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Plaid / Funckarma

The support act didn't like this review. Read why...
18 november 2000, Nijmegen (NL)

Tekst: Matthijs de Jonge

Publicatiedatum: 04 december 2000

Tonight's electonica double bill was scheduled to take place in front of an audience that normally partakes of the cruder, four-to-the-floor manifestations of Techno, so even if the evening would turn out a complete failure, the organizers would at least deserve praise for bravely attempting to stray from the beaten path. Or something. And a complete failure it almost turned out to be when at least a third of the audience walked out five minutes into opening act Funckarma's uncompromisingly stilted set. To be quite honest, I wasn't that big either on their particular take on a genre that's been beaten to death and then beaten to death again just to make sure during the past few years. Their recorded output always seemed to me to be too derivative, not in the way that most Warp-wannabees are derivative in combining elements from various "name" outfits into something that, for some reason, just doesn't manage to sound new, but because it is an exact copy of the techniques we've come to love German miracle workers Funkstorung for. Never mind that, tonight, though ... perhaps in a dark, sweaty venue in the company of friends, loved ones and a few beers it would all make sense all of a sudden. So no, I didn't walk out, but instead witnessed all forty-five dreary minutes of their tepid and uninspired set that wasn't so much a set as it was an endless barrage of riffs and loops aimlessly mixed together. There wasn't a single beat or drone that could possibly be considered original or moving. The lenghty, DJ-ed intermission, therefore, came as a welcome relief.
Round two would have to make up for the dreariness of the previous one, then. Luckily, this task was given to none other than electronica's golden boys, Ed'n'Andy (Plaid). As before, there was nothing to see: no half-naked dancers, no funny wigs, just two guys taking turns behind a computer and a mixing desk. It didn't matter, though. The lack of visual stimuli forced the audience to concentrate on the sound itself, and since the sound produced by said Ed'n'Andy was of such a high quality, this deprivation turned out a blessing. On record, Plaid excel in lavish orchestration and subleties and intricacies too complex for the ordinary human brain to grasp at first listening, but tonight their agenda was decidedly different: in the unlikely event that they had taped an inspirational saying to their monitor, it probably read "They Shall Dance". The bass received more prominence than it does on their vinyl offerings, drowning out any quaint little samples and melodies that may have been present and forced everyone except the staunchest bleepheads (who complained, with some justice, the set was a tad blunt and unimaginitive) on their feet. Clearly, Plaid have seen "Dance or Die" audiences before, and handle them with an impressive amount of flair and skill that warrants respect even if you prefer to stay away from crowdpleasing behavior yourself. If nothing else, tonight they revealed themselves to be musicians of a truly allround nature, handling saturday night crowds and careful armchair listeners with equal ease. For which they should receive nothing but praise.

http://www.kindamuzik.net/live/plaid/plaid-funckarma/661/
Meer Plaid op KindaMuzik: http://www.kindamuzik.net/artiest/plaid