Sunday, February 27, 2005

If Moe = w00t, then Keller Williams > or = FAN-FUCKING-TASTICAL!

In fact, I even bought a t-shirt - sky blue with a guitar-bodied dragonfly on the front, and again on the back, soaring over a lush, psychidelic field at sunset. Trippy!

But that's beside the fact. For all you uncool shmoes out there, Keller Williams is an extremely talented one-man band who plays a 10 string acoustic. And a theramin. And bass. And 4 or 5 other things. Not to mention his prodigious human beatboxing.

One by one, he lays down live tracks and loops them through his sound board. Then, he plays solos and sings vocals on top of the whole beautiful mess. Pure heaven.

Keller began the concert with "Freeker by the Speaker." It's about how a concert-loving freak and a rave girl meet up at a show; when threatened by a bouncer, they run away to safety together. Unsurprisingly, Alan and I have declared it "our song." And the music only got better from there. Keller played song after glorious song without stopping, pacing back and forth, barefoot, on a large carpet. Don't ask me how that man musters the energy to perform so passionately for 3+ hours, but he does.

The lighting effects dazzled me to no end. 'Twas more than just your standard stage smoke and moving colored spot lights. A pair of eye-shaped screens hung over the stage; projectors at the rear of the stage back-lit the screens with video feed of Keller (so people at a distance could see him in greater detail) interspersed with kalidescopic images of fractals, dancers, animals, venus fly traps, etc. All in all, a terribly engaging effect.

I liked Keller's music before I went to the concert, but having seen him perform live, I can honestly say that I shall be a fan for life.

Yet all this musicial magnificence paled in comparison to Alan's demeanor during the show. I thrilled to watch his enthusiasm. Neither his fascination nor his euphoria flagged for even an instant. What good it did my heart to see the man I love so overpoweringly happy!

shiny objects