I like Grandaddy a lot. Even after their first successes, Jason Lytle has decided to continue producing and recording all his records himself (even if, by my taste, "The sophtware slump" gives way a little too much to Grandaddy's immedorate taste for 70's progressive rock the E.L.O, Alan Parsons or Pink Floyd style). The band has a good frame of thought : you only have to visit their website (their own, not the other one, the label's), to read the handwritten xeroxed booklets they publish for each tour (available on the site), oe to buy "The windfall varietal", the CD they were selling at gigs this autumn (Jason explains that he spent hours listening to old tapes, that he is a bit ashamed by some of the stuff, but that he is happy to do that for the fans who love them enough to come to the gigs and buy this record). Moreover, the band probably works on its visuals by itself, and does so better and better (sleeves, site, stage projections).
So, as I said, I like Grandaddy a
lot, but they deceive me a lot too on stage !
I saw them live for the third time in Lille on december 8th. After touring
for three years, the band has matured and gained in assurance. Jason Lytle
remains a probably very shy leader, but a nice shy guy. Not the kind to
not say a word and turn his back to the audience. More the kind to hang
his head, talk in his beard, thank the audience and excuse himself ten times
for the technical hitches (power breakdowns) which obviously troubled and
demoralized him a lot early in the concert.
But the problem remains the same as on previous tours : it seems that the
aim of the band is to reproduces with as much fidelity as possible the studio
versions of the songs ! Even the Pavement cover,
"Here", is played nearly note for note like it was playued two
years ago. And the fan catches himself waiting for new songs (two or three,
quite in the lineage of "The Sophtware slump") and for the very
slight variations on the titles from the records ("A.M. 180" slightly
faster, a new synth sound here or there...).
It's all the more raging that Grandaddy's music, though it is worked on
and tweaked for hours in the studio, is not very "clean" : it
contains a lot of bizarre sounds, noises and diy stuff. You could think
that, on stage, the band would pursue these experiments, make new researches
at the risk of failing, improvise...But no, it seems like the recorded versions
are an intangible frame and that the band wants to do anything but break
from this frame. One can even wonder if Jason Lytle,
the band's studio sorcerer, doesn't use his colleagues only to reproduce
what he obviously cannot do alone by himself on stage, not having ten hands...
I dream of a Grandaddy concert at which the band would arrive
on stage, having forgottent all they know, to start playing the songs we
love differently, or improvise others. But all hope is not lost, since Grandaddy
has good acquaintances : Matt Ward for instance
- who opended that night for Grandaddy and
who switched from electric to acoustic and from solo to trio within the
few minutes his set lasted, with sonic tentatives and experiments - and
especially Howe Gelb who, as a solo artist
or with Giant Sand, doesn't play two identical
tours or concerts. So, as Jason admires Howe, and vice-versa, they could
get together for a training course : a week working together, followed by
a practical test : the two together on tour with guitars, keyboards, walkman,
sampler and effects pedals... I'm sure that Grandaddy
would later benefit from it, and I book my ticket right now ! Otherwise,
if nothing changes, I'll have to content myself with Grandaddy's (very good)
records...
