01-26-2020, 01:01 AM
(This post was last modified: 01-31-2020, 03:31 PM by Drunk Monk.)
Laurie Anderson: Quanjing Jieyao Pian w/Mike Patton 1/25/2020 SF Jazz
Laurie is resident director for 4 shows at SF Jazz again. This was show #3. Quanjing Jieyao Pian is one of the most important treatises of Chinese martial arts. Written in the 16th century, it was the first survey of martial arts as we know it. Previous martial arts works, like Sunzi, are about battlefield tactics. This is about individual combat, 32 7 line poems of strategies and schools of martial arts at the time. It's an incredibly pivotal text.
I reached out to Laurie about it before the holidays but got no response. On a second attempt, she handed me off to her agent who set me up with a comp +1. Stacy came. We were excited going up the coast, watching a huge surf break on the shores all the way up and enjoying the brilliant fields of yellow sourgrass blooms. We planned on lunch at House of Nanking - it was Chinese New Year after all.
Our plans were foiled by the Women's parade that put us in gridlock as soon as we got off the highway. What a nightmare. We struggled for nearly an hour to get out from 7th st exit to mission and 9th, and find a parking spot (this was a struggle too because the meter was broken) and settled for Ananda Fuara. Then we headed to the Asian Art but it was just about to close so we just got passes to the gift store, then reparked the car in a better spot.
After a perfect oat milk espresso at Blue Bottle, we got pizza at Paxti's, and headed over to the show. It was sold out. Our comps were in the back row.
The first two pieces were cacaphonic - Laurie on violin and keys like usual, Mike making mouth clicks and yelling, also on synth and distortion, and some dude on standing bass who's name I didn't catch.
HERE'S WHERE DOOM CAN HELP. Who the fuck is Mike Patton? I know - Faith No More, Mr. Bungle - I know those bands by name but didn't follow them. Anyone here a fan? Mike was really obnoxious through the whole performance. He was yelling randomly and playing shrieking distortion that sounded like amplified dentist drill. Man, it got me dreaming of being famous enough that I can just yell on stage and people would applaud. I have to write this up for KFTC and I want to say something nice beyond his wiki info. Can any of you help me here?
Laurie talked about finishing Lou Reed's Tai Chi book (I was among 70+ people she interviewed for this), about Lou's practice and her vipassana retreat (I've heard a version of this tale before). There was reciting of some of the translated versions of Quanjing. It worked for me in portions, but then Mike would make some horrifically annoying noise and it would pull me right out. In the end, they played to this 1948 B&W film of some Chinese dude doing Tai Chi and Hung Gar which was captivating, an artsy piece of vintage footage I've never seen before. I will follow up on that to find out more.
The ride home was brutal. Tule fog all the way from Pacifica to Davenport. I had my wipers on full blast from the condensation, not rain. Visibility was horrid. Who the fuck drives with high beams in the fog? People going NB on hwy1 on CNY at night. Fuck man, that's why cars have fog lights.
So it was an exhausting outing for a show that I'll have to really work at to get a good page long news piece. They say what you do on CNY sets the tone for the year. I had a good solid Kung Fu session this morning. But then I sat in traffic for a long time, went to a disappointing show, and had a harsh drive home. Good thing I'm not superstitious. At least I ate well.
Laurie is resident director for 4 shows at SF Jazz again. This was show #3. Quanjing Jieyao Pian is one of the most important treatises of Chinese martial arts. Written in the 16th century, it was the first survey of martial arts as we know it. Previous martial arts works, like Sunzi, are about battlefield tactics. This is about individual combat, 32 7 line poems of strategies and schools of martial arts at the time. It's an incredibly pivotal text.
I reached out to Laurie about it before the holidays but got no response. On a second attempt, she handed me off to her agent who set me up with a comp +1. Stacy came. We were excited going up the coast, watching a huge surf break on the shores all the way up and enjoying the brilliant fields of yellow sourgrass blooms. We planned on lunch at House of Nanking - it was Chinese New Year after all.
Our plans were foiled by the Women's parade that put us in gridlock as soon as we got off the highway. What a nightmare. We struggled for nearly an hour to get out from 7th st exit to mission and 9th, and find a parking spot (this was a struggle too because the meter was broken) and settled for Ananda Fuara. Then we headed to the Asian Art but it was just about to close so we just got passes to the gift store, then reparked the car in a better spot.
After a perfect oat milk espresso at Blue Bottle, we got pizza at Paxti's, and headed over to the show. It was sold out. Our comps were in the back row.
The first two pieces were cacaphonic - Laurie on violin and keys like usual, Mike making mouth clicks and yelling, also on synth and distortion, and some dude on standing bass who's name I didn't catch.
HERE'S WHERE DOOM CAN HELP. Who the fuck is Mike Patton? I know - Faith No More, Mr. Bungle - I know those bands by name but didn't follow them. Anyone here a fan? Mike was really obnoxious through the whole performance. He was yelling randomly and playing shrieking distortion that sounded like amplified dentist drill. Man, it got me dreaming of being famous enough that I can just yell on stage and people would applaud. I have to write this up for KFTC and I want to say something nice beyond his wiki info. Can any of you help me here?
Laurie talked about finishing Lou Reed's Tai Chi book (I was among 70+ people she interviewed for this), about Lou's practice and her vipassana retreat (I've heard a version of this tale before). There was reciting of some of the translated versions of Quanjing. It worked for me in portions, but then Mike would make some horrifically annoying noise and it would pull me right out. In the end, they played to this 1948 B&W film of some Chinese dude doing Tai Chi and Hung Gar which was captivating, an artsy piece of vintage footage I've never seen before. I will follow up on that to find out more.
The ride home was brutal. Tule fog all the way from Pacifica to Davenport. I had my wipers on full blast from the condensation, not rain. Visibility was horrid. Who the fuck drives with high beams in the fog? People going NB on hwy1 on CNY at night. Fuck man, that's why cars have fog lights.
So it was an exhausting outing for a show that I'll have to really work at to get a good page long news piece. They say what you do on CNY sets the tone for the year. I had a good solid Kung Fu session this morning. But then I sat in traffic for a long time, went to a disappointing show, and had a harsh drive home. Good thing I'm not superstitious. At least I ate well.
Shadow boxing the apocalypse