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John Cale Ian Hunter & The
Rant Band
Timing is everything. I missed tickets to Cale’s two night look back at the Velvet Underground’s first album at Brooklyn Academy of Music. That left Saturday’s no less enticing belated birthday career celebration. Though not as mono-maniacally groundbreaking as his drone work with LaMonte Young’s Dream Syndicate or as seminal as his work with the Velvets, Cale’s careening solo career (never mind production credits) has allowed him the freedom to chase his unwieldy muse. As befits a celebration of such an auspicious milestone, Cale has ample opportunity to dip in and out of time while augmenting his bag of tricks with a full symphony and chorus. From the reworked selections on the pastoral Vintage Violence and Paris 1919, through the rocking Island years, to the claustrophobic Music for a New Society (and its forward looking trip hopped second coming as M:FAN), to the two new tunes Cale presents at BAM - the man refuses to rest on his laurels.
BAM is shot through with a low, icy blue light. The orchestra enter and sit stage right. Cale’s band is center stage. Later, the gospel chorus occupies back stage left. Cale sits at the keyboard and all follow the strings into a thickening drone in A minor. After four minutes (longer than the entire original version) Cale’s resonant, Gaelic-inflected tenor gives gothic voice to Nico’s sad-eyed "Frozen Warning" from 1968’s The Marble Index. Later, the choir backs up the chorus at the end of the wheezy, bowed bass squeal and samples behind Hedder Gabler. The sound is very good. The choir clear and the orchestral parts mostly distinct. Familiar songs are twisted up using the tools at hand. The beautiful, elegiac, what the hell is he talking about Hanky Panky Nohow is slowed down. The tempo, with the orchestra in mute observation, emphasize its melancholy. The bittersweet folk of "Amsterdam" from Vintage Violence is updated with a bossa beat and simple trumpet punctuations. The damn catchy "Ship of Fools" from Fear is taken up tempo with great use of the choir and orchestra especially the honking sousaphone and the trumpet on the repeated opening line riff.
Solo, Cale is an acquired taste. It’s obvious that he got most of his rock out during the prior two night’s performances of VU and Nico. This night is for every thing else. He’s in no hurry, and, at 10 minutes, a few songs push the limits of a slow bad trip on an asteroid lost in space. He saves his most rocking efforts of the night for the two new songs at the end of the set. "Pretty People" soars on the back of the choir’s insistent chorus of “Rise up, rise up”. The "Legal Status of Ice" brings up the kids - guests Kurt Vile, Animal Collective, and Connan Mockasin to rock the jam.
Ian Hunter and the Rant Band don’t go in for no fancy schmancy orchestras, choirs or newfangled beats. They dish out the blood and muscle hard rock that was always at the core of Mott the Hoople’s heart - even during their most platformed heel or marionette strewn days. Hunter and the Rant band lay out their hard rockin’ mission with the opening pre-dudes ripper from Brain Capers, The Moon Upstairs.
Tupelo Music Hall, in their relatively new digs in Derry, NH, sounds great. Plenty loud, ear plugs not required. Hunter and the band like the stage sound so much that they collectively applaud the monitor mixmeister. The lights were also solid. Tupelo has an eclectic mix of bookings. Definitely worth the hour drive if you see something you like.
The band hit the familiar high points; "Once Bitten, Twice Shy", "The Truth", "Just Another Night", and "All American Alien Boy". Hunter is another guy who has better options than cribbage at the local senior center as he moves between keyboard and guitar. He and the band have put out two disks in just over two years. He doesn’t shy away from them live. He hits four tunes from the new Finger’s Crossed including the Bowie tribute "Dandy" and the title cut. He also plays three songs from his prior effort - When I’m President. The winsome chords of "Fatally Flawed" with a hint of Dylan vocals and sneaky volume jump pull you right in. "When I’m President" wraps a swipe at politics and greed in a string of great lyrics - ”Maybe I'm Aladdin with a rusty lamp, the genie never stood a chance” - with a sweet guitar hook and gang chorus vocals.
The Mottified "Sweet Jane" pushes the last third of the show into high gear. Andy York keeps the solos short and melodic with just enough kick. James Mastro plays complimentary rhythm and slide throughout the night. He uses his moment in the spotlight to build his Bastard solo into a roaring slab of welcome noise."Memphis", "Dudes" and the easter egg of "Roll Away the Stone" give everyone a chance to follow the bouncing ball.
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