Ready For The House

So yeah, I was there man for Jandek's first US show, in Austin on August 28. And here's what went down.

First off, just about any show would seem cool in the Scottish Rite Theatre, a Masonic temple built in the early 20th century. Many secrets about the world are contained within; coming soon on the schedule is a stage production of Charlotte's Web.

Next, this was one seriously reverential crowd (and not as totally male-dominated as I'd figured). When the house lights just baaaaarely started to dim, the entire place fell completely silent and stayed that way for several minutes. I was torn between yelling out "I want your baby, Jandek!" or some other stupid thing, and savoring the rare feeling of belonging to a respectful audience. (I chickened out and went for the latter.)

And then there he was - ghostly pale (albino??), wearing black pants, a dark blue shirt, and a black fedora-type hat. He walked on the stage, slowly opened his guitar case, strapped it on and away we went. He had several youngsters playing with him, two drummers and a bass (bet they're glad they answered that "musicians wanted" ad).

Which, I guess, brings me to the music. I've listened to a few of his records a few times, but wouldn't call myself a devotee. Here's why - every song involves him playing his axe in a manner that can only be described as "chicken scratching," while both drummers play random noises (one of them was into taking his cymbals off their stands and rubbing them on the other drums...) and the bassist freely explores his frets, with no recognizable rhythm, melody or structure emerging. Every now and then he'll lean to the mic and talk/sing his lonesome lyrics (which actually are evocative), then it's back to strumming & plinking. My biggest curiousity was whether he'd ever touch the tuning pegs, cause like how can he tell? I think he may have once, however, so I can only assume it all sounded right to him.

Anyway, this same pattern was reproduced maybe 12-15 times, only the lyrics changing. And after precisely 90 minutes, the guitar went back into the case, and our man strolled back off stage. Do I even need to tell you there was no between-song patter? Or ironic cover songs?

Given his schtick, I can't answer why he waited this long to start performing; it's not like he had a lot of technique to hone. But in any case, one more of life's mysteries has resolved itself. Watch for announcements of Bigfoot's State Fair tour any day now.