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Corndogorama
The Earl
June 2005
For some reason this episode is full of "reminded of" and "sounded like."
Sounds like I need to take better notes at these long festivals... Anyhow, grab
a corndog and a beer and settle in for the ride!
| I hit Corndogorama on Thursday night for the pre-event event, Babycorn,
featuring a couple of bands, movie shorts and burlesque. I arrived just in
time to catch the final scene of The Adventures of Sassparilla the Singing
Gorilla, chapter 1. Over the course of the evening I saw the other chapters
of the series. I like Sassparilla in small doses. It's a sort of
painfully/embarrassingly funny routine. The movie shares much of that style
of humor with special effects that are so crude they become more interesting
than they would've been if they'd tried to do something more polished. The
acting is a bit better than the average homemade film and the cinematography
isn't entirely flat. I'd give it one opposable thumb up. |
 |
 |
Meanwhile, a girl was setting up a harp on stage. I thought
it might be a bad sign. I feared some low key mopey indie softcore
singer/songwriter crap, but when the rest of the band, Envie, gathered
together and started playing it was more Kate Bush than Tori Amos. |
 |
The lead singer has a pretty voice and a few numbers swelled
from quiet to intense. Dreamy stuff that's stirring and simultaneously
depressing. |
| During another chapter of Sassparilla's movie, Emery Reel began
assembling their gear. Fortunately the Sassparilla movie gave them plenty of
time. 2 laptops, 3 keyboards, a vibraphone, a few guitars, drums, and more
effects pedals than a downtown pawn shop. |
 |
| Once they got up and running they played very mathematical instrumental
stuff, reminding me sort of like Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells. Very
movie soundtrack-ish. |
 |
| Fantaj was next, sort of Les Claypool bouncing bass with
metallic, distorted guitars and vocals half spoken, half screamed/growled by
one of the guys from The Brothers Swinks Motorsports, the guys doing
motorcycle stunts in the parking lot the next day and a familiar face around
the Star Bar. |
 |
| Not great, but not bad. In case you're wondering what Fantaj
means, "it's the disease you get when you drink water from the hose and the
skin grows over your asshole." |
 |
I couldn't hang late enough to catch any of the promised burlesque due to my
workaday lifestyle, so you don't get any pictures of half-naked women this week.
But continue on for some half-naked male action, if you dare...
