Ephemeral Creation:
Music and Art in Chicago, 1978 - 1982                                 ← Part 10. →

Spring/summer 1982

The Reader ad billed Glenn Branca and David Van Tiegham, but rumors of cancellation were circulating days before the show - resulting in a thin crowd for this Sunday night performance with a modified lineup.

Those who came were treated to a startling diversity of creative talent. The Kitchen is a coalition of New York based performance artists and musicians, and this partial sampling proves they are an innovative bunch.

Julia Heyward opened the show; I've seen a lot of bands play in front of projected films, but this was different; the films and slides, done by Julia and including images of herself and her co-performers, were largely inseparable from the music. In fact, the films not only added to the music, they often dominated it, and in a few instances I found myself so immersed in a series of images that the music seemed ambient, and the band on the nearly unlit stage seemed to disappear.

Next, David Van Tiegham, who has played for Laurie Anderson, Pink Floyd, David Byrne, and Steve Reich; in this solo performance, titled "A Man and His Toys," he stretched the definition of percussion to it's limits and beyond; using every conceivable object to produce sound, including a table full of pans, light reflectors, and other metal objects; a balloon, feedback from a walkie-talkie, caps on the floor, and far too many other things to list. All this over a background tape consisting promarily of more percussion, but including the chirping of birds and other natural and man-made sounds. Not many people could have pulled this off at all, much less done it this well; but this performance received the lengthy applause it deserved.

Finally, Rhys Chatham; four guitars and a drummer. Although he is often compared to Glenn Branca because they both use multiple guitars, there is a tangible difference in their music. In any case it is something that must be experienced to be appreciated. While other bands ocasionally build to a crescendo, this one never stops..... a constant peak, incredibly intense music.

And then, in an utterly stunning encore; Truus de Groot screaming out her anguished vocals, gyrating madly along the front edge of the stage, stabbing an accusing finger at the audience... while the three remaining guitars continue to belt out that relentless, driving sound; and Rhys Chatham walks across the stage, sometimes next to Truus, sometimes face to face with the other guitars, each seeming to draw additional strength from the others in that formidable triangle, until the sight and sound is so powerful that it reaches beyond rationality to the most primitive emotions.