01/31/05’s illustrious band:

Bordelloriffic!

Brought to you by the Varsity Theater.

On Friday night I headed in to Dinkytown, the cluster of shops and bars that serves the U of M west bank, to see my favorite noise musician Datura 1.0 perform. He was playing at the Varsity Theater, an old movie theater that has found new life in various incarnations that have included a photography studio and now a nightclub. The last time I saw Datura was in a cozy store basement where I sat a few feet from the speakers, so I was eager to experience his set in a larger venue with no "don't disturb the customers" volume restrictions. Noise music is meant to be noisy, for goodness' sake.

The Varsity turned out to have a dandy sound system, but it paled in comparison to the décor. The lobby is done up like an elegant dining room, and I'm told one can get food there. But it's when you pass through the double doors into the theater that the fun begins.

The first thing I noticed was the ginormous movie screen at the other end of the room, right where you'd expect a movie screen to be. Rear-projected images of planets and nebulae swirled across it, silhouetting the men on the low stage setting up their equipment. Cosmic wailing issued from the speakers, setting up a light ringing in the glasses on the bar at my elbow. Ceiling fixtures traced moving patterns of light on the floor, so that I was always looking out of the corner of my eye to see whether someone had just walked by.

Then I started to take in the rest of the room. There's another small stage in the center of the concrete floor with a small four-legged stool in each corner and a one-seater bench in the middle. My guess is that this is for clubgoers who wish to elevate the shaking of their groove thangs just a bit. Along the side walls, several panels of deep-red draperies hang from the ceiling and ripple faintly in the slight air currents.

Along each side of the room stretch two tiers of risers with five air mattresses on each level -- 10 on each side of the room, separated by small table lamps. Each air mattress is covered with a cheap quilted red satin duvet and topped with throw pillows of the same color. More small benches (Jackie Chan fighting benches, to those in the know) crouch at the feet of the "beds" to hold drinks. It's bordelloriffic!

It didn't take long for audience members to take advantage of the unique seating arrangements, lounging and sprawling and making themselves at home. People were very polite about it, though, carefully hanging their feet off the edge or taking their shoes off before climbing on up. I spent the evening on a lower-tier mattress, legs outstretched, leaning on a pillow propped against the upper tier, doing occasional ab crunches to reach my beer from the bench. The only drawback to this arrangement was that any time someone else sat down on my mattress, displaced air popped me up like the kid on the high end of a teeter-totter. Almost made me spill.

While people trickled in, the video display changed briefly to trailers from classic Disney movies. Since the sound remained as it was -- whalesong on acid -- the juxtaposition was jarring. It fit right in with the next film, Microcosmos, which is all extreme-close-up nature photography. Then some disturbing Kenneth Anger films came on, and I wished Old Yeller would return.

Datura's set, although he played for nearly half an hour, was too brief to suit me. Taking my ease on the cushions, hypnotized by the slowly rotating planets on the big screen behind him, I was entirely engulfed by the sound. The low-end buzz comforted, the high-end squeals challenged, and the just-right tones in between made my bones itch. Noise music by definition has neither rhythm nor tempo, so you can either fight the current or sit back and enjoy the ride, rocks, waterfalls, and all. I definitely enjoyed it.

Boring old fuddy-duddy that I am, I didn't stay long after Datura finished. I wanted to, but I was already yawning at 9:30, when the party was just getting started. If the other performances were half as engrossing, everyone else was in for a treat. I hope he plays there again. I want to go back.

Today around the world: January 31 is the Kerner's birthday. Happy birthday, Julie!