The Octopus Project (Not that one) – 4/17 @ the Velvet Jones

Photos: Larry Mills

Portland’s Menomena generate a sound comparable to what a normal ten-piece band would sound like, yet manage to trim it down to a mere three. Each member uses a different variation of limbs to provide this texture (excluding the two-armed beast, Danny Seim, manning [or manhandling] the drums). The shared singing duties are nothing compared to the octopusal juggle that Brent Knopf performs with two guitars, a keyboard, and glockenspiel, or the rhythm-pouring-from-his-fingers (and mouth) control that Justin Harris provides to his quartet of baritone sax, bass, guitar, and floor organ (I think).

Left to right: Knopf, Harris, and Seim in action.

Tonight the trio graced Santa Barbara with their first showing, bringing along with them the defining cries of virtuous souls through an army of different medians creating a show dripping with passion and wreaking of power. From the first wail of Pelican to the cacophonous ending with Evil Bee, the path Menomena decided to set us on was visceral and infinite, not finding the barriers normally assigned to a mechanical set, that set lies below

The Pelican
Wet and Rusty
Weird
Kilemall
Trigger
Muscle’n Flow
Boyscoutin’
Strongest Man in the World
West
My My
Twenty Cell Revolt
Rotten Hell
Evil Bee

Harris leading the charge...

Knopf glockenspieling it..

Just want to thank Larry at Myconcertphotography.com for taking and giving to me these awesome pictures. It was a pleasure.

Catch them the next week if you’re anywhere near any of these place:
Apr 19 2009     8:00P
SLO Vets Auditorium w/ Bloc Party     San Luis Obispo, California
Apr 20 2009     8:00P
Fox Theater w/Bloc Party     Oakland, California
Apr 21 2009     8:00P
UC Davis Freeborn Hall w/Bloc Party     Davis, California
Apr 22 2009     8:00P
Roseland w/Bloc Party     Portland, Oregon
Apr 24 2009     8:00P
Showbox w/Bloc Party     Seattle, Washington
Apr 25 2009     8:00P
Showbox w/Bloc Party     Seattle, Washington