Mahogany Frog at Orion

[Rick and Roll]

I know no one will be able to attend this but the email I got from Mike Potter is hilarious, here goes:

I'm very excited to be able to welcome Canada's (which is technically a
foreign country) Mahogany Frog back to the Orion Studios stage! These guys
were a huge hit and put on a fantastic show last spring when they played
here as part of their first-ever US tour. This time they're coming back to
record a live CD for Moonjune records. Do check out their MySpace page -
they have some great music and videos on there that will give you a feel for
what this band is about.

You know, after a while I run out of things to say to try to convince people
to come out and see this or that band. The fact is that every time I do a
show here I hope that lots of people choose to show up - but perhaps y'all
get tired of all the hyperbole about how "ground-breaking", or "fresh and
new", or how "important", how "great", yada yada... each band is. So I'm
going to tone it down for these guys, because they don't need it. After all,
Mahogany Frog represents an entirely new direction for contemporary music
and has vastly expanded the landscape and musical lexicon, advancing the
boundaries of all art forms, both eastern and western. Their music is a
breath of fresh air in this season of political and financial distress; a
soaring edifice of joy with unimaginable healing capacity. Each performance
stands on it's own as what will surely be regarded as seminal events in any
future world history lesson. Wildly intelligent, the members of the band all
are able to answer the great questions of our time, such as "what is prog?",
"why don't chicks dig prog", and "why did Phil Collins ruin Genesis?" In
fact, if you don't come to see Mahogany Frog at Orion Studios this Saturday
night you will be shunned and ridiculed by your friends, disowned by your
family, fired from you job, and harassed by the US government, and will die
penniless, single, and alone, to be buried in a plain un-marked grave behind
Lou's All Night Nude Review and Motorcycle Repair Shop/Tattoo Parlor (on
Pulaski Hightway near Erdman Ave). Ya - so there!


Mahogany Frog are:

Jess Warkentin - guitars/keyboards
Graham Epp - guitars/keyboards/trumpet
Scott Ellenberger - bass/trumpet
Jean Paul Perron - drums/percussion/electronica


The music draws influence from an array of genres: electronica, progressive
rock, jazz, late 50's "ultra" lounge, and ambient/experimentalism. With the
use of a plethora of keyboards (both analogue & digital), feedback-ridden
guitars, fuzz-bass and walls of electronic samples, the group creates a
tube-saturated, highly overdriven jazz-rock, delivered with an enormous
amount of energy. The music itself can be both challenging and soothing to
the listener: stabbing riffs using unusual notes and time signatures often
dissolve into lush electro-soundscapes, and straightforward, rhythmic
interludes can merely lay the foundation for syncopated counter-melodies or
sound effects. The orchestration of the instruments are unorthodox at times:
using complex modal progressions or phrases as a basis for experimentations
in arrangement, the rhythm and lead sections trade roles quickly and often.
Musically speaking, the four members of Mahogany Frog have the tendency to
spread themselves thin, as they attempt to tackle slicing leads and warm
backdrops simultaneously. Live, the songs all flow together, creating a
steady bombardment of highly progressive, exciting music that explores
countless moods and ideas.

It's likely safe to say these guys are one of the most overlooked
progressive bands anywhere! Fans of modern to Canterbury jazz rock will
definitely find lots to like!


I'm still looking for an opener for this show - I have a couple of leads but
no firm comittments yet.

I know I'll be there to drink leftover Belgain Ale!