I played a show with the esteemed Ryu Hankil, Jez riley French, Paul Khimasia Morgan, and Daniel Jones last night at the coachwerks in Brighton. A 7 hour train journey doesn't exactly bring out the best in anyone, but arrving into Brighton, just knowing I was close to the sea and hearing the multifarious gulls was enough to hitch up a toothy grin. We played two sets, the first highlighting a ground that we have all walked many times before, and the second bringing to the fore a much more dense morphology. A layer of initial confusion and joy followed us around towards the end of the second set, if I remember correctly, a steady series of drops (deadened due to the floor of the space, which was set up for dance rehearsals) started to appear at different points around the performers and audience. This was all happening during the enfolding moments of our set, as we became quieter the drops became more and more apparent, causing members of the group to look around in confusion as to who or what was making such a noise. After a time all gave way to a wash of white noise, making its way from one side of the venue to the other, and as the rain lessened in in its motion the drops were noticed once more, not that they had gone away you understand, and neither had the smiles of all the performers.
Sometimes it seems that a series of, what one might call ill advised choices, can heighten ones understanding of an environment, and in turn paradoxically create a positive event. I believe this was the case last night. A very nice lady called Laura stated that the second performance went on for far too long, and perhaps she was right, but had we not played for too long then perhaps this wonderful moment would have been lost on us.
