Staff Blog
Jandek, April 12, German Society
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| Did you know Jandek was in Poltergeist 2? |
After decades of keeping every single detail about himself secret, Jandek has come out of hiding in recent years to play some shows and, more interestingly, show his face. If you don’t know the whole Jandek legend, his Wikipedia page is a decent place to start, although the 2003 documentary Jandek on Corwood would be ideal.
Anyway, the chance of seeing this mystery man in concert once seemed as likely as having dinner with a yeti, so when I heard the man was playing Philly, I had to go. Part of me thought the show might’ve been a hoax, to be honest.
Now that it’s over, I’m still not sure.
Jandek, ladies and gentlemen is boring. Pale and thin as a rail, the man sat down at a piano and moaned in a monotone for some two hours and never once hinted at a pleasant melody or an interesting idea, or even an awareness for the one hundred plus people who plunked down $25 a ticket. His backing band, a clarinetist, a bassoonist and a harpist (all classically trained bullshitters), carried the load, cranking out eccentric noises and looking at each other for clues.
Making the evening all the more uncomfortable was the no-applause rule — the show was being recorded (and shipped to Gitmo for an experimental form of audio waterboarding, most likely) — so all you heard between songs was the creaking of chairs and plotting of escapes.
Really, only a few people appeared to have left without returning. In fact, so many were so enthralled with this (ugh) outsider artist that when Jandek committed his first kind act of the evening by getting up from the piano, the large majority of attendees actually rose for a standing ovation. Those people were not being honest. The show was so devoid of inspiration and so infested with pretentious douchebaggery it felt like hucksterism.
The listener reacts and becomes a partner in the game, initiated by the creator. Nothing less, nothing more. The fact that the partner is free to accept or refuse participation in the game does not automatically invest him with the authority of a judge. —Igor Stravinsky
you stupid cunt.
Ah, the classic “quote stravinsky then call the critic a cunt” gambit. Well played, anonymous, brave commenter of the Internets.
uh…
it’s jandek- were you expecting modest mouse? maybe 311?
Uh, for $25 a pop I think the dude could’ve covered “Float On.”
well, it’s a really sad day when the criteria for whether or not a concert is good is based on how much the ticket cost. but then again, a critic for a philadelphia blog is hardly the arbiter of good taste. more like dirt under the fingernail of the cultural landscape.
Mixed metaphors like “dirt under the fingernail of the cultural landscape” are the lid on the pot of my dissatisfaction with current trends in English usage.
I was there - completely accurate representation. I stayed for the full two hours just so I could see how he reacted to the audience… he didn’t. I think he either has a serious social disorder or he’s trying hard to maintain a persona…
Hmmm, nowhere in this review do you mention whether or not you’ve enjoyed Jandek’s other work. If you have enjoyed it, then I’d be interested to hear how you felt this concert fell short relative to his records. If you haven’t, then why on earth did you attend a performance that was practically guaranteed to disappoint you? Jandek’s certainly an acquired taste to say the least, but at his best there’s no one who can quite capture his mix of crushing depression, black humor, awkward vulnerability and sly wit.
P. (above) pretty much said it for me … the criteria used for this review wasn’t really fair. No “interesting melodies”? Doesn’t it need to be taken into consideration that Jandek’s music has always been amelodic? And it’s always had an improvisational bent to it, but he sees the accompanying musicians as “bullshiters”, which opens a whole can of worms - does the reviewer also have a problem with free jazz, which this show approached? A valid opinion, but not carefully considered in this review, which is a sheer attack. (It DOES almost seem that the reviewer would prefer palpable, accessible popular music and nothing challenging.) The standing ovation wasn’t honest? Didn’t know this reviewer could read minds. I really don’t see Jandek being a “pretentious douchebag”. He creates the most heartbreakingly personal, uninfluenced music I’ve ever heard - it’s in fact completely DEVOID of bullshit. During the standing ovation, he looked physically UNABLE to turn his head to the audience, staring at his feet, looking very, very shy, but grateful. Such sincerity is lost on this reviewer, who assumes everyone is as much of a jerk aiming to show everyone else up as he is. The reviewer, for a few seconds, came close to offering a potentially interesting perspective on what “outsider music” is and how its fans respond to it and why they like it, but instead, he just choose to be a hate-spewing dick about it.