The summer concert season is well under way already. This past weekend

featured concerts by Superdrag, Knoxville’s latest major label

heroes, and legendary performer Laurie Anderson.

Superdrag played to a packed house this past Saturday at the Mercury

Theatre. The intensity of their music doubles when you can actually see

these guys hunker down on their gee-tars. They don’t choreograph their

“rock moves” or anything like that, but move they do. The energy they put

into their live playing is infectious, especially to the already-won

audience. Not to be too serious about things, though, Superdrag exhibit

plenty of sense of humor.

“Here’s one of our corporate rock anthems,” said singer-guitarist John

Davis, introducing the first song, “Whitey’s Theme.”

The Superdrag fellows obviously know how to handle the highs and lows of

dynamic guitar playing, taking deceptively simple riffs and treating them

in alternating ways — sometimes with subtlety, sometimes with force. Don

Coffey, with his strong, straightforward style, is by far one of the most

powerful drummers in town.

Sunday night at the Bijou Theatre, performance artist-storyteller Laurie

Anderson presented the Knoxville installment of her Nerve Bible

tour. Anderson’s high-tech multimedia show was nothing less than

enthralling. No big-stage rock monster stadium light show can top the

dramatic effects Anderson achieves. Her voice is capable of an impressive

range, even without her trademark synthesized vocal effects. She has

amazing control, jumping from near-spoken poetic verse to doing her own

backup singing in soprano.

“History is an angel blown backwards into the future,” sang Anderson in her

first number. Video images of free-falling feathers added atmosphere to the

story-song. Anderson followed this theme with personal stories of her

grandmother and various travels she herself has undertaken in recent

years.

Her storytelling abilities stood out, even in the mesmerizing awe of her

stage theatrics. She told one story without theatrics, simply sitting on

the edge of her stage runway. Her voice alone carried the drama of the

tale.

The technical theatrics of the show were far from overbearing, as the case

could easily be. A three-section movie screen was used to great effect,

with a mixture of prerecorded video and live feeds from strategically

placed cameras, one of which was mounted on Anderson’s violin bow. Her

interaction with the technological aspect of the show was perfectly planned

and glitch-free. The transition between stories, songs and images flowed

with smooth grace.

This high level of professionalism directly reflected the theme of The

Nerve Bible. The lyrics of one song consisted of World Wide Web addresses,

the series of numbers, letters and punctuation that allow a person to

communicate across the world from their computer. Anderson mixed very

personal stories with finely choreographed video projection, lighting and

lasers. Musically, preset synthesizer sequences mixed with Anderson’s live

instrumentation, including violin, keyboards and guitar.

One of Anderson’s most interesting instruments was her wardrobe. She wore

an electronically-rigged suit, enabling her to produce sound with a flick

of her wrist, a soft sidestep or a swing of her arm. Again, all instruments

and effects were utilized to perfect effect.

IN OTHER NEWS:

Tonight offers a double-show bill of exciting live acts at the Mercury

Theatre, starting with an early evening “matinee” with Cletus and

Torture Kitty. Cletus hail from South Carolina with an energetic

punk rock sound. Those local funsters known as Torture Kitty will open the

show with their own brand of stuff.

If you don’t have tickets for tonight’s Jon Spencer Blues Explosion

show also at the Mercury, then you aren’t going to get any. The show is

sold out. Also appearing are The Idle Hands and R.L.

Burnside.