EXCLUSIVE REVIEW: RJD2, Busdriver and Happy Chichester
Story by David Searle and Ryan Williams -

April 23rd @ Birdy’s

Ryan sez:

I arrived shortly into Happy Chichester’s abbreviated set. On the surface, Chichester might seem out of place on this bill, given that his solo material tends towards acoustic-guitar-and-piano-based singer/songwriter material. He’s got a rich history of groove-oriented music, though, in his work with the Royal Crescent Mob and Howlin’ Maggie (whose song “Easy To Be Stupid” he reached back to cover). Monday night found him in great voice, and he delivered a solid set. However, it just didn’t seem like his audience. His performance won a few crowd members over, but they were clearly waiting for the opening act. Their loss. He’d get another chance to impress as part of RJD2’s backing band.Busdriver was up next, backed only by one man playing a drum machine and sampler in real time. It was near the end of the tour for Busdriver, and you can tell there was a little weariness in his interaction with the crowd. The music, however, betrayed no signs of fatigue. His manic delivery crossed up influences from reggae-style toasting to progressive rock vocals, and he made frequent use of extreme vocal effects to layer new sounds onto the already-full backing tracks. Busdriver’s energy seemed to perk the crowd up a bit, and a few more people filtered into Birdy’s main room.At this point, I turn the review over to the capable hands of David Searle.Dave sez:

In the hip-hop DJ world, RJD2 is something of a superhero. He is on the short list of DJs who can produce great albums without the assistance of any MCs. In this regard, DJ Shadow is his only clear-cut superior.

So why in the world did Rj hang up his Spidey suit to pick up a guitar? Why did Ramble John “RJ” Krohn pull a Moby?

It sure beats me. He performed the majority of his set at Birdy’s with a mic, a guitar, and a backup band. The band ranged from meandering post-rock to hookless blue-eyed soul exercises. The crowd (which was whipped up into a confused frenzy by the incomparable performance of opening act Busdriver) mostly stood motionless, waiting for songs to end and politely clapping for a man they once believed in.

The show started to get on track a bit when Rj acknowledged the elephant in the room by kicking the band offstage (they gamely flirted with the locals) while getting behind the wheels of steel. He might have been better served starting the show behind the DJ riser instead of waiting until the middle of the set. The air had been sucked out and it was going to be hard to get back. He tried to pump it back up with “Ghostwriter,” but stopped the song short after the first climax. The tension between the first peak and the second of “Ghostwriter” is the finest work Rj has ever done; not sure why he enjoys breaking it up live. The crowd was just getting warmed up, but cooled as soon as the tables stopped turning.

The band returned later for more clunkers, and the crowd immediately regretted the decision.

I’m guessing that Rj’s thought process went something like this: “Everyone likes all these instrumental tracks I produce with my turntables. Why wouldn’t they like live instruments with the added element of vocals? That’s even better, right?” What he is missing is the importance that technical skill plays in his appeal - the way he crafts the sounds, the ability to handle four record players at once, the showmanship involved in balancing all these different machines that, if left unattended, would only create chaos; it is genuinely exciting. It’s like musical spinning plates. And while the songs are terrific, we need this high wire act to truly blow our minds.

While competent, the band did not possess the ability to blow anybody away. And when left alone and naked on the stage, the music just wasn’t enough.

– David Searle and Ryan Williams —

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