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Cornelius' Sensuous Synchronized Show
by Taylor Hofmann posted February 27, 2008
Openers, the Canadian group Holy Fuck, whose Myspace quote is "find something in the trash…plug it in," somehow gave me the image of outdated Nintendo synthesized robots who were never told that they were discontinued. When they seem so happy to be onstage doing what they love, you begin to think that their inanimate counterparts may too be hit by the energy. This is perhaps the point where you also can't find it in your heart to admit to yourself that you pawned away your system and games a long, long time ago.
"Sensuous Synchronized Show" is a play off the album title Sensuous. The use of sibilance aside, however, The Cornelius Group Show was anything but insidious. I can also say that I will now forever associate the color combination of white, red, yellow, black and blue with The Cornelius Group.
In a musical time and place where nearly anything goes, The Cornelius Group uses a bit of the psychedelic past and "what the heck was that?" to allege their nook. No stranger to theatrics, before the show even began, a white sheet, which was rather tricksy and fell down several times before staying up, was hung before the stage. The beginning light effects led to the dramatic revelation of the clothing-matching, unassuming rockers from Japan.
Then came the video component and the audience was bombarded with old school visual and special effects. Who knew mirrors and simple lighting techniques could be engrossing in the era of modern computer graphics imagery (CGI)? Music videos are really nothing new, but these clips were effectively in tune with every sonic reverberation. Images of paint splashes, children blowing bubbles, and extreme close ups of lips stayed with me for hours after the show had ended.
Tracks like the punchy "Gum" and the ringing "Fit Song" got rounds of applause from the diverse concertgoers. Their final song featured sleepy or sleeping babies with lyrics encouraging the audience to "sleep warm" was a calming, and nicely strange way to end the set. And with our brains awash with sound and color, the band, thrilled to be in America took a picture and gave a final bow before exiting the stage.
"Sensuous Synchronized Show" is a play off the album title Sensuous. The use of sibilance aside, however, The Cornelius Group Show was anything but insidious. I can also say that I will now forever associate the color combination of white, red, yellow, black and blue with The Cornelius Group.
In a musical time and place where nearly anything goes, The Cornelius Group uses a bit of the psychedelic past and "what the heck was that?" to allege their nook. No stranger to theatrics, before the show even began, a white sheet, which was rather tricksy and fell down several times before staying up, was hung before the stage. The beginning light effects led to the dramatic revelation of the clothing-matching, unassuming rockers from Japan.
Then came the video component and the audience was bombarded with old school visual and special effects. Who knew mirrors and simple lighting techniques could be engrossing in the era of modern computer graphics imagery (CGI)? Music videos are really nothing new, but these clips were effectively in tune with every sonic reverberation. Images of paint splashes, children blowing bubbles, and extreme close ups of lips stayed with me for hours after the show had ended.
Tracks like the punchy "Gum" and the ringing "Fit Song" got rounds of applause from the diverse concertgoers. Their final song featured sleepy or sleeping babies with lyrics encouraging the audience to "sleep warm" was a calming, and nicely strange way to end the set. And with our brains awash with sound and color, the band, thrilled to be in America took a picture and gave a final bow before exiting the stage.