Ubu Dancing

Dave Thomas is one messed up man. He is a man who no matter what he does he will not be a pop icon. He will be best remembered for fronting one of the most unusual Garage Rock and Avant-Garde bands in the world. Pere Ubu is that band and Peru Ubu is a band that I chose to like. I am not the only Ubuhead with my friends. I have friend who are quite religious when Pere Ubu tour. They don't tour my way that often, but they do come once in a blue moon. One of my friends get's so excited that the music of Pere Ubu is played for about a month in his stereo, car, or anything he can play it on. He is like a little kid waiting to get up Christmas morning to see what Santa dropped off.

The name Peru Ubu comes from the meaning "Father Ubu" which is derived from a play by Alfred Jerry. The lead protagonist is Ubu Roi who is really Ubu the King. Along with myself and my friends they are very underground and have a great following. There influence is quite important in the history of the Post Punk period of Rock and Roll. I have seen them a total of three times, but each time I can tell you that once the show was done it took you about a week to get things back to some kind of normalcy. They sound like some kind of twisted version of a punk band that Captain Beefheart would front.



The first time I saw Pere Ubu was in 1993 and I was still on the traditional music kick, listening to Classic Rock and popular music, but when I was done with the concert I knew that somehow I would listen to them again. It was part of a traveling road show that had a few other bands which also sounded very promising. Dave's voice and lyrics where out there enough that I knew the meaning was there. The connection that my friends felt was their too and that was good for me. At that point too I did not know what to buy so I asked my friends to make a mix cassette for the car so I can hear all the different things Pere Ubu can do. It was a wonderful challenge for my friend because he had to dig deep in their collection to find the songs that would be great to play over and over again, and the songs that would make me scratch my head so I can discuss them with him at another time.

The second time I saw Pere Ubu was by accident. They were playing the same night and same place I was seeing another show. The place called Knitting Factory had three places you can see live music. In a fall October day it fit pretty well with the air and the season. I really wanted to see my friend play in one of the smaller places, but then again I wanted to see Pere Ubu. I found out my friends show was a 10:30 performance while Pere Ubu was a 8:00 time. I looked at my friend and asked if we could do two shows. My friend did not mind, and to make it better she never heard of the band so this would have been a real treat. After the show she looked at me like I had more then a few screws loose, but also said that was the most oddest show she liked.



The third time was at the same club in New York and this time it was my friends who are the Ubuheads. We looked like a bunch of geeks. It was quite fun to see us get ready for this show. If you saw us, we would be the geeks in the corner at the dance waiting for the cute girl not to ask us to dance. It was a better show, now that I knew a lot more then the previous two times. This time the music was better then the last time I saw them and even the songs I enjoyed had better, and wonderful sound that I can remember how they were performed for the first time. The show was a classic in concerts for me. I mean, I was with friends and some of the lost Peru Ubu classics came out.
Modern Dance has many great songs. If I tell you to listen to it all maybe you should. Each has Dave Thomas's odd and quirky feel to it. His lyrics were some of the best stuff you ever heard. If I can suggest that you get this album and Dub Housing. You will be glad that you did. As allmusic says on the review "There isn't a Pere Ubu recording you can imagine living without." Well, you cannot live without this. Most of this is way ahead of it's time and you will be glad that you will be one of the futuristic listeners. Pere Ubu is a great way to start a wonderful music conversation and to play it for your friends and see their head never get it, but on the other hand you might convert a new fan. The Modern Dance is the signature sound of the avant-garage: art rock, punk rock, and garage rock mixing together joyously and fearlessly. Take a listen and of course rock out!