(TV) Verlaine/Ficca/Derivaz

[Jesse Hochstadt <jesseh58@yahoo.com>]

I saw tonight's free performance at the DUMBO Arts Festival by Tom, with Billy 
on drums and Patrick Derivaz on bass. Did anyone else go? There were certainly 
fine moments - naturally, i was especially excited at the beginning - but 
overall I found it a frustrating experience. As expected, it was all 
instrumentals. A few were familiar: Sleepwalkin' and Boulevard from Warm and 
Cool, and "Persia." Probably a few other, less melodic ones from W&C (maybe 
Saucer Crash?) as well as some from Around, which I've listened to far less. I'm 
one of those who likes Warm and Cool pretty well, so I was fine in principle 
with an instrumental set.

However, for me, the show highlighted Tom's limitations (or maybe just those 
aspects of his playing I like less?). I knew the evening would be high on 
atmospherics and low on rocking, but still, feathery, "twiddly" single notes 
dominated more than I would have liked. Harder, thicker tones and more chordal 
playing were sparse. I was particularly bothered by the fact that even in 
"chunkier" tunes, Tom tended to fall back on more tentative notes when 
improvising: I wanted him to be bolder, to attack more aggressively and 
certainly during those songs. In hard and soft tunes alike, Tom would often hit 
on an appealing short phrase while improvising, but then not do either of the 
things I'd have wished: either turn it into a repeated riff or develop it into a 
longer melody. Too often it was just on to the next thing.

Tom didn't interact much with the other players; he seemed to regard them simply 
as backup. That made sense with Derivaz: he was pretty much just playing a 
steady backbone. But if Tom had played off Billy's energy it would have been a 
whole other show. As far as I was concerned, Billy was the hero of the evening, 
keeping the music interesting when Tom lagged. At those points where Billy 
really locked into what Tom was playing (but not vice versa), the show took off. 
I didn't sense Tom's "solipsism" so much when I saw him and Jimmy Ripp at the 
Middle East in Cambridge a few years back, even though Jimmy was also largely 
playing backup to Tom. (Maybe it's just that two guitars are better than one!)

Perhaps I'm just cranky. One shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth, and to be 
fair, I was underslept and distracted (should have taken a bathroom break midway 
through the set). And as always, I was having trouble quieting my critical mind. 
Maybe if I'd kept some notes, I could better recall specific good parts of the 
show.

A few other things:

There was a pesky buzz throughout the set, which seemed to be coming from Tom's 
guitar/amp. Knowing Tom's finickiness, I was surprised he didn't do something 
about it. Maybe it was only in the house PA? I wanted to say something about it, 
but it was such a mellow atmosphere - the Galapagos Art Space is almost insanely 
elegant - that I was inhibited.

Tom was walking around talking to people after the set, and that must have been 
the closest I've ever gotten to him. I was surprised by how tall he is. Plus, 
he's filled out some - not fat by any means, but more proportionate to his 
height. I wouldn't want to tussle with him!

- Jesse
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