Live In Chicago

Arguably Daevid Allen's most exciting and vital project since the late '70s (with the possible exception of the Acid Motherhood Gong lineup), University of Errors has seen Gong's guru shake down his old pixie props and turn to harsher and harder-rocking material. This live document, recorded during the group's American tour in 2000, following the release of their second album, shows how raw, powerful and (still) deranged this quartet can be. The studio trickeries are replaced by gusto, pummeling rhythms, and acidic guitar lines. Allen is supported by the wonderful guitarist Josh Pollock and the heavy rhythm section of Michael Clare and Jason Mills. The set list consists mostly of a careful selection of songs off the group's first two CDs -- leaving aside the trippier numbers, with the exception of the heavy floating "Memories." "Money Doesn't Make It" and "Involve Me" are given menacing renditions, while "Stoned Innocent Frankenstein" and "Ocean in the Distance" transcend their original versions. "Mystico Fanatico," already a highlight of the group's set, would make its studio debut on Ugly.music.4.monica three years later. This concert also includes a good dose of on-stage antics, including a Zappaesque "Progrock Dance Contest" (which actually sounds more surf than prog) leading into a group demolition of King Crimson's anthemic "21st Century Schizoid Man" -- itself only an introduction for the early Gong tune "Fohat Digs Holes in Space," which already served as an extended-jam feature in (the Allen/Hugh Hopper/Pip Pyle project) Brainville's set a few years earlier. Sound quality is thin, but quite acceptable. Start with University of Errors' studio recordings, and if you like what you hear, by all means proceed to this fine fan-targeted document. ~ Francois Couture