1st Night of the Y2KX+1 LoopFest

[Rick Walker <looppool@cruzio.com>]

We had a really nice first night of the festival tonight.

It was the best attended show we've ever had in San Jose at the Anno Domini
Gallery (thanks to a superlative publicity campaign by Steve Uccello).

Bill and I started things off and had a really nice set together.
Nat Grant said it was really wonderful because we played so effortlessly.

Per Boysen came next with his new beautiful, small red Stick.
It's the first time I've seen him perform with it and it was a really 
beautiful
and very musical performance.

Next up,  newcomer, Patty Stucki (playing under the moniker Eela Soley)
did a very beautiful set with voice, alto saxophone, silver flute and 
bamboo
flute.   She has a very nice combination of darkness with some strong
3rd world (especially middle=eastern) influences melodically.   I really 
enjoyed
it.

Next Hideki Nakanishi (aka Mandoman) played what was, for me , the most 
compelling
set I've seen him play in his numerous festival appearances.   He really 
mixed it up,
playing very rhythmic pieces with ambient pieces and also included some 
really nice
Daxaphone playing as well to take it into an abstract direction.

Georgina Brett came next.   I really like the direction she is taking,  
mixing long layered
loops of vocal, completely eschewing anything I've heard people do in 
the A Capella
looping world.  She's doing fascinating work by singing lines with out 
any consonants
in them and going back in and overdubbing the consonants.  It's a really 
unique approach
that fascinates me.  Her set, unfortunately,  was plagued with feedback 
though and the sound from the P.A.
was continually frustrating to her so she ended early.    I felt bad 
that she had a hard
set and promised her that we will set things straight, sonically ,  when 
she plays the
main festival on Sunday.   She is really as talented as all the buzz 
about her, as well
as being a really sweet human being (who treated us to an amazing home 
made vegetarian
soup when we got back from the venue) and I look forward
to hearing her have a happier set on Sunday night at 10:00.

Nat Grant finished off the evening with a very interesting and evolving 
set mixing all kinds of interesting
percussive textures.  Her set was easily the most avant garde of the 
evening and I, personally,
loved it.    The synchronicity between what she was doing and the 
beautiful Loopy Cam work
of Maha Taitano really created a great atmosphere.    Tim Thompson,  
Loopy Cam's inventor
has graciously taught Maha and I how to use the Loopy Cam and also lent 
us the high powered
computers to project it at the festival.  Tim will be doing his own set 
with his new amazing visual
and audio invention,  the Space Palette, at 6:00 on Saturday.

I walked on stage and played some non-looped Sonica (which is a 60's 
invention that combines
a diatonic touch strip with organ like sounds) to accompany Nat's final 
minutes of her set.
I just love how this artist thinks so it's always a thrill to play with 
her.

At the headliners concert with Andrea Centazzo (Italy) and Matt 
Davignon,   Nat and I will combine the
end of her set with the beginning of mine with a couple of improvisations.
I'm really looking forward to that (right after Santa Cruz Vice Mayor, 
Don Lane, presents the
"International Live Looping Day" proclamation to the headlining artists.

For the first time in many years (due to a miscommunication on my part 
with the Luggage Store)
we actually have a day off tomorrow and then the main festival begins on 
Friday evening.

It's a strong lineup this year and we'll even have a world technology 
premiere to end Friday evening's
concert by the Sennheiser Research Lab of Palo Alto of a Wireless 
Midi/Microphone Controller used with a portable live looping rig.

We came close to showing the LP-2 Mini Looper and Bob Amstadt is 
actually going to miss the festival (after having
provided sound for us tonight) because he's home all weekend assembling 
LP-2 to begin mailing out.
I can't wait to get mine.

Okay................the whole house is full of snoring loopers and it's 
probably time for me to hit the hay!

Rick Walker