The Beat Circus

The Fantastical Beat Circus show at Tonic, on the Lower East Side. Openers were the Circus' sibling band Alec & the Eyesores, followed by Brian Dewan, whose presence reminded me of David Lynch's eccentric sincerity. He ambled onstage dressed in khaki shorts and a green tie. Ordinarily he accompanies himself on electric zither but it had broken in transit, so tonight he backed his folk Americana on accordion & an electrified autoharp that was grafted onto an aluminum walker. He opened with "Kill For Peace" by the Fugs. Another of his tunes was about the invention of a robotic prosthetic appendage called "The Boston Arm." He finished his set with an enthusiastic medley of children's singalongs & playground taunts.

Now then, the mighty mighty Beat Circus. As usual they were joined by a few musical guests, notably Curtis Hasselbring from Golem on trombone & Julia Kent, formerly of Rasputina, on cello. Things kicked things off with a scraping rhythm on a washboard, and the audience was treated to a succession of subjects such as Deadwood saloons & Coney Island gangsters set to the tunes of Russian ballads, gypsy waltzes, drunken shanties, madcap twosteps, & of course their signature finale, the Kurt Weill-penned bootstomper, "Mandalay Song." Having been in the studio of late recording their followup album to Ringleader's Revolt, the band was in top form. I honestly have no idea why these guys aren't huge. Even those more conventional audience members who might squint oddly at the Nino Rota-on-a-killing-spree frenzy of the tunes must be amazed by the formidable musicianship of the band. Maybe it's just a matter of time. Until then at least we can take advantage of the lower ticket prices.