Yesterdaynight (2th oktober) i had the honour to watch Lucas Abela perform in Polymer factory here in Tallinn on an event created by Finno-Australian curator Elijah Vartto.
What makes Lucas Abela, who is originaly from Australia, so outstanding is the simplicity of his whole set : a man and a piece of glass plus a bunch of amplifiers. And yet the power and energy of this squeeking, synthlike chainsawnoises that he produced . See it as a mix between an absurdist theatre a la Waiting for Godot and Jimi Hendrix, and you’re almost there . Its frightening and beautiful at the same time, tuning into a space of sound that is hardly heard on this planet and just seems way ahead of its time, yet its just him and the glass . The feeling that this performance evoked is that one could almost make music out of anything. From a sonic point of view it just sounded amazing, revolutionary and droidy at the same time as if somebody is cutting open a robot or molesting ET himself .Though in moments there is just the feeling you get as if you were watching the first punkconcert ever given, say protopunk crashing trough the roof in Iggy Poppish ways . It leaves a stunning impression to everyone who witnesses it as if someone has just discovered a way to make fire out of wood, well rockmusic out of glass …it ‘s just that jawdropping feeling . Lucas himself is a cool bloke, walking trough the rainsymphonies of a dark Tallinn night, sharing an umbrella with him and then ending up in the place where everyone ends up on a friday night in Tallinn the Levist Väljas cavebar .I suppose no one had the slightest idea who he was and that is just one of the oddest things, can you imagine yourself buying a beer for Jimi Hendrix while the room is utterly filled with indifference ? Perhaps Lucas is never going to reach any of Jimi’s status but the music is just as exciting and revolutionary as his and that is no overstatement . Check out some more videos here :
text: Thomas Viaene
curator of event : elijahvartto@hotmail.com