Cat Jams

Videos / Press / GUESTBOOK / SHOWS / RELEASES

xml / blogger / bloglines / myspace / mixi / flickr

download all releases for free from Archive.org,
and then buy them somehow

stream all audio on current page

since 11/13/03 

©2003-5 Cat Jams Label / Blanche Braden / Aaron Arnoldy / authors & artists / Channing Kennedy

As you may know, on Monday the 11th, I performed at Eastside Tavern as DJ RAVVEO))), opening for my psych-metal friends Warhammer 48K and Champagne. My friend Emily (you might be familiar with her Dreamboat video) agreed to be my stage assistant. My method of DJing has basically cemented itself into making a mix at home the day before, then spending the set dancing and doing theatrics. This set was no exception. I dressed as Marie Antoinette, with giant hoop skirt, white opera gloves, and curly white bouffant, with my usual kabuki ghost makeup and my new superstar wireless headset microphone. Emily dressed like a Revolutionary War minuteman, with lots of gold lamé, so maybe sort of like a Spanish Armada soldier. I ran the microphone output into my laptop and added lots of delay, which synced up and down with the shifting mix BPM. I only spoke in a piercing falsetto voice, giving commentary on the songs as they were playing or making lame one-liners, and the echo made everything all but unintelligible anyway. I did lots of thrusting dances and wandered around and outside the bar, talking to people. Lots of people (as many as 12 at one point, with is pretty good for Eastside on an early Monday night) got out on the dance floor and shook it with Emily and me. Other people were deeply disturbed by my presence, appearance, attitude, and/or song selections. At one point I pulled a barstool onto the dancefloor and under my giant skirt and did some hovering-feet dance moves, then pulled it back out and said "There's something wrong with my stool!" That was probably the best joke I made. It probably sounded like "ZzzSomthingSomethingSOMETHINGSOMETHINGZZZZZ" but that's what I was saying.

About a half-hour into the 45-minute set, the Ray Baretto song "Soul Drummers" came on. I got up on stage and stood behind Sabrina's small synth-drum kit, which was not plugged in. I pretended to play drums along with the song during the first breakdown, and made a lot of surprised faces and pointed to myself with the sticks and shrugged. Emily took over fake drumming duties for the second breakdown. The next song was Orgy's cover of New Order's "Blue Monday", which I sang along with in an Orgy-type voice. The song after that was a mashup between an excerpt of that new 45-minute DFA/Nike track and ZZ Top's "Legs". I sang along with that in a samurai voice in phonetically-transferred English Japanese ('legs' = 'reguzu') and pretended to play my unplugged synth guitar during the guitar solo. As this track ended, with Emily's assistance, I stood in the middle of the dancefloor, took off my top, and sank down inside my giant hoop skirt. Emily then dropped in some key costume items, and after several seconds, I emerged out the bottom dressed as Elton John, in a two-piece black tuxedo (sans shirt), red cummerbund, suspenders, black dress shoes, white top hat, white gloves, black cane, and giant round sunglasses. I then called my friend Taylor out of the audience and lip-synced a late-period Elton John song ("This Train Don't Stop") to her while we went on a mini-date around the bar, ordering drinks and laughing; I mouthed the bridge to myself in a mirror, whipping off my sunglasses and looking myself right in the eyes before collapsing, and having Taylor help me up. I then told Taylor that there was someone in the audience that I wanted her to meet, and it was Emily, back at the front of the dancefloor, who put a tiara on Taylor's head. Then the Cuiziner mixtape verson of "Take My Breath Away" began and the two of them led everyone (like eight couples) in a slowdance, without me having to say anything. (though I think I said "This is the last song of the evening, folks, so why not spend it with someone specSPECZZZZZZZZZZ") I slowdanced around a bit and found out that SLAG likes to give hickies.

In other words, it was totally amazing and great; concept, execution, and reception all came together for what was definitely one of the greatest performances of my young life, imho. Thanks be to Emily, without whom it probably would have been a weird guy half-assedly forgetting things on stage for most of an hour. Here is the YouTube video of the first three minutes of the set -- not great but you can see my and Emily's outfits. There would have been more but Gregg cannot be expected to choose filming over dancing when the jams are that blow'd up. The second half documents the entirety of the rehearsal Champagne did for their set.



Nick King from the Columbia Tribune took the following pictures to accompany this article about YouTube.



That's Katie Larceny dancing behind Gregg, and that's me during the latin drum demo. And that's all the documentation I have of our set. If you are reading this and have any photos, or know someone who does, plz I'd like to have a copy? for xmas?

After the set, I smeared off most of my makeup but left on my tux pants, cummerbund, and suspenders (since they're all stitched together), and white top hat, so I ended up looking like a tapdancing mime or a sexy cabaret Huckleberry Finn. Champagne played their set, and it was the best Champagne set I've seen to date imho. More info on the YouTube page:



Then Warhammer 48K brought it. As Old Man Hammons would say, they were tour-tight. I took over filming duties from Gregg at this point, as you can tell by the focus moving off of armpits and onto me making faces in mirrors.



After the show, I kept filming, despite being well on my way toward a new personal record of Sparkses (Sparks is like a Red Bull crossed with two beers) consumed in an evening (4). This is a lot like climbing a mountain, because it's impressive in concept, stupid in execution, and involves symptoms similar to oxygen deprivation. In addition to harassing my friends while shirtless, I also managed to blow it completely with a very attractive young female acquaintance whom I really liked. In my ... defense?, she had missed my set and its excellence and thus had no idea why I was appearing or acting in said manner, and the next morning and unrelatedly, she left forever (because she was an exchange student). Anyway, it turns out I filmed it. (Somehow, the girl's face is never in the shot.) Sparks, it's been fun, but I think we should spend some time apart.



Anyhoo, here's the mix that I played as DJ RAVVEO))), in case you want to have your own great party.

DJ RAVVEO))) live at Eastside, 12/11/06 (47:03, 79.3M)
King Coleman, "The Boo Boo Song"
Ludacris, "Southern Hospitality"
Kelis, "Caught Out There"
Ciara, "Promise (Kyaal remix)"
Almodóvar y McNamara, "Suck It to Me"
Boys from the Bottom, "Boom! I Got Your Girlfriend"
Marilyn Manson, "Wrapped in Plastic"
Gucci Crew II, "Sally (That Girl)"
Nirvana, "Half the Man I Used To Be"
Boys from the Bottom, "Lick My Ass (Remix)"
Ciara, "Oh (instrumental)"
Cuizinier, "Oh"
Ginuwine, "Pony"
Cam'ron, "U Ought to Know (instrumental)"
MC Miker G and DJ Sven, "Holiday Rap"
Edison Chen, "This Is How We Do"
Doobie Brothers, "What a Fool Believes (screwed by 893, unscrewed by Wayne&Wax)"
Pipo's, "Volt Mix Beat"
Will Smith, "Men In Black (a cappella)"
Vanilla Ice, "Ice Ice Baby (chopped and screwed by Swisha House, unscrewed by Wayne&Wax)"
Beyonce, "Check Up On It (instrumental)"
Cuiziner, "Check On It"
Ray Baretto, "Soul Drummers"
Warhammer 48K, "An Ethereal Oracle 6"
James Harvey vs. SoccerBoy, "DEMO 2006 (excerpt)"
Orgy, "Blue Monday"
LCD Soundsystem, "45:33"
ZZ Top, "Legs"
Elton John "This Train Don't Stop (live)"
Cuiziner, "Take My Breath Away"

Okay, so seriously, send me any photos you have.

Channing

P.S.: A very special thanks to Jason R., who made the most excellent show flyer despite living in Olympia, Washington.

catjams; 12/18/2006 03:48:00 PM; comments=0; play post; ; back to