Monday, November 23, 1998
Remy Zero invigorates crowd
MUSIC: Group bounces back from previous lackluster album with
intensely gripping concert
By Vanessa VanderZanden
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Engulfed in a swamp of purple-lit stage fog, five somber forms
emerge. The mystical figures send forth streams of unearthly noise,
transformed mid-air into tragic-sweet melodies. Ensnaring the crowd
in tangles of lilting guitar work and crisp, spirit-world vocals,
Remy Zero holds the audience in rapture.
Playing at the Roxy Thursday night in their KROQ-sponsored
event, Remy Zero impressed the likes of both Geffen reps and fans
made newly aware of the young group. Most in attendance, however,
remained unconscious of Remy Zero’s previous release, which
received relatively little media coverage. Fortunately, the
resulting disillusionment and introspection gave rise to the
creative energy surging at the core of "Villa Elaine," the band’s
latest project.
"It is the story of a character who wakes up and has a moment of
clarity, that there is this certain thing he has to accomplish, a
quest," soft-voiced bassist Cedric LeMoyne explains before the show
in the band’s dressing room. "This person has had a crash of some
former way of life and he’s waking up, realizing he has to
rebuild."
Running a close parallel to the band’s peculiar history, this
tale sheds light on the most difficult transition of the group’s
existence. From the age of 15, the five members had lived together
in a six-bedroom house in Birmingham, Ala. Purchased by lead singer
Cinjun Tate’s and guitarist Shelby Tate’s mother (a well-known
spoken word performer who recorded albums alongside her husband in
the ’60s), the house allowed the musicians free reign to paint,
create and practice beyond the constraints of the outside
world.
"We were so different from everybody else that when we found
each other, we wanted to have it, and our parents let us have it,"
explains LeMoyne, whose stepfather was an established space-funk
star of the ’70s.
But once the musicians landed a second deal with Geffen, they
had to relocate to overpopulated Los Angeles, where they’ve lived
for the past two and a half years. Once the initial culture shock
passed, they opted to record in London, hoping to make either New
York or that their next home. But for the time being, they play Los
Angeles clubs, causing quite a stir.
Torn down, built up, set to go and on its way through the broad
blue sky to success: this reflects the band, its album and last
Thursday’s show.
After initial technical trouble with over-amplified guitars
drowning out Tate’s vocals, the band caught its groove. Bald-headed
Tate clutched the mic as if belting out the most meaningful words
of his life. Reeling the dumb-struck crowd in with fingers tipped
with gold-lacquered nails, he seemed more a hypnotizing wizard than
a 10-cent rock star.
Gushing emotion with his tight vocal chords, Tate gripped the
packed-in venue on songs such as "Life in Rain" and "Problem" as
the rest of the crew focused on perfecting each soaring note. By
the time the band played its hit track, "Prophecy," later in the
set it had all the warm-up necessary to hit each note beyond
anything available in recorded form. LeMoyne flashed an ecstatic
grin at guitarist Jeffrey Cain as the friends rolled unstoppably
through the inspiring piece.
Remy Zero was on so intently, so tightly and so movingly, that
the audience didn’t want to leave.
Geffen reps who thirsted for post-show cocktails in the upstairs
VIP room; boppy, mini-skirted KROQ junkies who only knew the
group’s one hit song and especially Remy Zero, who came back out to
perform the song "Twister" off of its old album – the one that no
one bought – all didn’t want to leave.
And Remy Zero beamed with bright grins, because it knew that at
least for tonight, it had made it.Photos by DAVID HILL
Cedric LeMoyne, guitarist for Remy Zero, plays during a concert
at the Roxy.
Cinjun Tate leads Remy Zero at Thursday’s performance.
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