Reviews

BOX #16 - 29 September 2002 - MoonPatrol - Philip Samartzis & Lawrence English

Review by Fiona Bennett

MOON PATROL , PHILIP SAMARTZIS AND LAWRENCE ENGLISH

I?ve personally never seen Moon Patrol in action before and I haven?t seen the use of the theremin in quite some time, so I was really looking forward to this performance.  

For the most part I was reasonably impressed with this act.  There was an interesting use of the theremin combined with the electric guitar, keyboards and other effects.  In particular I enjoyed the descending chromatics used in a weaving repetitive theme.  

However, I think perhaps this repetition became a little to lengthy to endure.  There were a number of false endings, build ups of suspense to lapse in to yet another dose of theremin gestures.  Hmmm, yes that did become a little frustrating.  I would have like to have heard development of an idea.  

There was a lot of content, although I think it was quite often misplaced; power chords galore from the guitar and interesting use of a sample of footsteps.  I did enjoy some of the low end bass sounds emerging and would have like to hear more of this.  But when there was a rendition of Advance Australia Fair thrown in I was somewhat baffled. What place did this have? I couldn?t really understand what the musicians were trying to communicate. I think gimmicks are fine in performance, but they must have their place and should be making a statement.  

Maybe I should say something about the visuals at this point.  There was quite an intricate rigging set up with impressive flashing lights dancing about with the sounds.  In some ways this is what I found distracting about the performance.  A number of times I had to close my eyes to concentrate on the sound and try to recognise what was happening.  

A little shorter, drop the cheesy National Anthem (or use a gimmick more effectively) and more convergence of sound and it would have been a top notch show.

Well, Phil Samartzis and Lawrence English are no amateurs on this scene.  And it showed.  This was a very slick performance by this duo.  Samartzis controlling an array of cd players and English on turntable etc. Both sets were full of equipment of all sorts.  The lighting again in the second set adding the kaleidoscope of sound and colour. It was an incredible set up, a Big Kids gadget paradise. The music was nothing new, but neither is anything minimal, post minimal or post 20th century.  (Hah! Medievalists were at it centuries ago? sorry, I had to slip that in)

This was a shorter set, with more bleeps and clicks, resembling something like summer twilights in the urban jungle. How apt for this time of year.

What can I say?  I thoroughly enjoyed this set; the subtle build to the crescendos and the dramatic stillness following.  Fabulous!