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Concert Reviews
Vidna Obmana at the University of Hartford
Vidna Obmana made some rare
US solo appearances in early November, 1998. Although I'm not too far
away from Philadelphia, I was unable to attend his November 7th show at
the Gathering hosted
by Chuck van Zyl. So I burned a
couple of vacation days and buzzed on up to the Wilde Auditorium in the
Harry Jack Gray Center on the University of Hartford campus, West
Hartford, Connecticut. Wilde Auditorium is an intimate 200 seater which
was not completely filled, but the event was very well attended on
November 10.
The stage was simply decorated with a large, rectangular Oriental rug
and many tiny candles lining the front and back of the stage. Subdued
but effective lighting and fog were provided by U of H students and Chuck
van Zyl. Vidna Obmana was center stage with a very minimal amount of
equipment. For you gear heads out there (like me!!), there was a rack
of effects to Vidna's left (three reverbs and a looping device), Peter
Gulch's D-50 to his right controlling a Nord Lead, and a mixer in front.
Velcroed to the mixer were five CD players with custom CD-Rs for
providing source sounds. These were mixed with live playing of the Nord
and some acoustic sources; an ocarina, an Hungarian wooden flute, a
shaker, and voice. Using the effects to record, loop, and place sounds
in an environment is the simplistic description of the performance
process. But the devices were tools in the hands of a master.
I wish I had been able to attend the Gathering. I also wish
I had been in attendance of the University of Hartford show, too!!
Physically I *was* there. But soon after the music started, I was
immediately transported off to who knows what inner and outer
dimensions. The music not only sent me on a journey, but was also the
tether which kept me connected to normal time-space. For an hour and a
half, I was at the mercy of the music, gleefully going where it sent
me. Periodically, the musical tether gently pulled me back in, only to
allow me to yo-yo back out again.
Vidna Obmana will be out of the performance limelight in the near future.
Instead, he will be in the studio working on new material and
performance techniques. I feel very fortunate to have been at one of
the last shows he will do for a while. It was also a gas watching him
soak in a little Americana (and a tuna melt!) after the show at a 24
hour diner as he chatted with Chuck and me.
Thanks, also, to Susan Mullis of WWUH-FM,
West Hartford, Connecticut,
for the studio tour, hospitality, and tee shirt!
Galactic Travels is designed to bring WDIY
listeners hour-long soundscapes of electronic, ambient, and space music.
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