Poi Dog Pondering is digging deep into its mid-1980s roots and original influences to play two shows at 8 p.m. Feb. 26 and 27 at the Metropolis Performing Arts Centre in Arlington Heights.
Were sort of in the mood for a much more intimate show, said Frank Orrall, lead singer and leader of the 23-year-old bohemian band. Our last show there was kind of a big bombast with 18 people on stage. Were approaching the show in a way so that we can take advantage of the intimacy of the Metropolis Theater.
The Metropolis is a 309-seat theater at 111 W. Campbell Street in Arlington Heights, where Orrall said he hopes to set the stage with a hybrid of the bands acoustic talents and electronic influences. He said he considered scaling down the band to five members for the small show, but has since changed his mind.
Poi Dog Pondering boasts 11 musical artists with mainstay soulful lyricists Charlette Wortham and Kornell Hargrove to the heat-tugging strings of violinist Susan Voelz, Dag Juhlin and guitarist Ted Cho. Rick Gehrenbeck tickles the keyboards, El John and Dan Leali put the groove into Pois booty shakin beats on percussion, Max Crawford is the go-to man on horns and Ron Hall brings the funk to the bass.
Along with the ever-changing musical shapes of Poi, video artist Marco Ferrari has collaborated with the band to bring visual effects onto the stage as another member. Ferrari is following suit with Orrall in taking a look back at the bands musical and visual history to create a new video to be played in the background of the Metropolis show.
A lot of the visuals are going to be based on past videos that Ive been creating and doing for Pois shows, and basically following the music theyll be presenting with the acoustic/electric feeling and trying to use that inspiration, Ferrari said. Ill be using juxtapositions between natural and urban environments and abstract images with more organic visuals.
While Ferrari will edit a video specifically for the Metropolis shows, he plans to morph and change the visual feel by manipulating the video and lighting as the band plays and improvises.
Its not something like I just put in the CD and press play, Ferrari said. Its a unique energy at the show and allows me to improvise what effects I use.
Orrall said he hopes this blend of visual and musical effects will tie together with his return to his musical beginnings.
Were also digging deep on some songs that we havent done in a while, Orrall said, who has also been dusting off the shelves of his vinyl favorites in preparation for the Arlington Heights shows. Along with his Poi cohorts, Orrall has been spinning his LPs, reviewing his major musical influences, such as The Talking Heads, Van Morrison and David Bowie to decide which covers the band may add on the play list.
Im really going through a David Bowie phase, Orrall admits. I think the sheer breath of his career is incredible the fact that he could reinvent himself from a cabaret singer to his soul phase to Spiders from Mars and everything thats followed.
Poi Dog Pondering has been a band known for its musical evolutions as welladding and subtracting musicians over the decades and ranging in styles from rock, to soul to funk with symphonic arrangements. No matter what form Poi has taken, one thing has always been certain the band cannot be pegged into one category.
If anything, Orrall said, the band prefers to be known for its bohemian values of truth, beauty, freedom and loveleaving conventional genres at the front door of their shows and recordings.
One never knows what to expect at Poi shows from the cathartic and popular song Complicated to lyrics that are streaming forms of consciousness like Hangover and their latest rock and soul recordings on the album 7.
But that sincere attempt to connect with his fellow musicians, video artist and audience is what makes each Poi Dog Pondering show unique, said Orrall.
I like to sort of live with my heart on the sleeve, Orrall said. Thats the way we try to communicate to our audience.
For more on Poi Dog Pondering, go to www.platetectonicmusic.com.
By Amy Alderman, Triblocal.com reporter
