subtitled the sound mixer from hell episode
ponyclub massacre are the support act for tonights show at the vanguard
they deserve special mention not only for a name that invites investigation
but a show that is as unique as it is rivetting
2 stunningly beautiful ladies with overwhelming musical talent
and an ear for and an inclination to the extremes of our musical culture
no names mentioned but she who handled most of the vocals
announced a song about peace written after the war when she lived in sarajevo
i lost count of the number of different instruments they played between them
it was all over too quickly but the hope is to see them again somewhere soon
inga is soon on stage with 2 ladies out front one on violin the other on cello
the boys in the band on electric guitar, double bass and drums at the rear
tonight she was tested beyond the limits of all reasonableness
the sound mixer had a shocker of a night
not just the usual hand signals from the stage requesting more foldback
or the occassional foray to the stage to attend to an errant mic stand
no, no, no this was serious mum
opening song your love is a bullet sounded fine to me but not so on stage
as far as i could tell the on-stage mix was a mess with lots of signalling
the signs were there when the second song of the set was done in darkness
and it was all downhill from there
one song ended with an ear-piercing screech of feedback
that went on for a minute or so and drew a round of applause when concluded
out of sheer relief as it was close to intolerable
one wag close to me suggested he actually liked minimalist music
by now you could see the energy seeping from our lady of the night
but she perservered and gave the mixer every chance she could to get it right
should we change mics she asked him out of sheer desperation
no you should change mixers came the response from one audience member
but she stood by him and announced it was his first night and he was doing a great job
she pushed on and let her confidence in her material sustain the evening
her trademark microphone in a telephone handpiece was behaving erratically
and true enough despite this and other and random sound issues
it was the strength of the material that carried the show
and had the audience wildly clapping at the end of each song
the audience's enthusiasm seemed to carry to the stage and push the band on
but every song was plagued with obvious sound problems
inga spent most of the time signalling, cajoling, reacting, resigning
by the end of the evening's performance she seemed exhausted
but complied with the audience encore demands and called back her 2 leading ladies
and performed a unique interpretation of nick cave's ship song
that touch of familiarity seemed to alleviate the bad feelings
it wasn't total redemption but we can put a big tick
on the checklist for star material
for grace under pressure
she going to be famous
thanks inga
