Yes, Paul, You CAN Reheat a Souffle

OK, I'll admit it. Six months ago, when this Plasticland reunion thing was announced, I had my doubts. "Reunion" shows are kind of a hit or miss thing anyway, and while I won't name names, rest assured I wasn't the only person in town who knew this had the potential to be either a trainwreck or a triumph.

Well, duh, it was the latter, so let me get my lecture out of the way now. Because while I could make a few cracks about the average age of both band and audience (which I already did regarding the Mott the Hoople show), I won't, because there's a lot of young bands playing today in this town who are working the acid-tinged psychedelia genre, who should have been there to pay tribute to their roots and to see how it's done by the Masters. Yeah, I'm talking to you, entire local lineup of Psych Fest: you may not realize it, but you were at least influenced, if not even made possible, by these Milwaukee spuds who were writing and playing this music back in the early 80s, wearing these snappy tailored colorful clothes, and lugging around vintage equipment when everybody else was pogoing out with their ripped T-shirts, cheap guitars and solid state amplifiers. And while sonically they could have been smack out of London, 1968, thematically they were pure Brewtown. As The Shepherd Express' Dave Luhrssen pointed out "Safe to say, no ’60s psych band came close to the theme of (lead singer Glenn) Rehse’s 'Nonstop Kitchen,' whose lyric is an exasperated account of housecleaning.

They promised a revue of selections from their entire catalog, and true to form, they did, even opening (as they had every time I've ever seen them) with "Euphoric Trapdoor Shoes" followed by the tune that introduced me to them, "Office Skills". (I was living in Champaign IL at the time the "Battle of the Garages" album came out, and I'd picked up a copy since our local heroes The Vertebrats were on it).  From there, they didn't let up. They assured us they'd be doing two sets, and the crowd packed the floor for the second set (for some reason, everybody seemed to stay seated during set one). 

During an interview last week by Blaine Schultz and Tim Noble on WMSE, Glenn mentioned that "unfortunately there will not be a mellotron --- fortunately not having to haul it around!" Who could blame him? He continued: "I had to put up a lot of my equipment for sale, and that is one of the reasons why I'm no longer an instrumentalist." But the mellotron or Glenn's guitars really weren't that missed. First off, because longtime pal Leroy Buth was on hand to fill in those Rehse guitar parts, looking like Mick Ronson's long lost brother. 

But more importantly, it wasn't Glenn's guitars or his mellotron or any of his gear that Plasticland fans treasured. It was and still is Glenn Rehse himself: he's a consummate frontman, with a caseful of charisma, a songwriting flair in his pocket, and a vocal delivery that still shines. Keyboardist and composer Julie Brandenburg commented afterwards, "You could have gotten that sound through a good keyboard" and she's right, but we all agreed Glenn is such a purist that only a real mellotron would have satisfied him, and we all rolled our eyes lovingly at this realization.

On stage, they all referenced their ages, not as an excuse (there was nothing to make excuses for) but as a humanizing moment. Nobody ever accused Glenn Rehse in his youth of being humble, but tonight he was, and it was endearing.  But not humble in resignation, more of a comfortable-with-himself feel. And then he'd belt out another song. Bassist John Frankovic mentioned on that same radio interview that he'd be seated for most of the show, but apparently the music got in him and the tall stool onstage for him was only sporadically used. Lead guitarist Dan "Miles" Mullen, who along with drummer Vic Demichei are the only ones still working the music clubs consistently, were in their expected top form. Most people thought of "Plasticland" as Rehse/Frankovic, but that leaves one to assume that Mullen and Demichei were just hired hands. Not so: both of them brought their touch to the Plasticland sound. They weren't the only sidemen in this band (Glenn even performed a song about the legendary Bob DuBlon that night, and the spirit of Rob McCuen, who couldn't make it that evening, was definitely in the room), but their contributions were critical to the reasons people all over the world picked up anything Plasticland put out.

And they went the full nine yards with the show: The Paka Paka light show was there, this time run by Dale Kaminski, Reuben Fortier (son of Jerry 4TA, originator of the light show) and A Bill Miller. They used classic old elements such as the liquid light, but it appeared to be completely digital. A careful observer would have noticed the flashes of old Plasticland promo pics occasionally appearing on the backdrop, and with so many projectors, even the ceiling at Shank Hall was festooned with trippy color. The band itself was dressed in snappy (but somewhat comfortable) outfits. It was retro without a pathetic attempt of trying to look young. These are elder statemen of the genre, and they looked, sounded and acted the part.

They didn't play the songs exactly they way they were on the albums, but that's not what you went to a Plasticland show for. The quick little pop tunes were expertly banged out, the psychedelic acid trip jams (like "A Quick Commentary on Wax Museums") took the crowd to some inner dimension and got back in time to refill a beer, and Rehse still found time to dance a little shuffle and wink at the crowd. Particularly -- and wonderfully -- jarring was the show closing "Don't Antagonize Me": instead of the recorded version sound of a single buzzing fly pecking away at the song's protagonist, an entire band of annoying chords hammered away at the hapless singer until the song disintegrated into a tribal Bo Diddley drum beat.

A guy standing next to me was disappointed not to hear "Flower Scene" and I probably wasn't the only one who was hoping for "Go a Go Go Time" but that guy shrugged his shoulders after the set and accepted that "we'll just have to go home and listen to the records." He's right on a number of levels: word is that this show was pretty much a one-and-done deal, so if you missed it, you probably missed it. Rehse and Frankovic said on the radio that there's plenty more music to be released, so pad your wallets now, and fire up your microwaves. Despite what Sir Paul McCartney may have you believe, you can reheat a souffle, and Milwaukee's Plasticland knows how to do it. 

Here's more photographic evidence of the night. 




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