Author Topic: SHADOWLAND (Project of The Week for 9th of October)  (Read 401 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

moleshow

  • Czar of Nerdy and Useless Information
  • Administrator
  • Full Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 220
  • Debatably Helpful
  • Location: Kay See Ehm Oh
    • View Profile
SHADOWLAND (Project of The Week for 9th of October)
« on: October 09, 2017, 10:17:06 pm »
i think it's a bit spooky, with all the rebirth, birth, NDEs and reincarnation. you know.
"All our lives we love illusion, neatly caught between confusion and the need to know we are alive."

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter


Meisekimiu

  • Global Moderator
  • Jr. Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 62
  • Fast and Bulbous
    • View Profile
Re: SHADOWLAND (Project of The Week for 9th of October)
« Reply #1 on: October 16, 2017, 02:32:55 pm »
SHEEEEE-ADOWLAAAAND

Shadowland is currently the closest I've come to seeing The Residents live-- more on that later. I first experienced Shadowland for the first time this year. I stayed away from watching it until I watched Theory of Obscurity, and I delayed that for a while since I wanted to wait until I was READY to watch that. So, to be clear, I've only really experienced the webcast version "Live @ Etrange Festival" and listened to the live album put out later.

Anyway... Shadowland is... kind of weird. I mean, the whole RCB Trilogy is weird, but Shadowland is weird as a conclusion to the trilogy. Talking Light had completely original songs and video content written for it. The Wonder of Weird had Randy's whole crisis dominating the narrative with no videos. And Shadowland returns to the video format but offers no original songs and a good percentage of the videos are based on existing songs. This is quite weird... the trilogy gets less interesting as it goes on, with TL being the most groundbreaking. But of course there's the whole "Life in Reverse" theme going on, which means that the shows are getting more interesting over the course of the narrative. Which is a much better way to look at it.

I really like the song selection for Shadowland. I'm happy to see Is He Really Bringing Roses? performed live. And I think the Shadowland performance of Constantinople is pretty great. And Hard & Tenderly being performed live is just really special. One of my favorite songs from what I've experienced of Shadowland is the version of "My Second Wife". Is it being mashed up with another song or did The Residents just add lyrics to the song? I'm pretty curious, I really like this version.


Anywho... way back in 2016 was the US Shadowland tour and I was hyped. But there was a problem. I was going to a much more expensive concert in California the day The Residents were playing in my city (Phoenix, AZ). I had VIP tickets to some Japanese "idol" concert and was going to be spending the weekend in California... but The Residents were going to be performing their last show in California that same weekend! So, I bought tickets for the Solana Beach show, excited to finally see The Residents.

And so there I was. In some beachside town at around sunset, outside a venue to see The Residents for the very first time. And there were other Residents fans there too! It was surreal. I've talked to a few Residents fans face-to-face before, but I've never been in the company of that many fans before... heck, I've never been in the presence of more than one at a time before. I talked to one woman who mentioned something about seeing the Talking Light shows or something. I remember she said to me, "You're really going to enjoy this show, all their shows are always so crazy". I was so excited.

But in the back of my mind, I knew there was a problem. Most Rz shows are in venues which serve alcohol and I was just under the age of 21 at that time. That fact was actually why my friends, who I was staying with and who drove me all the way to Solana Beach, were with me in line to get into the venue. There was uncertainty as to if I'd actually get into the venue. If I wasn't allowed in, we'd all go to this famous Korean Barbecue place relatively nearby. But soon it was time to start letting people in, even if The Residents and crew were apparently running late. And they were doing ID checks. As they got to me in line, I just asked for clarification that it was a 21+  show (which I already knew it was) and just told them I didn't have my ID on me and walked away.

My friends urged me to get back in line anyway and show them my ID, just in case they did let me in and just wanted my ID to clarify that I'm under 21. I told them that probably wasn't the case but they told me it wouldn't hurt to try. I went back in line and the ID check guy immediately confronted me. "You said you didn't have your ID but I saw you talk to your friends over there. I know you have a fake ID," he said to me. "What? No this is my ID. I'm under 21 but they wanted me to show you my ID anyway." "Well then why did you say you didn't have your ID then? Huh?" "Well I knew I wasn't getting in anyway so I didn't want to get out my ID!" "I saw you talking to your friends, man, I know all the tricks people use to get into bars" "I'm not trying to trick you, my friends just thought that I should show my ID anyway!" And with that he said he'd get security if I persisted any more. Which is weird because I thought he was security but whatever.

Anyway, I turned back to my friends, feeling very much disappointed. I think I might have had tears in my eyes. As I walked back, I remember seeing a car pass by the venue. I'm not a car person but it looked like a pretty nice car. There was another car closely behind it, and I recall seeing some kind of big marching band bass drum in the back seat. And there was this person in the first car. Maybe I was just feeling really emotional at that moment, or maybe the tears were blurring my vision but that person looked so familiar somehow... but maybe it was only in my mind.

We're taking you... to the Shadowland...
レジデンツはほとんど日本人だけど、誰も知らない。

moleshow

  • Czar of Nerdy and Useless Information
  • Administrator
  • Full Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 220
  • Debatably Helpful
  • Location: Kay See Ehm Oh
    • View Profile
Re: SHADOWLAND (Project of The Week for 9th of October)
« Reply #2 on: October 17, 2017, 08:14:54 pm »
aw, mewee. that's super sweet. your time will come. i can feel it- the struggle of being JUST A LITTLE BABY and having that sort of ruin everything all the time.

i'm a LAZY ADMIN and so i've decided to leave this one up until.... ehh... friday of this week, then i'll let the final one kick in for this month, which will last until halloween.
"All our lives we love illusion, neatly caught between confusion and the need to know we are alive."

moleshow

  • Czar of Nerdy and Useless Information
  • Administrator
  • Full Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 220
  • Debatably Helpful
  • Location: Kay See Ehm Oh
    • View Profile
Re: SHADOWLAND (Project of The Week for 9th of October)
« Reply #3 on: October 20, 2017, 03:16:06 pm »
instead of going about this in the manner that i usually would, with deep, serious analysis of the show’s role in the Residential world, what it means, what its presence indicates in conjunction with the rest of their works, all that sort of stuff, it feels more fitting to do something a little more personal here.

see, in 2015 (while the south american run of Shadowland was going on), i discovered The Residents. needless to say, nothing was ever quite the same after. after i became acquainted with the vague shape of their concept, i dared to delve into what they were up to in the present. it was a strange time. conveniently, the US tour had yet to rear its head, so over the next few months, i swam around in the deep end for a while… then, april arose and it was TIME FOR MOLESHOW TO SEE SHADOWLAND.

and that i did! sitting outside of the 9:30 Club at 1 in the afternoon, i sat there with my buddy. waiting. making awkward, apologetic eye contact with Miles and Hein. making slightly less awkward eye contact with employees.

when the time came, hoo boy. i had a dumb, smiling look on my face the whole time. there is something so particularly magical about the sounds of Shadowland. the guitar sighs, sparkles, jumps, sometimes screeches… the keyboard creates a physical space that surrounds you in a fluttering, floating world of checker-print beauty. the vocals give texture and meaning to that space. that’s a stupid, fancy way of saying that the music is good.

making frequent eye-contact with Randy was accentuated by the fact that he was, yknow, sort of putting his crotch in my face. it seemed as if he came over to the side i was on more often than the other one, but maybe i’m only imagining things. ANYWAYS.

what i really love about the show besides all that (even the Nike Clown Shoes- like, hey? what?) are the Shadow Stories. there is something so particularly beautiful, short and sweet, about them. they all seem to hold a mournful aggression, or an aggressive sense of mourning. (also, that version of Mourning Glories makes me weep- that guitar just sings.) they’re sort of ethereal and beautiful. super cool stuff.

i would go into detail about making terrified eye contact with Nolan and EDF after the show, or witnessing Homer, Jana and Francis all walk past me, or even meeting Homer… but that’s, perhaps, for another time.

SHADOWLAND GOOD SHOW. INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT TO ME.
"All our lives we love illusion, neatly caught between confusion and the need to know we are alive."