scene but not herd

Just getting home from destroying my hearing at the Detroit Bar. Driving home I'm listening to Rodney on the ROQ and he plays a song by a band called the Delays. I kind of liked it. I'll have to find out a little more about them. The term "drone" is usually used as a negative as in, "He kept droning on and on to me about his insipid life." Midnight Movies drone, but in no way did I find it a negative. I have been wanting to see them and I got a chance because they opened for Stereolab at the Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa. Three piece with a drummer who sings like Nico. Two guys playing guitars, keyboards, and bass. I don't know why, but some songs had me thinking of John Carpenter's film scores for ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 and HALLOWEEN. Next up were the kings of drone, Stereolab. I love music to death, but I'm pretty jaded about it quite a bit as well. To this day I'm never jaded by Stereolab. I've seen them at least ten or fifteen times and I keep coming back. They are always finding new sounds on their albums to keep me interested. I can always expect interesting merchandising options from them as well. I'm the proud owner of a Stereolab beach towel and tonight the usual tour 7-inch single took on a new twist. I hope I can find an adapter to play the new tour 3-inch CD. The band took the stage and there were two or three members that were new to me. The biggest shock was not seeing Mary, who died in an accident last year if I'm not mistaken. No mention was made of her which was a little surprising, but I shall pass no judgement here. I couldn't help but think about Mary's vocals throughout the show and the fact that I would not be hearing them again. It was still a great show with an emphasis on songs from the new album as well as other more recent albums. I do recall that they played "Stomach Worm" from the first album towards the end of the evening. Along with the new members of the band came some new facets to the live show. There was quite a bit of use of a variety of brass instruments and there was also the occasional song which featured dual drummers. It was as if Stereolab had suddenly turned into the Butthole Surfers or the Dirtbombs. Those songs, needless to say, were very powerful. I plan on seeing them later in their tour when they return to southern CA and I will look forward to seeing how their set may have changed from tonight.