The Residents at the Regent Theater in LA, Wednesday Sept 15, 2021 by guest blogger Rob Bell

 

            On September 15, 2021 the wife and I made the trek to see experimental band The Residents in L.A. for the first time.  Established in 1972, the band is difficult to classify…avant-garde, experimental, sometimes focusing on sonic landscapes instead of any semblance of structured songs.  They play in anonymity, masked and silent, focusing on the music or story of the compositions.  Residents albums are thematic, focusing on a story/binding narrative and their performance feels like theater.  Tonight was no different, but also completely different.

            First off, I would like to say The Regent in L.A. did a fantastic job of making us feel comfortable and in a safe, intimate environment for our first real concert experience since the pandemic started.  Full vaccination required and attendees masked did nothing to take away from the enjoyment of the seated show, and put us at ease to really enjoy the evening.

            Because of the pandemic, the first 19 shows on the tour were cancelled, making The Regent the first official stop on the 2021-2022 for Dog Stab (the 50^th anniversary tour).  This collection of shows is culled from 3 albums, Duck Stab, Third Reich and Roll and the newest Metal, Meat and Bone (The Songs of Alvin Snow).  Their new album continues their penchant for storytelling…supposedly an old albino blues artist, Alvin Snow (AKA Dyin’ Dog) was friends with Roland Sheehan (a member of the Residents) in the mid-seventies.  After the death of Howlin’ Wolf, he disappeared.  In 2008, The Residents ‘discovered’ his demos, and released their own interpretations of them.  It’s essentially a ‘cover album’ of their own compositions, and a damn good one at that!  The cd also includes the original ‘demos’, showing their dedication and commitment to the storytelling.

            The show started at 8p (no opening act), with four members, masked in wolf heads (with glowing eyes) and suits hitting the stage.  Guitar, keys, drums and vocals accompany the songs, which were very structured (in a good way).  This was the Residents playing their version of the blues…some dream-like and droning and others extremely reminiscent of Tom Waits/ Brennan collaborations.  The first set (one hour) consisted of the majority of ‘Metal, Meat and Bone’, interspersed with dialogue from the projected head of Alvin Snow, talking about his upbringing, bad luck with women, and finding religion in the songs of Howlin’ Wolf.  Movement was minimal, and the band never spoke, giving the whole presentation the feel of a cult theater, engrossing and enveloping.

            After a short intermission, the band came back with a costume change (eyeball suits and matching face masks), and played the entirety of Duck Stab (out of order)!  My first and favorite Residents album, this one is electronic with modulated voices and strings, not entirely unlike early Devo compositions.  Sinister and uneasy, this album came out in 1978, influencing many, with ‘covers’ of these tracks shaping other bands most beloved songs (including Flipper’s ‘Ha-Ha-Ha’ and They Might Be Giant’s ‘Istanbul’).  The accompanying videos consisted of versions of the residents throughout the years, including the iconic eyeball with top hat look from the ‘Eskimo’ album.  After a throbbing Constatinople and stage exit, the audience brought them out once more for an encore consisting of tracks from Third Reich n’ Roll, a deconstructing of top 40 rock and roll songs from the 60’s, including Land of 1000 Dances, Hanky-Panky and The Letter.  I’ve always dug the Residents, perhaps more for their willingness to experiment and break norms than for their actual output, but two hours later and I’m a convert.  Please see them…50 years on, they are still a force against nature.  Mucho thanks to Dani Bell for the pictures and Rich Coffee for the platform!

Setlist:

SET 1 (all culled from the album ‘Metal, Meat and Bone’)

1.     Dyin’ Dog Intro         

2.     I Know

3.     She Called Me Doggy

4.     The Dogs Dream

5.     Dyin’ Dog interlude 1

6.     Cut To The Quick

7.     Dead Weight

8.     Dyin’ Dog interlude 2

9.     Bury My Bone

10.  River Runs Dry

11.  Dyin’ Dog interlude 3

12.  Cold as a Corpse

13.  Blood Stains

14.  Hungry Hound

15.  Dyin’ Dog interlude 4

16.  Die!  Die!  Die!

 

SET 2 (the entirety of the album ‘Duck Stab!’)

1.     The Booker Tease

2.     Blue Rosebuds

3.     Lizard Lady

4.     Laughing Song

5.     Bach is Dead

6.     Sinister Exaggerator

7.     Weight-Lifting Lulu

8.     Krafty Cheese

9.     Elvis and His Boss

10.  Birthday Boy

11.  Semolina

12.  Hello Skinny

13.  The Electrocutioner

14.  Constatinople

 

ENCORE (from the album ‘’Third Reich n’ Roll’)

1.     Swastikas on Parade

2.     Hitler Was a Vegetarian

3.     The Letter

 

Rob Bell 9/18/2021