about a year after his first email, sander piek wrote me again, to tell:

Tough meanwhile it is clear what your opinion is on the Beefheart level of the project, it might be nice to add some information for completeness.

Saturday 6 September, Radio 4 aired the - according to narrator Co de Kloet - 'almost integral concert of 'Fast 'n' Bulbous' at the Saalfelden Jazzfestival 2002'. The broadcast of the '4FM Jazz' program (0.00-1.00 hour) contained tracks which hadn't been broadcast on Ö1 then. But on the other hand, some pieces of the 'Austrian' show were skipped on the 'Dutch' one.

Co de Kloet announced the following numbers: Pachuco Cadaver, Abba Zaba, When Big Joan Sets Up, When I See Mommy I Feel Like A Mummy, The Blimp, Sugar 'n' Spikes, Click Clack, Ice Cream For Crow, When It Blows It Stacks and Suction Prints. However, the broadcast appeared to be a bit different: the spoken intro to Pachuco Cadaver was left out, as well as the number Sugar 'n' Spikes. Added were: Veterans Day Poppy (after Ice Cream for Crow) and Tropical Hot Dog Night, which closed off the show.

(translated from dutch by the gorilla crow. heel erg bedankt, sander)

this annual music festival took place in an unusual setting: a circus tent, raised up on the football (soccer!) field of a local sports club. that ground is situated right in the middle of the huge building complex housing the german broadcasting company 'hessischer rundfunk', which didn't seem to offer the right sphere for the happening they organized: a three-day mixture of circus and jazz acts.

the radio department covered every minute of the program. so, the second channel of the station - hessischer rundfunk 2, or hr2 - has broadcast the 'fast 'n' bulbous' performance live. of course, it did air it out on radio, but - as their website missed the usual plug for digital listeners - the question is: was it also on the web?.....

by the way, for lazy germans i found a promotional text:

ANARCHIE, VERLASS MICH NIE!

Gary Lucas, der manische Entdecker immer neuer musikalischer Abenteuerspielplätze, war einige Jahre Mitglied in der Band von Captain Beefheart (alias Don Van Vliet), einem Rock-Anarchisten, dessen Musik schon damals wie das ausgelassene Toben einiger Kinder auf der Müllkippe klang. Lucas hat zusammen mit dem Saxophonisten Phillip Johnston diese Ideenwelt in den Jazzkontext gestellt: herausgekommen ist eine betörend-verstörende Musik, durchgeknallt an der Oberfläche, raffiniert rhythmisch gegenläufig in der Tiefenstruktur. In ihrer Komplexität in der Jazzwelt vielleicht besser aufgehoben als in der glorifizierten Rock-Vergangenheit. Lucas und Johnston lassen die siebenköpfige Band klingen wie von der Kette gelassen: da ist ziemlich viel Zirkus auf der Bühne.

*

later remark 101204:

at the moment (and for as long as it will last) there runs a memory of the festival at the h2 website. but instead of a musical repeat, it is a photografical slideshow of all the circus and jazz acts. anyone who can tear the picture of gary lucas down from it ánd is the first one to send it to me, will get his / her name here and a big 'thank you!' - because i'm not that good in such higher cyber-gymnastics

a studio-only live set and a track from the soon-to-be album were played on a weekly program of the wfmu (e)radio station, hosted by irene trudel. her web page which brought the original cyber performance, also is the place to be for late-comers as the whole show will be stored there (beneath the current announcements) for many years, it seems.

note: the broadcast also included / includes two pieces from 'live, love, larf &  loaf',  one of the records made by the (john 'drumbo') french, frith, kaiser & thompson collective.

parts of the instrumental 'fast 'n' bulbous' tribute could also be heard on another old-fashioned radio station with a digital branch: wnyc. just like the set from the day before it was studio-only. actually, john schaefer's new sounds show mixed it with some original beefheart songs and a track from the solo album by zoot horn rollo (bill harkleroad). late-comers are able to listen to the performance in the archives for many years...

[211004:] another performance as part of one of those popular 'captain beefheart tribute evenings' in the states. as the name of the venue gives it away, the (all) instrumental renditions of beefheart songs will be combined with special guests (tba) reading the poetry of Don Van Vliet. at least, that is what gary lucas' homepage has been told....

for after some cybersurfing i stumbled into a calendar which announces: Friday December 17, 2004 * 10:00pm - 11:45pm * Fast & Bulbous CD Release Party * $15. now, that's something completely different!....

[101204:] the special guest rumoured earlier to render some poems appears to be...: gary's magic band co-guitarist Denny Walley. uh, i'm sure he can réad..., but still think he will prefer to pláy some beefheart!...

more information very welcome.