Jandek @ Rudyard's

Have you ever been a part of something so odd and unexpected that you couldn't do anything but sit and stare with a dumbfounded smile on your face? Well, that's how I found myself, surrounded by about two hundred others in the same boat, when reclusive folk artist Jandek took the stage for a Sunday afternoon matinee at Rudyard's in Houston.

Read all about it after the jump

I – like most in attendance – had no idea what to expect walking into Rudyard's for this show. I arrived around 2pm, about a half-hour before doors opened, just to guarantee entry. I ran into Chris from Buxton, who had the pleasure of sitting in on the soundcheck. He described what he'd heard as being extremely funky, so my expectations were immediately thrown before even stepping foot in the venue. Funk was definitely the last genre I expected to hear from the "Representative of Corwood Industries," especially after spending a wealth of time on this website catching up on his very interesting story. If you have never heard of Jandek, or Sterling Smith, he's a Houston-based artist who's released more than fifty albums over the last thirty-plus years. Several prominent musicians, including Jeff Tweedy of Wilco, John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats and Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes, have covered his songs and list him as an influence on their work.

The first of many expectations was promptly shattered upon arriving upstairs. Jandek was in full conversation with a group of fans that surrounded him from the moment they were allowed in the venue. I didn't think he'd be nearly as approachable as he was. After debating whether I should buy him a Rudz burger to put some much needed weight on his bones, and sharing jokes with Buxton's Chris and Sergio about the possibility of him opening up for their 7" release show, Jandek approached the stage with a bassist and a drummer (later identified as Keith Vivens and Tyson Sheth, both of whom had never heard of Jandek before showing up to play that day) to start his first ever official hometown gig. While he'd played in Houston once before – when he guested with Lauren Mazzacane Connors in 2006 – this was the first publicized headlining event he has ever performed here. I believe the only thing that prepared the audience for what was about to happen was Vivens' pre-set proclamation: "Y'all are in for a wild time tonight." And wild it was.

Vivens started slapping his bass, with Sheth hitting the skins to produce a heavy funk beat, matching what Chris had told me earlier. With his back to the audience, Jandek started to strum out distorted chord progressions on his guitar, while staying in sync with the quick funk rhythm and beat provided. Though it evolved over the course of the set, the same basic style continued for just over one and a quarter hours. About fifteen minutes into the performance, Jandek paced towards the microphone to deliver a series of words that seemed to trigger different emotions in the crowd. The David Byrne-esque vocals mixed with the bass lines of both Parliament Funkadelic and Primus certainly was not what anybody in the room could have expected, but was absolutely brilliant. It seemed as if Jandek was into the show more than anyone else in the room, at times dancing, smiling and even performing instrumental call and response with the raucous group of gyrating hipsters in the front row.

I'm not sure what sort of message he was trying to send with this random performance, whether he was trying to shed his reclusive image, showing his hometown crowd something different, or just pulling some sort of late April Fools joke on us. What I do know is that it was definitely one of the most unique and interesting performances I've ever witnessed. They came back to the stage for an encore, probably the first Jandek has ever performed, if only because the amped crowd cornered him and started screaming for one. I almost felt bad for him, as he looked overwhelmed, but he obliged the audience's requests, and performed for another ten or fifteen minutes. After they finished, the astonished crowd gave a full standing ovation, while random fans came in close for hugs and handshakes.

I went in expecting an odd, avant garde musician, performing awkward folk songs to a room full of somber Sunday afternoon patrons, but what I got was the exact opposite. While a random few were disappointed by the odd choice of style change, it was the overwhelming amount of positive energy radiating from the crowd that kept putting a smile on Jandek's face.

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Words never could do this show justice, so fortunately I had my camera around to take a few videos:

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Browse the rest of my photos from the show:

Friends of BOT, Chris Gray and Mark C. Austin, were also on hand. They published a great write-up about the show on Houston Press' Rocks Off blog earlier today.

Words, Photos and Videos by Jim "Eggs" Bricker