans tumble in the tempest of numbers and rhythms.
After Empire, Virg took the mic and gave a warm welcome: as it was the last night of the tour, the band promised a little extra, and boy did they deliver. The next song began with the low pulsing intro to Pyramids on Mars, an old favourite from the OTV album. This was indeed a highlight of the band’s ambiguous volatility. What you thought was the backbeat was actually a cycling 7:4! Rufus took the limelight for an extreme bass solo, as did Steve on keys and Tony on guitar, and this followed again in every song. But who’s complaining! It wouldn’t have been The Virgil Donati Band if they didn’t take a solo every song.
After Proto was Primal: a very Tribal Tech-esque groove, with Steve’s Latin taste seeping through intermittently in solos; Virg fanged a brilliant solo to finish. As Khymera neared the end, so began the epic drum solo, in true melt-your-face-and-your-brain Virgil Donati style. It was an incomprehensible experience watching the benchmark setter for drumming extremes ripping an extreme solo right in front of me (and by extreme I mean inhuman), and so I was left perplexed at the end of the first set.
The second set kicked off with a rad trade-off battle between Tony and Steve in Dawn of Time, with an even crazier solo each turn; Tony’s nutty classical training shone through in his Jason Becker-esque shredding. The band then ripped through Mind Over, with an awesomely in-your-face unison riff between the bass and drums. “Now it’s time for the ballad!” Everyone had a good laugh as Virg introduced Iceland: spacey and laid back, moving to the heaviest riff of the night – very chunky. Next was possibly the jewel of the gig: Nothing Personal - a lightning fast Jazz/Fusion extremity, with the most ridiculous figures known to man: complete with trades from everyone; the true epitome of Fusion. The night finished with an extended version of Alien Hip-Hop (another favourite from the OTV album), with a mighty cheer from the crowd as the opening riff started. After their Herculean performance, the band walked off and left the crowd screaming, chanting and cheering for more; we were graced with a single encore, finishing with high-fives a plenty from the band, and ringing ears for the next week.
Atticus Bastow