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Cursive / P.O.S. / John The Savage
Turner Hall
Milwaukee, WI
May 7, 2009
P.O.S.
P.O.S.
Cursive
Cursive
John The Savage
John The Savage

Story by and photos by Gypsy Davy

The evening opened with the eccentric Milwaukee natives, John The Savage. To a less than half filled Turner Hall, JTS spun their arrangements in a style very reminiscent of a Bone Machine era Tom Waits, with multi-layered instrumentation performed by the 6-piece in a literal musical chair display. Guitar/accordion/percussionist Andrew Orlowski - dressed in business casual as if steppin' in from the office for a quick set - bounced back and forth between his three disciplines with such great ease, as did Rita Szoponski with her juggling duties of piano and violin, and Rachel Icenogle between cello and bells. Time keeper Andrew Hartzell behind the kit kept the beats thumpin', at one point reaching back for the links of heavy chain, you know, it's always a good thing to have a large amount of chain handy for that always needed jailhouse shackled work-crew sound. Front man vocalist Michael Skorcz filled the Hall with his circus of sound that certainly would have garnered nods of approval from Mr. Waits himself. All Paul Fleming did was play the upright bass, would someone please get the man a kazoo, or something.

P.O.S., aka Pissed Off Stef (born Stefon Alexander), took control of the crowd next. And I do mean he took control of the crowd, stopping a song by calling people out, pointing and saying "You look nervous, you look nervous, and you look down right scared"...dude we just saw John The Savage, let us ease in. His rap is so very much an intellectual poetry; it's difficult absorbing it in the setting of a half drunk hall. Maybe he'd be more suited to an evening at Barnes & Noble, and that's no slam...the cat is just too deep. He brought us his Minneapolis cerebral hip-hop anyway, those who could keep up were properly treated, those that still had that half-witted - I'm a member of the Idiocracy - stare, were called out and encouraged to pay closer attention. I snuck outta view and took cover in the shadows. As introduced by P.O.S., Plain Old Bill helmed the console and provided the thick beats carrying the scholarly crafted poetics. In the future we might start to refer to him as simply P.O.B.

By the time Cursive took the reins, the Hall didn't appear to procure much more in attendance than had witnessed the earlier acts. Which was a bit unwelcoming for an act of such great talent. Since the mid 90's the Omaha natives have amassed a pretty diverse body of work. Remaining in constant state of flux, they've melded their sound to the beats of their own drum. At times upsetting fans with the direction taken on new material, but gaining others in doing so, only so long, as their next release would prove to reinvigorate the base, and turn the recently acquired, or so it seems...

Hitting their stride in the early part of the century with the concept album release of Domestica - a highly impassioned project resulting from the recent bitter divorce that front man and founder Tim Kasher endured - finally gaining much deserved critical acclaim. Navigating through personal and painful trails would prove to be fortuitous, good things come from life's travails, look no further than Beck Hansen's own Sea Change for proof, or Cursive's follow-up studio release with The Ugly Organ - for that matter. The release was the result of Kasher having suffered a collapsed lung in 2002. What a fine way to answer back! Not that you wish more tribulation on a man, but if that's the retort, I'm just saying...

Now touring their sixth full-length studio LP Mama, I'm Swollen, Cursive came out to ample applause and wasted no time digging into the meat of their extensive body of work. Things unquestionably intensified when unveiling Domestica's "The Game of Who Needs Who Worst," simultaneously satiating fans and converting unbelievers. Proceeding from there with additional act one highlights in Art Is Hard from 2003's The Ugly Organ and closing with "What Have I Done," from their latest release. Tim Kasher was animated throughout the set and looked to be thoroughly enjoying himself. He strutted the stage with his signature Gibson slung over shoulder, at one point finding himself positioned across the keys from Patrick Newberry (trumpet/keyboardist), who shared in the elation by leaning forward, planting his sentiment squarely on Kasher's lips - a sweet gesture of spontaneous admiration and respect. The encore had its own moments of mention, in particular Happy Hollow's "Big Bang," The Ugly Organ's "A Gentleman Caller," and a cut from their new LP titled From The Hips.

In the end, it was too bad that more weren't in attendance for such an outstanding evening. At $15 a head, I don't care what kind of economy we're in, that's down right giving 'em away. Cursive always seemed to fly just under my radar, and maybe most other as well, which could explain the turnout. Being one of the newly converted, I'll do my part in seeing that that doesn't happen again. Spread the word people...

Related articles:

Cursive - Concert review - Milwaukee, WI - Sept. 2006
Cursive / The Blood Brothers - Concert review - Chicago, IL - Sept. 2003
Cursive - The Ugly Organ - Album review

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