R.I.P. you strange, weird, hilarious, and disturbing genius!
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/03/...e9neefq2kYnIt6IF7jWoewAGFGppsQq-ApxfKBY9RafkU
I stumbled, totally by accident, on a Residents show in Chicago when I was recording some music there in 1984 and never got over it. There was a line of very odd fans waiting to get in, and to my surprise there were still tickets at the box office for sale. What I saw was a bizarre version of the Mole Show, which was as much about the performance art and visuals as it was the repetitive, simple, and bizarre music and lyrics. Truly, this was performance music/art at its finest, and no one seems to be doing it anymore - at least not in a way as accessible as The Residents did.
The Residents pioneered music video, film, and had some of the most fully realized CD-ROM interactive game/art/music content ever released. They were difficult to enjoy, but when you did it was far more personal and engaging than ever.
I got to see The Residents again, for the last show with their primary keyboardist, music director, and instrumentalist in Austin a couple of years ago. Even then I was surprised Hardy, who always swore he was not the man behind the masks on stage, was still going and performing with so much energy and humor.
Hardy fronted the band until his death. He will be missed.
The King is dead - Long Live the King!
The Residents have always been a collective, so they are still on tour and making music.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/03/...e9neefq2kYnIt6IF7jWoewAGFGppsQq-ApxfKBY9RafkU
I stumbled, totally by accident, on a Residents show in Chicago when I was recording some music there in 1984 and never got over it. There was a line of very odd fans waiting to get in, and to my surprise there were still tickets at the box office for sale. What I saw was a bizarre version of the Mole Show, which was as much about the performance art and visuals as it was the repetitive, simple, and bizarre music and lyrics. Truly, this was performance music/art at its finest, and no one seems to be doing it anymore - at least not in a way as accessible as The Residents did.
The Residents pioneered music video, film, and had some of the most fully realized CD-ROM interactive game/art/music content ever released. They were difficult to enjoy, but when you did it was far more personal and engaging than ever.
I got to see The Residents again, for the last show with their primary keyboardist, music director, and instrumentalist in Austin a couple of years ago. Even then I was surprised Hardy, who always swore he was not the man behind the masks on stage, was still going and performing with so much energy and humor.
Hardy fronted the band until his death. He will be missed.
The King is dead - Long Live the King!
The Residents have always been a collective, so they are still on tour and making music.