Today was an odd day. But that's not the topic of this post. The topic is that if a 6-piece band can be called a cinematic orchestra, the band Cinematic Orchestra is that band. They have no string or horn sections to speak of, just a single horn player (sax), a bassist, an amazing drummer, an old-school keyboardist, a DJ/sound guy and another guy who does keyboard/programming stuff. Even though it sounds like a typical modern electronica alterna-band, they aren't. They are, well, cinematic. Soulful. Jazzy. Free-form funky sometimes. And even though I loved the show, there are times when extended jams with skronking saxes (which sound as if a mad scientist has merged the sounds of a bandsaw, a seagull and a balloon into one evil sound machine bent on world domination) is just really not my cup of tea. But the rest of the time, they are a good band. They also just did a soundtrack to the DVD of the 1929 (yes, '29) Russian film "Man With A Movie Camera," which I now own and will soon watch.
The opening band was A Whisper in the Noise and the leader of the band appeared to be the terminally shy basement-dwelling slightly manic-depressive love child of Ben Folds and Trent Reznor. In other words, fairly intriguing.