Miscellaneous and Live Show Reviews

The Red Masque Live, December 8, 2008 at the Highwire Gallery, Philadelphia

I just listened to the live examples and am very pleased with them. The bass is almost as much of a monster as the bass of Nic Potter on VdGG's "Vital" album or of Bernard Paganotti on Magma's "Live / Hhai", and that's really saying something. Lynnette screams her heart out, and the rest of the band are just as frenetic. Simply wonderful.

Friederike Greifswald-Tolleson, Progarchives.com as well as drummer/singer for the Bald Angels

** listen to downloads of this concert on our downloads page.

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Must Street Journal

The Red Masque – Live in Metuchen, New Jersey, November, 2006
By Bill Knispel

The NJ Proghouse series of concerts has been a boon to fans of progressive music in the NY/NJ metro area. Promoter Jim Robinson has presented a variety of shows, ranging from progressive metal to folk to avant progressive rock. Shows are generally in smaller venues, allowing the audience a much more intimate concert experience.

On 4 November 2006, the NJ Proghouse was host to Skeletonbreath and The Red Masque. Special guests for the evening were Paul Sears, drummer for the Muffins, and Dave Kerman, drummer for Present, 5UUs, and Thinking Plague, among other bands. The show was held at the Old Franklin Schoolhouse, a 200-year old one-room schoolhouse in Metuchen NJ. Venue capacity is listed at 75, and the night of this performance, it appeared to be comfortably 2/3 full.

The Red Masque hails from the Philadelphia area, and has developed a devoted following over the past 5 years. They have seen their share of lineup changes, but currently are a quartet featuring Lynnette Shelley (vocals and percussion), Brandon Ross (bass guitar and keyboards), Andrew Kowal (guitars, mandolin, violin) and Vonorn (drums, percussion, keyboards, theremin). As a result of recent illness, guests Paul Sears and Dave Kerman filled out the band at this performance on drums.

From the beginning of their performance it was apparent that the tech gremlins that visited during Skeletonbreath’s set were not satisfied with breaking a snare drum. Kowal was having extreme difficulty controlling feedback on his guitar; any time he turned his instrument up above a very low volume, it would feed back uncontrollably. Additionally, it seemed the band was having a hard time hearing each other on stage. Despite this, they soldiered on through a set filled with their unique brand of avant garde angualrity, tribal improv, and gothic darkness.

The Red Masque opened with “Carbon 14,” a track from their forthcoming album, Fossil Eyes. An incredibly heavy song, verging on heavy metal, this is a showcase of Ross’s bass playing, deep, distorted, and again Zeuhlish. While quite different in feel from anything the band has released previously, it is also an obvious continuation of their progression from the material on the band's last album, Feathers for Flesh. Shelley has a powerful voice, easily shifting from throaty contralto to a crystalline soprano, yet the difficult sound mix kept her voice, and Kowal’s guitar, from being quite as readily heard. Meanwhile, guest Paul Sears was holding down the shifting beats with remarkable ease; The Red Masque’s music can never be accused of being straightforward and easy to follow, yet he handled the always-changing meter without breaking a sweat.

The group’s second song of the night, “Passage,” opened propulsively, with Crimson-esque guitar and chorded bass over an equally quick drum pattern. From there the song shifted gears into a quieter, spacey vocal section, offering Shelley one of the first opportunities this evening to show off her voice to its fullest. Live, the song takes on a different personality from the studio version, which features layered vocals and a more medieval feel, but by no means is the piece worse for that change. “Passage” flowed into the first of two extended improvisations; this is an area the band excels in, taking songs into distant reaches where other bands often fear to tread. The group showed some restraint with their improvisation at this show, likely as a result of their difficulty in hearing each other play.

The second of two new songs followed this improvisation, titled “The Spider is the Web.” Again, the piece was heavier than any previous The Red Masque composition, and showed in part why the band changed guitarists prior to the recording of the forthcoming Fossil Eyes. They followed this with a second track from their 2004 release Feathers for Flesh, the album opener “House of Ash.” Live, the song evoked the laments of a lost and ancient god, and it is in many ways the quintessential TRM song, with fuzzed bass, angular guitar, primal drumming, and Shelley’s voice weaving a tale of praeternatural darkness.

At that point in the set The Red Masque bid adieu to Paul Sears. Replacing him was the groups’ second special guest for the evening, Dave Kerman, best known as the madman behind the drum kit for groups such as Thinking Plague, Present and 5 UUs, among others. His reputation for percussion insanity preceded him, and he wasted no time in living up to the expectations of the audience, abusing his kit, the walls of the schoolhouse, and fire extinguishers with hand mixers, wind up children’s toys, Barbie dolls, and occasionally even drumsticks. The group opened this final part of their performance with another extended improvisation, evolved with ease into the final composed piece of the evening, “Tidal,” a Lovecrafitan ode to the Great Old Ones that featured on the group’s debut EP from 2001.

Despite the obvious technical difficulties that affected the group’s normal musical fluidity and communication, The Red Masque put on a solid performance, and their new material bodes well for an impressive album to come.

 

(to see YouTube Video of this show, please visit the downloads page on this site)

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September 12, 2004
Progressive Ears Discussion Board

Re: Septemer 11, 2004 show at the Cosmic Coffeehouse in Crosswicks, NJ

Just got back, what a great show! The Cosmic Coffeehouse was a pretty neat little place, I'll have to go see some more shows there. Matt Klotz was a real young guitarist... The Red Masque put on a nice long set with a lot of improv. I love it when they get all crazy like dat! They opened the set with "Bird Brain", this one's changed so much it hardly sounds anything like the original version anymore. Next up was the epic "House of Ash" from the new CD. I love this
tune and I'll be the first to say it's much better live than on the album. After that they went into a very cool improv that had Kiarash doing some really weird sampling stuff with his guitar synth setup, very cosmic. This led right into "Passage" which the band really kicked into high gear. They also played "Tidal" and "Beggars and Thieves".

They had a few neat little light things at the Cosmic coffee house that went really well with TRM's music. Really brought out their pyschedelic/Pink Floyd side. Crosswicks is a very small colonial town with the houses very close together, so after being told they had to turn down if they wanted to play
anymore the band went into one last improv with a guest bass player who's name I don't remember. They didn't play it any softer though...oops. Very nice jam to end the show.

--Floyd

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September 11, 2004
Progressive Ears Discussion Board

Yeah, I just got back too. TRM just gets better every time I see them. The opening act was a solo guitar player guy named Matt Klotz. He's a really nice guy and has lot's of potential... For his style he was not bad though and his instrumental stuff
was the most interesting i.m.o. The Red Masque of course were fine as usual but ofcourse this band is not for the faint hearted or for those who like pretty music although Beggars and Thieves is one of the most beautiful songs I've heard by just about anyone(despite it's dark subject matter). It was cool seeing you too Floyd as well as meeting your friend and it was also nice to chat with the members of Red Masque again all of whom are great people as well as great musicians(and I'm not just saying that). THe new material sounded very fresh and they did a good job of mixing the newer stuff with the older material. They play very well together and I think this is probably the most stable line up of the band.Also, the light show(if you can call it that)added a certain ambience and fit well with the music. Great show guys.
-- Mike

 

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October 9, 2003
Chesnut Hill Local

Free Concert in Mt. Airy by Offbeat Local Rockers

By Ramsay Pennypacker

It's constantly changing - from a brooding enigma to a floating dream to a freeform fury. It challenges all boundaries. And it has taken its name from a story by Edgar Allen Poe. Is it some apparition, haunting the region from Halloween?

Hardly. It's The Red Masque, Germantown's most progressive rock band and a cult favorite with cutting edge fans around the world. Led by singer/percussionist Lynnette Shelley and bassist Brandon Ross, this quartet -- which also includes guitarist Kiarash Emami and drummer Brian (Vonorn) Van Korn -- has been charting a profoundly original course on the experimental scene since 2001. They've worked with some of the leading names in the genre like The Muffins and Chris Cutler, they've toured consistently on the East Coast, and they've released two independent albums that have garnered noncommercial airplay as far abroad as Mexico and Siberia. Now recording a third disc for Big Balloon, a label based in Washington State, The Red Masque seems poised to make a decisive jump to that all important next level. And while this may all look like a bit of shrewd career guidance, it's really just a natural outgrowth of the group's unusually pure self-expression.

"We're kind of weird, eccentric individuals," Shelley said recently. "So the music comes out weird and eccentric. This band is our life. I have to do this music."

The Red Masque, who'll be playing a free show on Saturday, October 11, 4 to 6 p.m., at the Mt. Airy Train Station, is certainly true to its vision. But it's hardly operating in a vacuum. According to Shelley, all the members are heavily influenced by the extreme European art rock that flourished during the '70s. Acts like King Crimson, Van Der Graaf Generator, Henry Cow and even Jethro Tull and Pink Floyd played a roll in shaping the group's complex, often challenging sound. Like those earlier artists, The Red Masque favors long, expansive epics, wiith numerous shifts in style and tone that draw their greatest strengths from the unexpected twist or the starling juxtaposition. A heavy metal riff can suddenly melt into a shimmering electronic mist and then, just as suddenly, explode into a passage of jazz-rock improvisation. Enhancing the heady, kaleidoscopic effect are Shelley's operatic vocals and such unconventional instrumentation as flute and a Celtic harp, any of which can break through the music's turbulent surface at a moment's notice. It might sound like a free-for-all but according to Shelley, there's a design -- and more importantly, a depth of feeling -- to everything the band plays.

"We like stuff that transcends a specific genre," she explains. "I'm more interested in the emotional context as opposed to 'Let's do something because it's really complicated.' I personally have to feel the piece in order to like it."

Shelley says the songs begin as "sketches," which she writes with Ross and then brings to the rest of the band for their considerable input. As the material evolves, passages are built in for onstage improvisation and segues are developed to create a seamless flow. A key component in this process is the group's love of horror stories like Poe's "A Masque of the Red Death." Shelley believes that the atmospheric soundtracks to monster movies have inspired the players to bring a sense of drama and dynamics to their compositions.

The band's two albums, 2001's Death of the Red Masque [EP], and 2002's Victoria and the Haruspex, offer a fine display of this singular sound. Of course, it's hardly the kind of music that gets stocked at Wal-Mart but the Internet, with its ability to link isolated listeners into a coherent fan base, has proven far more receptive. The group's Web site, at www.theredmasque.com, provides an excellent -- if somewhat creepy -- entry point to their world, complete with background material, current news and merchandise links. Exploring the site is a weirdly enjoyable experience and Shelley says it's been essential in building a following, particularly abroad.

A live concert, where the music can surge and billow to its own inner logic, is still the best place to discover The Red Masque, however. And while they've recently been out of action due to recording sessions for that third album, the Mt. Airy gig should give them a perfect opportunity to cut loose, explore some new material and, according to Shelley, give their older songs some radical rearrangements. These fresh shifts are only to be expected, of course. Because, after all, this is one Halloween Masque that's always changing. For more information about the October 11 concert, call 215-242-0854.

 

June 27, 2003
Progressive Ears Discussion Board

Jeeeeez, this is a good band. They can really play with their pieces, very intense and evolving music. I really hear one entity here, instead of four people. These are the same qualities I find in my faves VDGG, Magma and the current Crimson. Though there is more an '74 Crim influence here, TRM sounds more as one, where Crim 74 often sounded as a battle of ego's when improvising to me, albeit with good results. TRM is also deliciously scary at times. I'm pretty sure the pieces where I don't hear Vonorn play, he's sacrificing a couple of virgins behind his drumkit.

Imo, one of the best bands of the present, in any genre.

And also a prog band (if that's what they are) pleasing to the eye : not only Lynnette, who's very charming in white too btw, but the guys look sharp as well, not like most small progbands where the men look like they just came from the office on casual friday. A nice cherry on top of a huge tasty icecream. Or in their case, probably a candle on blueberry icecream (or is their darker still?) with virgin blood sauce.

Jan

Man In Space: http://www.maninspace.be

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June 21 , 2003
Progressive Ears Discussion Board
Re: The Red Masque/The Muffins gig in Philadelphia

Wow!

That would be a pretty decent way to sum up The Red Masque/Muffins show in Philly last night. This was my third time seeing TRM, and second with the current lineup. While (to me) there sounded like there was some sound problems, the band was in fine form. They opened with a "short" version of "Yellow are His Opening Eyes," which clocked in at around 20 minutes - about ten minutes shorter than it was at their phenomenal show at the Metlar (which will appear on their CD-single which will be released at NearFest.) Like many of their songs, it is dark, spacy and features lots of improv. After that, they played the "long" version of what has now become their signature song, "Birdbrain." The song has mutated substantially from its original appearance on "Victoria and the Haruspex" (and even from the various live appearances you can get on their webpage.) A nice treat came on the next song - drummer (among other things) Vonorn and guitarist Kiaresh joined Lynnette on a drum bash with all three of them bashing away on her tom-tom. Brandon Ross then joined them on the bass and they went into a long improv. During a few points, it sounded like the improv was going to lead into "Tidal," which it eventually did. This version though, was more uptempo and seemed quicker than the other times I've seen them. Since "Tidal" usually opens shows, and I thought the improv was going to be their final tune, this was definitely a treat.

Anyway, during the intermission, I got in a nice discussion with a couple of other proggers who were there about pretty much anything to came into our minds. Topics included Magma, The Muffins, who was more influential - Genesis or Yes, NearFest, which VdGG I should get next, and even Shylock.

After saying hi to Lynnette, I had to scurry back to my seat as the Muffs were taking stage. Prior to last night, my only Muffin exposure was from the ProgDay 2001 CD and from a "Best of Paul Sears, Vol. 1" given to me by... Paul Sears (long story). Boy, am I dumb. The Muffins put on one of the best concerts I've ever seen. I was absolutely dumbfounded how they can make avant-jazz seem so accessible. They really seemed to be enjoying themselves too - at one point Dave Newhouse said something to Tom Scott, who started to laugh instead of fluting. Paul Sears was a monster on the drums too, and he had on a cool "Mekanik Kommandoh" shirt. After the show, I bought "Loveletter #1" and will probably revise my NF wishlist to include some other stuff.

All in all, just an amazing night all around.

-- Jeff Oaster

 

April 10 , 2003
New England Art Rock Society Discussion Board
Re: The Red Masque concert at the Lowell Brewery, Lowell, Mass.

Hi, I've been a little busy, but I'd like to share some thoughts on the Red Masque's performance on Thursday.

I have to confess that I am predisposed to liking any band that opens by dedicating their first song to the "Great Cthulhu." For those of you who don't know, Cthulhu is one of the dreaded ancient godlike creatures from HP Lovecraft's horror mythos. And given the eerie, tribal music emanating from the stage of the Playloft, it wouldn't have surprised me one bit if the Great Cthulhu himself rose from the waters of the Myskatonic River (not far from Lowell, MA, btw) to horribly devour us all.

Having read several reviews and descriptions of Red Masque, I have to say that none of them adequately described their music to me. Difficult to characterize, Red Masque's most common association has been "Gothic." While Gothic is a good word to describe some of their music, it does come with some associations to other "Gothic" bands like Type-O-Negative, The Cure, and others that I do not think applies to Red Masque. Elements of Crimson, NIN, Space Rock, Krautrock, Baroque-Classical, and even English folk weave in and out of Red Masque's sound. To me, the result is most highly evocative of what I have heard from Magma, and personally I would not hesitate put Red Masque near the Zeuhl (pronounced "zoil;" thanks to Lynette for the pronunciation correction) school of French/European Prog . They also compare favorably to Morte Macabre, but have wider sonic variety than that band.

I would also stress that Red Masque is, first and foremost, progressive in every sense of the word; a feature often missed in other reviews that might lead one to think that they are perhaps more of a "Goth" band with some progressive overtones. All band members are consummate musicians, but rather than bowling us over with chops, the focus is on creating moods and using their instruments often in unusual ways to highlight aspects of the music or lyrics.

They all play an impressive array of instruments, particularly drummer Vonorn who was featured on Celtic harp, Theremin, Digiridoo, Keyboards, bass, and probably a few I missed (oh yeah, drums!). Guitarist Kiarash creates impressive soundscapes with his variety of toys and doubles on keys,
featuring some really nice piano. Bassist Brandon has the Rick sound nailed, despite using an unusual Ric model (I think it's a 2000 series, but I have yet to locate that particular one) and also doubles on keys and classical guitar. Vocalist Lynette plays all manner of odd percussion, including doll and light-saber. Her range is quite impressive, from powerful and chaotic to soft and melodic. With such a strong singer, it is still very nice that there is such a balance between instrumental and vocal sections.

For me, highlights of the evening included the first piece (presumably Tidal from the first EP), both of the new pieces (particularly the acoustic Beggars & Thieves, which was met with great acceptance from the audience), and the song from the second set where Vonorn played keys (I think it was
Birdbrain, but I may be mistaken). I also applaud the band for persevering through some sonic challenges like air hockey during the beautiful harp intro, and uncooperative stage monitors. Personally, Red Masque immediately captured my attention and didn't let go for two 45 minute sets. I realize their music is probably not for everyone, but I would encourage anyone to check them out live, where they really put on a SHOW.

I think Red Masque have almost unlimited potential as a band. Their musical abilities will allow them to stretch into more complex areas if they desire, or they can easily accommodate more melodic pieces like Beggars & Thieves without compromising their vision. I'm happy to say that I enjoyed the band's company as much as their music, as my wife Madeleine and I hosted the group Thursday night. I hope they could be convinced to make the trek back to New England. Hopefully a larger crowd and some better weather will greet them the next time around.

-- Bill Noland

April 10 , 2003
New England Art Rock Society Discussion Board
Re: The Red Masque concert at the Lowell Brewery, Lowell, Mass.

I'll second Bill's review of Red Masque (see above post) and just say that their acoustic number was my favorite. My two favorite aspects of their whole performance was the unusual guitar sounds created and Lynnette's stage presence and voice. She looked as good as she sang and played percussion. This band should not be missed.

-- Nick

 

April 10 , 2003
New England Art Rock Society Discussion Board
Re: The Red Masque concert at the Lowell Brewery, Lowell, Mass.

It was a very good night at the club last night, The BOARDS opened the night and had the crowd going. The Radiohead style of originals set the mood for the night. Great show for a band that just is
new to the scene. Hat's off to the band helping Red Masque,by lending their equiptment.We will have the Boards again cause we feel they are a crowd pleaser. We had a couple of issues in the beginning(damn sound) but All in All- A good show.

Red Masque took the stage about 10. From the Start-- I knew I was in for something different. Lynnette is always full of ,"What's next".

I was quite amazed of the band. I have listen to their music but I was not convinced, I was a fan. I had in my mind that they needed to take care of the rough edges! They are now a polished band.
If you are a fan of Gothic-Avante Guard-Classic Prog-Opera--early King Crimson(RED), or just plain openminded--This was one hellava show!!

Brian--Man of many talents, put most people in awe of his ability's to play anything that was put into his hands and run the lights too. (He would fit well in Yoke Shire). The Guitar and Bass gave a different approch to every tune.I am bad with names but these 2 guys are very talented individuals. The tools of the trades were also rare sights. (We need an expert here to fill in). The guitars are not everyday guitars.

A very technical band. Red Masque is more than you expect. Lynnette is a must meet!!

The second song of the night was a new tune for the next CD(don't know the name). I believe this song will put Lynnette and Company over the top. It was a great first listen.

-Alan B (New England Art Rock Society)

 

April 6, 2003
Progressive Music Society Discussion Board
Re: The Red Masque concert at the Tritone, Philadelphia; with Spaced Out

Well I guess I have sufficiently recovered from last night's show. I had my share of brews so I expected to be tired, but I was strangely wired by the overall events of the evening. It was a great time in all and really a brand new experience since I had never seen either The Red Masque or Spaced
Out. And in fact I found out about the show due to Lynnette's posting at PMS.

Thanks Lynnette : ]

The Red Masque has a bunch of different angles in kind of mixed arrangements and all of the members are multi-instrumentalists, so it's a really unique mix of sounds and emotions in their performance. They range from something like a medeival druidic sound to something like hard King Crimson or Magma.

My favorite parts of their show was when they played " Yellow Are His Opening Eyes", ( which gave me impressions both of a Tiger and the last time I saw my Grandfather Mike Senior.), and also " Birdbrain", which Lynnette explained is about a nun. " Birdbrain" was played as a slightly more formal
arrangement I believe, but YAHOE, Brandon explained to me, was performed part improvisationally as it is a work in progress. I have really nothing to compare the performance to since it was my first TRM experience, but they had me in an odd mix of emotions and thoughts while I was listening to them. And as I said, even though I had a bunch of brews earlier ( and no caffiene or anything else), after they were done I felt like I was absolutely wired. So I have to believe they affected me on some kind of subconcious level.

I ought to add, yes, Lynnette is extremely cute and an excellent singer! And also, I was not able to thank their kit drummer/wind/key player so I guess I could thank him here as he might read this. He was awesome! More power to ya Vonorn!

-- Mike Rewa

 

March 30, 2003
Prog And Other Discussion Board
Re: The Red Masque concert on March 29 at the Metlar House Museum in Piscataway, NJ.


When Jim Robinson started this concert series about a year ago, I knew that I would be going there to see some shows. Last night was my first time, and it was awesome.

I got a bit of a late start, since I decided to ask my next door neighbor at 5:45 is he was interested in going with me. Since he was up for it, I had to wait a few minutes for him to eat, shower, beg his wife, etc. The late start looked like it might have been a problem since a torrential downpour decided to hit the NJ Turnpike - it was hardly raining anywhere else. Of course, then Mapquest told me to take a right turn instead of a left. Grrr. We arrived at 8:15, secure in the knowledge that no concert ever starts on time.

After getting to meet Jim, I did a quick tour of the place, grabbed myself a cup of some seriously good coffee, found a seat, got up and refilled my cup, then sat back down again. After Jim's brief intro, the band came out. For those of you unfamiliar with the Red Masque, they are dark and gothic, do lots of group improvisation and are a little tough to categorize - not really a "Cuneiform" type avant-garde, definitely not symphonic or neo. I saw them almost two years ago, and have their first EP. In addition, they have a bunch of live stuff posted on their webpage, so I was pretty familiar with their material. Still, they blew me away.

Judging from their stage set, I knew there was going to be some switching off of instruments. The guitarist (Kiarash) and bassist (Brandon) each had keyboards in front of them, as did drummer Vonorn. In addition, there was a mandolin, acoustic guitar, a theremin, a harp, some weird things that you blow into, a ton of percussion toys and a couple of flute thingies.

They started off with "Tidal", improvising the first few minutes until Brandon kicked in with the main riff, and they were off. The band has been undergoing a bunch of lineup changes in the past year, even condensing there lineup down to four pieces. It looks like they've settled, because the playing was tight. Vonorn was especially impressive, battering away on his ridiculously small drumkit (6 or seven pieces total) while playing a variety of other instruments - often at the same time. By my count, he played five different instruments on "Tidal" alone (drums,key, theremin and two of the blowie things). "Tidal" was stretched out a bit - which would be a recurring them for the night - and ended up being in the 13-15 minute range.

They followed up with a new song, and I didn't get the name, but it ran around twenty minutes. Lynnette Shelley was singing her butt off. She's got a really deep, BIG voice that maybe reminds me a bit of a lower range Ann Wilson. When the band was improvising, she would either play the aforementioned percussion toys, bang on a tom-tom or just do some vocal improv. Kiarash did some really nice jazzy playing as well.

After the new-song-whose-name-I-didn't-get, the did another new song, an acoustic-medieval sounding piece called "Beggars & Thieves," which was a nice change from the sonic assault that I was receiving. It was also extremely short, clocking in at about 8 minutes!

They took a break afterwards, and just generally hung out. I got to talk to Vonorn, who was a really nice guy. He said that he thinks the most instruments he played in one night was 13 (I counted eight for this night). Lynnette and Brandon saw my Yeti shirt and we discussed them for a little bit. They were glad to here that they were still active, and I raved for a bit about Yeti's demo. I also picked up the Red Masque's CD "Victoria and the Haruspex."

After some band announcements, Jim R. came out and said a few things. An announcement was made that the Red Masque will be playing a gig on June 21st with the Muffins. (Attention Paul Sears if you're out there - I'm now a full blown Muffins fan. Thanks), which got a nice ripple of enthusiam from the crowd. The band then played another new song, called "Yellow are his opening eyes." Umm, this one started out kinda weird. For the first few minutes, the band noodled around while Lynnette bellowed out some strange vocals that were either about a lizard eating an egg or a recipe for some witches brew or something. Yikes. She may have been possessed at that point. I'm not sure. This song also went on for awhile - it had to be over 20 minutes. At one point, it looked like they were tying the piece up, then all of the sudden Brandon turn his volume up to the "Top" setting, and then he and Vonorn went off on a repetitive zeuhlish jam with a wicked groove while Kiarash layed some soundscape-type guitar riffs over the top. That jam was probably the highlight of the night for me, and leads me to believe that the Red Masque may be poised to take their music to the proverbial "Next level."

"Birdbrain" followed, and the band was really cooking by this point. It was quite different from the versions that I had previously heard, again being extended to the 15-18 minute range. It had a curious ending, with Kiarash and Vonorn dueting on some of the previously alluded to flute thingies (recorder and pennywhistle I think). Lynnette attempted to do a Stella Vander and mimic the flutes with her voice, which to me seems like a very difficult thing to do. She couldn't quite pull it off, but I kinda get the impression that this band isn't afraid to try anything.

After "Birdbrain," they check to see if they had enough time for another song (they did), so they launched into a group improv. It started out great, and was going well, but I think they carried it on for just a few minutes too long, especially since they did a few false endings. No problem there, as Bill Bruford said, "The beauty of collective improvisation is that accidents will happen." It didn't take away from the overall quality of the show though.

Overall, it was just a phenomenal night. The Red Masque moved up several notches on my favorite band list. If they continue to develop, work hard and maintain a stable lineup, then I can see a bright future for them. My neighbor (remember him from the first paragraph?) was a little perplexed, but he said, "I just love music in general." So I think he had a good time. Hey, it was his first prog concert so I'll cut him some slack. The venue, while not really acoustically geared for electric music, was still terrific. Basically, the band was set up in the dining room, and the chairs were set up in the living room. Kudos to Jim for organizing a great concert series. I know I'll be going back.

Sorry for the overly long post.

--Jeff Oaster (jeffoaster@rcn.com)

photo included also by Jeff Oaster.

 

 

March 30, 2003
NJ Proghouse Discussion Board
Re: The Red Masque concert on March 29 at the Metlar House Museum in Piscataway, NJ.

Hi Everyone!
Congratulations to Jim and the Red Masque for pulling off a great show last night at the house of Metler. I have grown to trust Jim's tastes in music and went to the show never having heard a
single note of the Red Masque. I was not dissappointed. I'm not very good at describing music, and the Red Masque's is no easy one to describe, but I would liken it to a mixture of the energy of Pere Ubu, a style like Thinking Plague with the mood of Devil Doll.

Having just "lost" their keyboard player the 4 piece consisted of guitar, bass, drums and vocals with all bandmembers contributing on keyboards and other varied intrumentation. They played many songs from their upcoming release which should prove worthwhile. I particularly enjoyed "_________" (help me out here Lynette, it was about the second or third song into the second set, the one played just proceding birdbrain). [Ed. note: This song was called "Yellow Are His Opening Eyes"] Anyway, picked up the cds they had at the show, looking forward to more good things from them.

-- Jeff Wilson

March 6 , 2003
The Red Masque's second annual 2003 Philadelphia Underground Music & Culture Festival is making local headlines.

Press clippings from the March 6 edition of the Philadelphia Weekly

Philadelphia Underground Music and Culture Festival

It's a sure bet the Grammy committee or Carson Daly have never heard of Dreadnaught, the Red Masque, Second Sufis or IZZ. It's even more likely that those four bands don't care. They've made a living and garnered significant fan followings underground, opting to exist below the mainstream radar for 364 days of the year. On the 365th, though, those bands--and others like them--come out for the Philadelphia Underground Music and Culture Festival. The annual event shoves bands, art-film presenters, dancers and performance artists into the limelight for a one-day celebration of a culture defined by nonconformity. Vendors will also be on hand selling everything from indie CDs to alternative art to ethnic food.

Sat., March 8, 7pm. $10-$12. Sedgwick Cultural Center, 7137 Germantown Ave. 215.248.9229

Press clippings from the March 6 edition of the Chestnut Hill Local:

Underground Music Festival This Weekend in Mt. Airy

by R.B. Strauss

One of the most highly anticipated events of this still young year, the 2003 Philadelphia Underground Music & Culture Festival, rolls into the Sedgwick Cultural Center (www.sedgwickcenter.org), 7137 Germantown Ave., on Saturday, March 8.

Now, it often takes years for an event to become a tradition, yet this is just the festival's seconde edition and it has already gained legendary status along the art-rock grapevine. Indeed, folks from across the nation are at this very minute preparing to make the pilgramage to Northwest Philly, eager to fill their heads with music and more.

The buzz has been building for some time, and you can thank Festival organizer Lynnette Shelley for all the glorious hubbub. This former Mt. Airy resident now resides in Germantown, mere blocks from the Sedgwick, which is the perfect venue for this shindig. "Since it's an old movie house, it really has a lot of charm that we thought would lend itself to the event," Shelley said. The "we" she refers to is her band, The Red Masque (www.theredmasque.com), who, of course, are on the bill, along with Second Sufis (www.secondsufis.com), Dreadnaught (www.dreadnaughtrock.com) and IZZ (www.izznet.com).

All four bands are standar bearers of underground music today, and on the strength of such a group dynamic, this little corner of the city has become something of a Mecca.

"I've gotten e-mails from a band in Mexico asking to play," Shelley said. Who knows, maybe next year? As for the talent present and accounted for, Shelley elucidated, "The theme of the festival is underground music - music that is outside the mainstream - and all the bands on the bill fit that criterion. For people tired of Britney Spears and the more commercial side of contemporary music, this is an opportunity to hear music that radio stations or MTV can't sell Pepsi to."

Indeed.

Combining Gothic darkness aplenty with freeflowing improvisation, The Red Masque offers sonic excursions into post-psychedelic territory where songs mutate fast as they take haripin turns in surprising directions. Dreadnaught is a postmodern kitchen sink of a band that references everything from Hank Williams to Hank Mobley, with a little Hank Bukowski tossed in for good measure.

For a duo, Second Sufis boasts an expansive sound that tracks on number of levels, from the meditative to the serendipitous, and all the while in constant flux. IZZ harks back to the bygone days of prog rock, though sans the baggage of bombast that steered to omany such bands close to the edge of pretension, as opposed to tension.

Besides the music, there's plenty more in store, including films and videos, dancers and other performance artists, plus plenty of vendors offering all manner of wares, from a plethora of indie label CDs to zines galore, along with ethnic food for the discerning and exotic-seeking palate. Tickets are a bargain, at both 10 dollars in advance and 12 at the door, which opens at 7pm.

 

December 4 , 2002
The Philadelphia Project Press Coverage in Philadelphia Weekly

EXPERIMENTAL

The Philadelphia Project

It's a trifecta for those who like their sounds a shade challenging. "The Philadelphia Project: A Night of Experimental Music" features avant medivalists the Red Masque (pictured), ambient rhythm makers Second Sufis and Relapse Records punk proggers Dysrhythmia. Show organizers and chronic member swappers the Red Masque will be premiering their latest revamping with newcomer keyboardist Marcia Bachochin-Fabirkiewicz (original keyboardist/concert harpist Nathan-Andrew Dewin defected to pursue solo projects). Like King Crimson before the accessibility, the literary-minded Masque are awash in sonic guitar booms, rumbling bass and a dash of their own prosaic emotion. Their sophomore effort, Victoria and the Haruspex, released earlier this year, reached cult status thanks in part to lead singer Lynnette Shelley's hookless Siouxsie Sue operatic spans that give direction to the album's mostly improvised instrumentation. Robots in Disguise producer Michael McDermott's one-man project Mikronesia provides aural time filler between bands, fashioning the Project's format into a seamless excusion to discover rock's darker sides. (Suzann Vogel)

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November 10, 2002
The Red Masque Smokes the Rotunda!

Live show review of Nov. 9 concert at Philadelphia's Rotunda theater, by Raymond D., member of ProgressiveEars.com

Man, the Philadelphia Fire Department would have been put on stand-by last night, hoses ready, had they known hot "white-hot" The Red Masque was going to be last night at the Rotunda.

TRM, playing next-to-last on a very large billing, was clearly the class act of the evening. Fortunately, a large amount of people were still on hand to see them; they did not go away unhappy, for sure.

First off, their drummer, Vonorn was in a "zone" - this guy hit everything in site from floor to walls to cymbals to Lynette's head; the guy was a monster. I was afraid at one point when he stood up on the drummer stool to play the didgeridoo that he would pull a Tommy Chong from "Up In Smoke" and tumble over his drum set; fortunately that didn't happen. However, in all of his exuberance, he accidentally stepped on his flute and broke it so we couldn't hear him on "Birdbrain".

2nd, Marcia's playing - For what had to be one of the most pleasant surprises of last evening's performance by The Red Masque at the Rotunda in Philadelphia was the work of keyboardist/clarinetist, MKPIANO Marcia. First off, I was wondering how Marcia would be able to accenuate her background strenghts which is more in the symphonic vein and meld it into the more avant offerings of TRM. In addition, Marcia, prior to taking the stage seemed extremely nervous - well once she took stage right any jitters would soon pass. She was able to deftly fit into pieces like "Passage", "Title" and "Birdbrain" without missing a beat -not only did her classical training accenuate pieces like "Passage" with some mind-boggling Baroque phrasing, her clarinet playing on "Birdbrain", made it a better composition - much better, IMO, than the CD version. But where she really faced a test, I thought was during the improvisional portion of the program - her piano & synth runs exemplified a great ear for improvisation and displayed pure professionalism. Man, ya' could of fooled me into thinking this was her first performance!!

3rd - Kiarash's guitar playing. Floyd, told me that the first time he saw him, he seemed a little reserved; not so last evening - he ripped through some impresive solos and really brought together the entire throbbing rhythm section held down by Brandon.

4th - Lynnette - fabulous vocalising, especially on "Birdbrain". I wish the sound would have been a little more balanced because when the band was going full force, Lynnette got drowned out at times - this was the only "negative" of the entire performance, however.

5th and most important, the music - SEE THIS BAND NOW and , will someone give these guys a conract, PLEASE!! They deserve it.

--Raymond D

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May 26, 2002
Celebrate the Underground: June 1 Philadelphia Underground Music & Culture Festival

By Laralai, Obzine, June 2002 issue

On June 1st, an event will be happening in Philadelphia that excited me so much I felt compelled to help get the word out. Being a fan of music that is daring and experimental, I get so sick of the local music scene: a string of bands that all sound like bad rip-offs of grossly popular MTV acts, that fit neatly into some tired genre or other. I want to hear music that is wild and fresh; that jumps up from shadowy corners and makes me leap out of my seat. I don't want to see a bunch of stiff, slobby guys staring at their guitars; I want to be taken on a sonic and lyrical journey. I want to be disturbed. I want to be enraptured. The Philadelphia Underground Music & Culture Festival will celebrate the landscape of the underground: music that is too complex, too deep, too hard to classify, to fit into the mass media mold. There will be four bands performing, from diverse yet converging areas of the rock underground, as well as independent vendors selling everything from food to indie CDs and merchandise, a theatrical light show, a dancer, and other surprises. Two of the bands scheduled to perform, The Red Masque (also the event organizers) and Land of Chocolate, are local Philly experimental prog-rock influenced bands.

The Red Masque, an eerie, powerful, theatrical band with avant-garde inspiration and gothic and psychedelic tones, will be debuting their new CD, Victoria and the Haruspex, at the festival. With moments of freeform space improv oddly interspersed with metallic guitar, accented clashes, angular beats and harsh accents with pulse changes at odd moments, abrupt clashes of dissonance, they feel like a soundtrack to a nightmarish anachronistic postmodern opera. In any one song they go from dreamy spacious soundscapes to dissonant and jagged and suddenly melodic in a bawdy medieval way. Just when you think you know what's going on, it is dropped from under you, leaving you breathless. The vocalist Lynnette Shelley is a deep soprano who sometimes sounds almost operatic, at other times breathy and ethereal or harsh and growling. The Red Masque has been described as "expanding the boundaries of what we call music in an extraordinary and adventurous manner", "brutal, beautiful", and an "intense sonic experience."

Land of Chocolate is also considered avant garde and prog rock, but is influenced by funk, jazz and fusion. Their CD, Unikorn on the Kob, features prominent lyrics and thick vocal harmonies amid syncopated beats with mixed meters. The songs were written by Jonn Buzby, former drummer of Finneous Gauge, switching to keyboard for this project. The songs are edgy yet catchy with a spirit of gen-x fun and lowbrow humor mixed in.The CD ranges from dreamy and whimsical to melodious to campy to fast and furious, choppy and crashing, with some creepy, spoken-word splashes. At one point you hear a voice saying, "I don't want to sound like a queer or nothing, but I think unicorns kick ass." What else can you say?

Hailing from Pittsburgh is Persephone's Dream, a band named for the Greek Goddess who embodies the interplay of light and dark: the cycle of birth and death. They are a hard-edged art rock band with an otherworldly feel, moving from haunting and moody to almost celestial to industrial-edged to fast-paced with a punk feel. They present extremely theatrical light shows incorporating lighting effects and complicated props. Vocalist Karen Nicely is recognized for her movement-oriented stage presence and passionate voice.

The enigmatic Church of Hed comes all the way from Ohio. Their logo intrigued me as reminiscent of psychedelic pseudo-but-real religions like The Church of the Sub-genius. Conceived by cult musician Paul Williams from Quarkspace, Church of Hed is a sort of cyborg, mixing organic and robotic, kinetic and computerized sounds. They create challenging and atmospheric space rock. Their music traverses structures from songs to experimental improv to futuristic dance music. The share a sort of musical language with musicians like Bjork or The Orb.

Now, even though these four acts are radically different from each other, they share something that is hard to pinpoint: musical expertise but with a daring disregard for traditional form. They are rock bands that stretch the boundaries of rock music and blend genres in startling ways. They all have a taste of surreal and dreamlike, looking to take you to a place you're not sure of the ending. Their themes deal with the depth of human experience: mythology, religion, confusion, emotion and chaos. Their songs run through peaks and valleys, never staying at one level. They are unpredictable, tightly structured at points yet fond of atmospheric improvisation. They are interested not just in playing, but in putting on a show that captivates the audience almost against their will and takes them on a journey they will not forget. Be there. I will.

Philadelphia Underground Music & Culture Festival, Saturday June 1 @ The Sedgwick Cultural Center, 7131 Germantown Avenue; 215-248-9229/ $10 admission or $20 package with T-shirt included. All ages. Vending or ticket info? Visit www.theredmasque.com/pumc.html.

 

Walk on the weird side
www.delawareonline.com

June 2002

For oddball music to go along with the cult films, try the Philadelphia Underground Music and Culture Festival. With local vendors peddling indie CDs, videos, books, anime etc., there will be a suitably nerdy backdrop for performances by some of the area's strangest prog bands. Land of Chocolate is the most tongue-in-cheek of the bunch, playing Rush/Queen-style rock with layered harmonies and off-center song structure. For theatrics, there's The Red Masque and Persephone's Dream who offer up similar hard-rock/goth/psychedelic freakouts. Ohio's Church of Hed brings the Pink Floyd/Bowie influence with plenty of space rock and it's accompanying electronic drama. The inaugural PUMC will be 7 p.m. Saturday at the Sedgwick Cultural Center, 7137 Germantown Ave. $10. (215) 248-9229.

THE WEEKENDER

May. 01, 2002

You'll dig this underground scene
By KEVIN KRIEGER
Weekender Correspondent

What do you call an event that celebrates the music, politics, and philosophies that are well off the radar screens of mainstream culture? How about the Philadelphia Underground Music & Culture Festival. The kickoff for this highly anticipated event will be June 1 at the Sedgwick Theater in Philadelphia, and will feature a variety of independent and underground vendors, light shows, information booths, and of course, a menu of bands that favor the experimental over the conventional.

With an original and avant-garde style that fuses progressive, gothic, psychedelia and rock, Philadelphia's own Red Masque heads the bill for the inaugural festival. Their dark theatrical leanings are miles away from anything on the radio today, but this band concentrates on expanding the boundaries of music that never should have existed in the first place. (www.theredmasque.com)

Land Of Chocolate takes a more melodic approach to their music with intricate vocal harmonies and complex chord progressions. (www.landofchocolate.net)

Hailing from Pittsburgh, Persephone's Dream describes themselves as "a hard-edged rock band with a theatrical stage show." (www.persephonesdream.com)

Church of Hed (including members of indie-legends Quarkspace) completes the bill with their modern, atmospheric space rock. Their electronic improvisation draws heavily on artists like Peter Hamill and Van Derr Graf Generator.

If your musical tastes arenÕt dictated by the sales charts or MTV, the Philadelphia Underground Music Festival will be the one show you canÕt miss. Tickets for the all ages show are just $10, and are available in advance from the Sedgwick Theater at 215-248-9229 or at www.theredmasque.com.

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Necrophants, Abound! by Ezekiel Harm

 

Bob Strauss, Big Shout Magazine, Summer 2001 Edition
Review of May 24th -Doc Watson's Pub

(The following is a review written entirely in Lovecraft-speak. All hail Cthulhu!)

Those itinerant wrecks of time shatter the morgue loose of its moorings to set jaws locked in rhythm. Thus arrives The Red Masque to deter sanity from your shambling babble. Their ethereal urbanales race the sour wind through empty city streets awash in sticky sound. Their territory is untouched but by them inasmuch as they have staked a claim as being "Prog-Goth," or, to sequester a fresh pantheon of one: Proggoth. Step aside Cthulhu, wrap your wretched tail between your legs Lucifer, Proggoth is in the tomb!

Aye, this music is an intensoid manifestation of fear, its tentacles beyond any multitude to affix a listener's cranial folds to pulse in most wretched mirth. The Red Masque comes replete with their own straitjacket to wrap oneself inside, as they rewire the mind to a systemic protocol of dungeon and truncheon, the twin poles of an annexed grid gone anti-halo, yet as yet sans horns. Yoiks!

The crumbled conundrum leaves a negative to foil all antecedents, though pleasantries are impaled. This smacks of parallel development indeed, for guitarist Steven Blumberg tears off treated leads that touch on Albert Collins ice plus Terje Rypdal glaciation. This cold case is such that Steve is unaware in toto of Rypdal! Talk about marsupials pacing placentals! As for other personnel, Brandon Ross attacks his bass with aplomb out of acknowledgement of Magma, a gooey bottom that knows no remorse. Onward, ever onward. Vocallissima Lynette Shelley offers up a nuance of trenchant properties. One second, ethereal warbling lulls like opium, while the next affords the listener to come unhinged by her shattering melodic pronouncements. Plus, her percussion is always at hand as she beats a floor tom with a pair of mallets during those lengthy instrumental passages The Red Masque erupts, a skull session her own to flavor the jaundice free of coils and boils. As for the insistent beat, drummer Kevin Kelly ratatats roto-toms with concise incisions. Busy as Bruford, whom he finds to be the bomb, the sticks fly and flail like a metronome gone wacky, the time kept a time deserved to keep. Finally, their secret weapon, Nathan-Andrew Dewin, moves his fingers over keyboards plus the device that well anoints Proggoth: a full size harp! However, there is nothing to his sound of heaven, no, but rather the mystery of death impounded at the grave heaped high.

The Red Masque attacks their repertoire with vigor and vinegar, their venom punched up to salvage the phlogiston flow that codifies humanity for this moment and more. Maleficent to the nines, the distance between the band and audience collapses like entropy itself, yet all the while a crust is formed atop their songs. To take their set at face value, one song bleeds into the next, so a set list is something less than a score card. Again, if I may: Yoiks! Sheets of sound. A mood and more. Odd twists that allay the sequence of cause and effect. These are the impressions that are their own palimpsests, their own pentimenti. A torched nursery rhyme ambience sometimes allows Lynette her decision here. From the power of "Passage," to the broken down cacophony of carousels' hooty-toot of "Birdbrain," there are long accoutrements of music gone awry yet just so and gesso too. "A Moon Falls," is a favorite, for they lope into an old school jape of a boogie, though warped by a pipe organ setting on the synth that makes it all the more creepy. This song is nothing short of a lullaby for demons--and The Red Masque needs and feeds their demons well indeed, for now and ever.

Yoiks!