Volume CXXXII, Number 6 October 25, 2002 f

Reiding between the lyrics
ANDREW DAIGLE
CONTRIBUTOR

This past Friday at Portland's State Theater, about 500 of us were in attendance for the second fall tour date of Reid Genauer and The Assembly of Dust. Genauer, formerly the lead singer and rhythm guitarist for Strangefolk before he left the band to pursue business school, recently performed in coffeehouses and summer festivals before officially forming the Assembly of Dust this fall.

Joining him are Nate Wilson (keys) and John Leccese (bass) of Percy Hill with Adam Terrell of Railroad Earth on lead guitar and Andy Herrick of Moon Boat Lover on drums.

The resulting sound of Vermontesque folk-rock with a heavier, more electric tone is one mostly familiar to longtime Strangefolk fans. The Portland show was the night before the band's homecoming in Burlington, so we expected our entertainers to be holding back; instead, we were met with an aural feast of melodies and jammed out rock that lasted two sets and nearly three hours.

From my position about 20 feet from the stage, and sandwiched among a half dozen friends, I was smack dab in a river of dancing heads, who only paused their gyrations to hoot and holler and drop to their knees and ask for more and more after each song. Opening with "Burned Down," an older song, that climaxes with Reid shouting at the top of his lungs sans microphone to the exhilarated crowd, I witnessed Paulo next to me busting into a jig that was something between Denise Austin step aerobics, Sugar Ray Leonard kickboxing home-video steps, and 1981 disco after the Bee Gee's triumphant release of their influential third golden album.

To hear perfect music, as the night undeniably contained, and to see close friends exhibit the side of themselves that is rarely seen, even by themselves, allowed us to all feel an energy of immediacy and importance to the moment. This spurring knowledge of the music's mortality was sensed by all and brought about a strange, drained silence at the show's conclusion-surely similar to the calm before a luscious New England storm that drives us inside to clink glasses in midnight revelry.

The first set gave us a peek of The Assembly's new sound on seven classic Strangefolk tunes: "Burned Down," "Elixir, Poland," "45 Degrees," "Strange Ranger," "Long Dead," and "Dance." The twenty-minute Poland jam featured solos by Terrell and Wilson, who dueled back and forth-feeling each other out with their eyes closed-deep in the moment. The set closed with "Dance," a melody that started with a simple folk rhythm, but soon progressed into a spaced-out twangy electro-jam that came together after ten minutes into a very Slipesque drum-and-bass beat before ending with Reid's soft lyrics.

During all of this, Paulo continued his trademarked moves, while Michel was inundated with his efforts to remix the band's funk jam with "Baby Got Back" as inspired by the lovable dreadlocked hippie girl who was nearly leaping from her feet with every dance step.

After a highly revitalizing set break, in which we witnessed the magnificent surveillance techniques of the State's highly trained security, the band took the stage to resume their serenade. After opening with "Utterly Addled," they continued with "Amplified Messiah" (a new chanson), "Songbeard," "Speculator," "Zero to the Skin," "Rachel," and "Stouthearted." This set was more in the way of what we expected, with Reid busting out the acoustic and Nate playing the organ through its grand piano synthesizer.

The crowd responded to this beat with the stomp and hop of traditional bluegrass, and smiles were beaming from everyone as the second set consisted of a general sing-along between longtime fans and the band. This set really proved the staying power of this band.

The Assembly knows their main strengths and certainly plays off them, but they are unpredictable and seem to draw from a wealth of possible directions for each jam. There is none of that monotony that characterizes other jam bands when the same chord and rhythm is replayed meter after meter with a mere acceleration in the beat's frequency. The sound is so rich that the whole concert came off as much more than a ridiculous time; it was something to appreciate and to look forward to The Assembly's next performance.

For the encore, Reid came out and played a solo acoustic version of "Shame." The rest of the band then joined in a rousing, lengthy rendition of "Stone Choir" that brought everyone to their dancing feet for one more round before the band joined hands, bowed together, and bid us goodnight.
Reid Genauer and The Assembly of Dust are touring greater New England throughout the fall. Dates are posted at www.reidgenauer.com.