REVIEW: Novacain at the Blackwater

Posted July 27 at 08:12 AM

Only a few people in the crowd June 24 at the Blackwater Cafe seemed to have an inkling about what would happen when the headliner took the stage. And even they couldn't fully predict Novacain's set.

That's because the Stockton avant-garde noise act is in the business of being unpredictable, and their performance was both a concert and an art show.

Novacain's overall sound was a primordial soup: From the bubbling and froth it a new sound would emerge only to be engulfed by the soup once again, developing into something completely different. Middagh Goodwin freely switched between saxophone, trombone, and the elusive slinky-maphone. “Jumpin” Jim played the keys with such intensity that he completely lived up to his name.

Behind them, clips were being shown of random monsters and ghouls, giving the impression that one was either attending the original Acid Tests of the 70’s or was riding the boat in the tunnel from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate factory.

A few times during their set members of the band Hey Manna! jumped on stage to play the drums. This freed up Novacain’s drummer to run outside and grab a container of glass, which he shook all the way back to the stage. Upon reaching the stage, however, he downed an entire beer and smashed the glass into the container.

Novacain’s sound was far from music-friendly, but that’s what they’re going for. If anything, go see them for the completely off-beat performance!

The show opened with with The Delta Breeze, which was made up of solely a guitarist and a drummer. What they lacked in musicians (and musicianship), they made up for in volume ten-fold. As the set progressed, more people meandered inside and found their seats.

By the time the second band, Red Light Fever, had begun, about three-quarter of the seats in the tiny Blackwater were filled. Red Light’s sound was progressive/jam meets garage band. They played oddly syncopated rhythms over a groove on the drums.

One could appreciate their sound a little better, however, if the rhythm guitar was actually in tune. They played pretty well, but they needed to work over some of the syncopation to make their rhythms tighter. - Isaac Lopez / 209Vibe