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Trio: George Porter Jr., Mike Dillon and Johnny Vidacovich - SoGo Live, March 8, 2006

I was milling through the assembled crowd, duly lubricated by SoGo’s 3-for-1 drink specials, half-heartedly searching for an old guitar of mine that I heard wound up in a lot sold to the downtown club for the décor. Every time I passed the stage, I’d marvel at the equipment up there, especially percussionist Mike Dillon’s (Hairyapesbmx, Garage a Trois, Les Claypool) vibes, tablas, congas and kettle drum. Off to stage right was yet another drumkit to be manned by John Vidacovich, and a lone drum awaited Mr. George Porter. This array of gear was daunting in and of itself, but when the trio’s alpha wave funk started to unfold, it was evident that it was all necessary equipment. Dillon’s vibe playing on the opening number (though truthfully, the set was one long undulating stream of cosmic groove) provided an almost subliminal melody to Porter's throb and Vidacovich’s dead-on beat and glossilalian vocals.

Dillon took to his tablas on a particularly transcendent dubby-funk number, and the trio as a whole dug deep into some kind of inner funk, not relying on the usual trappings of guitar solos and keyboard vamps. Their interplay is unsurpassed; it’s like a Swiss clock lubed with chicken grease. Dillon stole the show, not just with the range of instruments he deployed, but his simultaneous exploration and restraint. At one point, he and Vidacovich locked into a percussion groove, with Porter just sitting there holding his bass, in a trance with the rest of us.

There were only two tunes I recognized from the night: a stripped down “Caravan” and an elongated version of “Let the Good Times Roll.” Both of these served to underscore how jazz, the blues and funk all intermingle like strains of kudzu around this group, delivering what could almost be a genome model of southern music. And the beautiful thing about it is, while it is cerebral music, it still has enough swing and stomp to get you moving and make your ass look good while you do it.

AND DON’T FORGET

Gas Food Lodging gets rolling this Friday. Don’t mess around and miss the best set of shows this town gets every year. Here is the cream of the corn for the weekend:

Friday, March 10: The two best regional alt-country acts, Elsah and Goodman County, get things rolling at Spanish Moon. Also, metal/hardcore in all its rich variety is dished up at the Darkroom with Bleed Vader, Bite The Curb, Clawing to China , Arcane Theory , A Thing About Machines

Saturday, March 11: Page France with The Selmanaires at the Red Star. Also, noted acoustic singer-songwriter Malcolm Holcombe will be at The Red Dragon (Government and Foster) starting at 8pm.

Monday, March 13: Indie darlings Asobi Seksu, Say Hi To Your Mom and Hundson Bell at the Red Star; Swollen Members & The Sweat Shop Union at the Spanish Moon. And June ,Allister ,October Fall ,So They Say , all put in appearances at the Darkroom, showing the all-ages venue’s occasional lighter side.

Tuesday, March 14: Elf Power with Man Man at the Spanish Moon.

Wednesday, March 15: Magnolia Electric Co. , with the Heavenly States and Harlan at the Spanish Moon. This is in my opinion, the one show you are just blame foolish if you miss. Really. I might have to just come after you if you miss it.