Oneida -- You'e having a laugh

I think their recent records are not reflecting how insane the band is as a live unit currently. I've had the please of seeing two of their Ocropolis performances - all-day continuous jams with various musicians sitting in and they are absolutely amazing for the most part. They have apparently recorded all this stuff but haven't figured out how to release it yet. Hopefully it will emerge eventually. The last time I saw them at Asbury Park ATP James McNew from Yo La Tengo sat in on bass the entire time. Before Secret Project Robot re-located they did a weekend of performances which included Rated O in its entirety with guest musicians and a performance of Absolute II at 5 AM just when the sun was coming up - it certainly worked in that context, on record not so much. I think Rated O will remain their magnum opus/statement of purpose and I'm glad its out there but they seem to be mainly a live band currently.

p much same here, except that I hadnt heard about the People of the North album, for some reason I am kind of itching to hear it now

The first People of the North album I think I liked (must revisit), haven't made it more than 3/4 way through the new one tho.

I'd still kill for a chance to see them live. Sometimes I curse my distance from metropolis. But only for that reason.

oh hey, Fat Bobby from Oneida wrote about an old Atari game for Paste today.

http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2013/10/oneidas-bobby-matador-on-kaboom-virtuosity-and-rep.html

Oneida w/ James McNew streaming here:

http://www.nyctaper.com/2013/10/oneida-october-4-2013-glasslands-flacmp3streaming-full-set/

Very cool so far. Apparently ends with "Sheets of Easter" too, but yeah gotta listen to the whole thing still. Saw Dump last year or so and James ripped it up on guitar, so this could be really cool.

sweet, this is sounding pretty radical so far.

Yeah, it was good. Gotta listen again when I can focus on it a little more, but the first track was especially cool. "Sheets of Easter" is maybe more powerful if you are there in the room with it (as I am sure the first song was as well), but still cool to hear it live again after all of these years. Blew my head right off the first time I saw it.

did anyone else listen to this? http://worstgigeverpodcast.tumblr.com/post/68782310428/episode-77-kid-millions-sweetheart-of-the

the story was top notch fiasco comedy and he was an amusing storyteller
my most lol part was the duration of their performance

Given the circumstances, I bet they weren't even a great 6 minutes. Thanks for that link! It was great.

The part that blew my mind, after all that build-up, was to learn that that show happened in 2010 (if I remember correctly). Funny, but man they deserve better than that.

that should have a spoiler alert! but yeah, that was the gut-sinking part.

6 minutes!

Sorry, didn't think about the spoiler aspect. It does not make it less funny, just really bizarre, but I won't expand here in case others want to check this out before hearing more of my thoughts.

My worst gig ever had a similar story-arc, but we got 15 minutes (maybe even 20) at least. You can get something out in 15 minutes, but absolutely zero in 6.

i know! that's why it's so funny. 6 minutes!

He has an essay in a recent N+1 that recounts this gig and a lot of other autobiographical details (relationship to drumming, Oneida's early days) that is worth a read.

I used to love his tour diaries, both funny and sad and very relatable. Interesting guy for sure.

hahaha this is someone from trans am talking about playing with oneida
http://thequietus.com/articles/09708-trans-am-2

Oneida: Oneida played before us one night and they wouldn't fucking shut up. They started doing the same repetitive chords and monotonic, single-syllable chant for maybe 5-10 minutes. Sort of like "Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die!" Although it could have been some other word. Paralyzing.

Doubly so as one of them (Phil Manley I think) joined Oneida as "Double Rainbow" or something for a while. Probably played "Sheets of Easter" at some point and learned to love the chord.

I've probably mentioned this above somewhere, but we put on an Oneida show about ten years ago in London where they played an hour long set of just two numbers, Sheets Of Easter and Husker Du's New Day Rising.

Yep, and eternally I am unhappy that I cannot hear that! (or see it no less, but would settle for a good audio recording of it)

Me too. New Day Rising is one of my favorite songs ever.

third

Damnit, SOMEBODY must have a recording of that show. I have asked a bunch of different people though. I wish Oneida had tapers circa 2001-2006 (well, most eras of the band really).

Well, this semms to be the Oneida thread to post stuff in at this point (and yeah, they are having a laugh often enough so ....) Most recent set from Glasslands up for streaming via NYCTaper. James McNew sits in for the whole set too:

http://www.nyctaper.com/2014/07/oneida-july-17-2014-glasslands-flacmp3full-set-streaming/

i saw man forever + so percussion earlier this month and it was very enjoyable. it was super cool to see a performance that was just drummin' + voices.

Missed that tour, unfortunately. I saw them in Charlottesville with bass/guitar/keyboard drones, and it was great. Nathan Bowles was the drum partner (on this tour both drummes, i.e. Kid and Nathan, played single-stroke rolls the ENTIRE set, about 40 minutes straight without pausing). Mike Gangloff (Nathan and Mike both play in Pelt amongst many other great bands/solo incarnations) played keyboards. It was heavy as hell in a beautiful monolithic repetitive way.

I am hoping to make it to Chicago for CAVE+ONEIDA on July 30th.

!! i will be there and so will crut!!
yaaay

Ugh why is everything in Chicago happening on July 30-31 when I'm moving this month?

feel like they should just stop having shows in chicago after the CAVE+ONEIDA bill. holy smokes.
recording from last week smokes.

On the other hand I do have the 31st off to deal with movers so I'm sure it's a great idea to stay up really late the night before.

Missed that tour, unfortunately. I saw them in Charlottesville with bass/guitar/keyboard drones, and it was great. Nathan Bowles was the drum partner (on this tour both drummes, i.e. Kid and Nathan, played single-stroke rolls the ENTIRE set, about 40 minutes straight without pausing). Mike Gangloff (Nathan and Mike both play in Pelt amongst many other great bands/solo incarnations) played keyboards. It was heavy as hell in a beautiful monolithic repetitive way.
― grandavis, Monday, July 21, 2014 9:58 AM (22 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this sounds so rad

movers: "where should we put this desk?"
NA: "You've got to look into the LIGHT LIGHT LIGHT LIGHT LIGHT LIGHT LIGHT LIGHT LIGHT LIGHT LIGHT LIGHT LIGHT LIGHT LIGHT LIGHT LIGHT LIGHT LIGHT LIGHT LIGHT LIGHT LIGHT LIGHT LIGHT LIGHT LIGHT LIGHT"

Hah hah hah! A+ Tyler.

Global, that show was truly great, and the faces Nathan was making by minute 30 or so of playing single-stroke rolls were amazing. I cannot imagine what that would be like.

Alternate version:

movers: "where should we put this desk?"
NA: "Just put it over there to the RIGHT RIGHT RIGHT RIGHT RIGHT RIGHT RIGHT RIGHT RIGHT RIGHT RIGHT RIGHT RIGHT RIGHT RIGHT RIGHT RIGHT RIGHT RIGHT RIGHT RIGHT RIGHT RIGHT RIGHT RIGHT RIGHT RIGHT RIGHT"

lol

movers: "where should we put this desk?"
NA: (25-minute keyboard drone punctuated with wordless chanting and tom-tom thumps)

haaaaahaha
cannot even remotely imagine minute 10 of single stroke roll much less 30 or 40
wtf

so stoked

if you're in PA (or anywhere near PA) the philly show with chris forsyth would be amazing too.

Yeah man that is just a killer bill. Wish I lived a little closer to Philly.

the man forever/so percussion show here was amazing

I had told myself that the all-percussion version of Man Forever would not be as interesting, but really I am sure it was. Sorry I missed it but just couldn't make it when they swung through. Glad this project keeps morphing and moving forward, Kid is a good guy.

movers: "where should we put this desk?"
NA: "You've got to look into the LIGHT LIGHT LIGHT LIGHT LIGHT LIGHT LIGHT LIGHT LIGHT LIGHT LIGHT LIGHT LIGHT LIGHT LIGHT LIGHT LIGHT LIGHT LIGHT LIGHT LIGHT LIGHT LIGHT LIGHT LIGHT LIGHT LIGHT LIGHT"

― tylerw, Monday, July 21, 2014 10:23 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Not really feeling that "Cedars" song so much from the live set. Found the vocals distracting and not interesting enough to warrant the repetition. Some of the music was all right, but have enjoyed the rest of the set a lot more so far.

One of my favourite Oneida anecdotes: " I feel like we played somewhere like Chattanooga, where there was almost no one at the bar, and there was a carnival in town. So at the bar were these scrappy old carnies, like scary dudes with one tooth and a wild look in their eyes. Not a ton of people, I’m talking 15 dudes from a carnival (laughs). And maybe two other people, a bartender, three fans, and the band we were touring with. So we went up there and played this song for 15 minutes, and I think it pissed them off but also made them happy. I remember them stomping around the room thinking we were saying “die, die, die,” these crazy old hillbilly carny men going “die, die, die,” doing Monty Python style goose-stepping walks around the room.

That is a good anecdote! Can picture the scene very clearly.

Last song in that set, "You Get Brighter", definitely the highlight for me.

woah, they finally pulled off that ISB cover?! Crazy, I have to listen to that.
They talked about covering that song like 15 years ago.

Bobby really wanted a harpsichord iirc.
lol this doesn't sound anything like the incredible string band song.