AMSTERDAM - The American Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band were providers of pure entertainment and whit last Saturday night at a full Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. Although the Concertgebouw itself looked a bit like a drug-circus, Captain Beefheart managed to present himself as a master of theatre. Announcing himself as the Master Of Fake (see additional note) he tormented the eardrums merciless with his captivating, grumbling and cooing throat sounds.

Together with his Magic Band he performed some short sketches, like consuming a cigar, bashing a bass guitar and suddenly screaming murder and fire. In a red satin costume with a black stitched cape the Captain (aka Don van Vliet) looked like he was performing a kind of musical cartoon. Drummer Ed Marimba much resembled a character from a story of Asterix. Like some sort of super-German he was banging his clear drums monotonously but perfectly, while he uttered tribal screams and looked around with a bloodthirsty glaze.

It seems that Captain Beefheart wants everything to be even crazier than with other popgroups. When there was a need for bass playing, three basses were employed, the same goes for guitar solos: three guitar players showed up. At first it musically seemed an uncoordinated angry pile of rubbish without much melody. Captain Beefheart proved himself to be the genius director of an absurd, sometimes captivating theatre show.

Hi Theo,
In some reviews of the '72 Amsterdam gig it mentions Beefheart referring to himself as Master of Fake. I believe this must be a mishearing / misinterpreting of Mascara Snake. Let me explain:

I saw them on 290372 in Brighton, England. During Mark Boston's opening bass solo, a band member would come on, carrying a wooden fish with ridges down its back. You often see this instrument in Latin American bands. They don't usually look like fish though [or snake - teejo]. The ridges are scraped with a stick to produce a percussive effect.

note by teejo: some investigations learned me that the meant instrument, which exists in several variations, is called 'guiro' (with g pronounced as k). here's an example:

The Magic Band member would scrape the fish, and announce: "This is the Mascara Snake". Then another member would get the fish and say: "This is the Mascara Fake". Finally someone would say: "...and this is the mascara for God's sake".

So, Master of Fake = Mascara Fake, I reckon.

thanks a lot, ben !

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PICTURE 3

ART TRIPP ed marimba
picture by ton damman

go to the next review and pictures

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