Manring in Mexico

[Daryl Shawn <highhorse@mhorse.com>]

I was lucky enough to catch bassist Michael Manring over the weekend at 
a festival here in Mexico, in a city called Puebla (home of the famous 
blue Talavera tile, and about 2 million people). I wasn't even aware of 
the festival when I planned the trip, so I felt especially lucky that 
the dates coincided. He did a solo set, with his Zon basses, Eden amps, 
a large Tech 21 fuzzbox, Boss reverb pedal and Loop Station. He utilized 
the Loop Station and an Ebow frequently, as well as all the nutty 
detuning latches on the Zons, for a very tuneful and very impressive set 
(with nary a trace of the thick, heavily vibrato'ed pop fretless sound I 
think he's more known for). Perhaps the most amazing thing was how the 
crowd ate it up, there were probably 300 people there, the vast majority 
of whom I'm sure had never heard him before, families with children, 
punk kids, grandmothers, anybody. Granted, it was a free show, but 
nobody was leaving and the cheering was a roar. For SOLO BASS. awesome.

The one disappointment in the festival is that the Spanish band Ojos de 
Brujo, who have been mentioned here before, were scheduled to play but 
canceled for some reason. The composer Michael Nyman also did a 
performance, but before I arrived.

Daryl Shawn
www.swanwelder.com
www.chinapaintingmusic.com