Recap of the JJ Perrey show in SF

The show at Recombinant Labs was great. Jean Jacques is such a character and it was swell meeting him and Dana Countryman at the same time.
They played a ton of songs using a CD as accompaniment. Jean Jacques had his Ondioline and a newer synth (moog maybe?) while Dana spent most of his time on his Roland, but he used this giant Moog modular synth a bunch.

The main room was packed, but they had a "media room" in the back. I was thinking, who the fuck would want to pay $15 to watch JJ Perrey on a tv, when he's in the room next door, but it turns out the media room was pretty cool. There were a couple different camera angles, and the images were projected along three of the walls, the sound was even mixed in Dolby 5.0 surround sound. It was like watching the show on IMAX. Sounded good, but I sure would be pissed if I paid $15 to watch a TV, they should have had a discounted price.

Dana mostly played chord progressions and rhythm, but did several leads. It was interesting to watch JJ's technique though. It was almost entirely played right handed, while his left hand constantly tweaked and raised pots. He was constantly adjusting sounds while playing. Where the left hand primarily handles bass rhythms, for Jean Jacques it controls the parameters and tones of his sounds, much like the left hand controls the volume (thus attack/decay/vibrato) on the theremin.

Tonight I'm riding down with Astrid and Otis to see the show at the Knitting Factory, if anyone has any tips on a ride back (on friday) I sure would appreciate it!

Opening song at SF show.

Jean Jacque dedicates a song to Edith.

Funky song!

An awkward start, but fun retro samba.

Dana and JJ Perrey on the Recombinant stage in SF.


JJ's fabulous coat.


On the keys.


Some of the gear on hand.


Cool picture of the media room found on Flickr. Photo credit: teishus