impromptu show

yesterday afternoon i received a cryptic voice mail from a friend who was, "coming to chicago for a great concert." no date, no time, no mention of the band. curious.

and indeed, later that day, after arriving at metro for an 8pm show with the lovely band cornelius, the whole experience was curious. there are few people who could convince me to pay $18 to see a band i've never listened to before, but this friend comes with particularly good taste in music. this is how i was whisked off my feet and into the world of wonder created by four, forty-something japanese music machines. they played for over an hour and a half, and, as promised by their intro, it was a sensuous synchronized show. i guess it's just because they're that good that they synced every songs with the ever-present videos playing behind them. i only experienced one time when it was a bit off and it wasn't for more than a few seconds. who knows, i could've been off. their videos, like their music, have an incredible range of style and substance. one second it looks like old-school claymation, the next it's super-sleek primary colors. not like any rock n' roll show, i've ever seen. more like a very long, very good performance piece that doesn't reek of pretension and piss. plus, i learned about and watched this instrument be played. look, ma. no hands!

lesson learned? once again, it's okay to interrupt the locally programmed schedule to do something i am unsure of. this impromptu show (the going to, not the show. i'm sure metro had planned on the show for quite sometime.) was well worth it.

and all the people said, amen.