I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: July 24, 2024] Basic

Philadelphia’s own BASIC, Chris Forsyth on guitar, Nick Millevoi on baritone guitar and drum machine, and Patrick Avery on percussion and electronics.  I saw them open for Tortoise back in 2023 and really enjoyed their rocking, possibly improvised set.

The venue was super packed.  I started in the center but couldn’t see anything so I moved to the Nick Millevoi’s side, but was still blocked by a pole.  Eventually I sidled up and managed to see all three of them.

Last time, I felt Christ Forsyth’s guitar was a little quiet, but this time the sound was great.

Like last time, Avery had a tiny bass drum that he hit with a mallet.  On it was a kind of woodblock, which he hit with a plastic mallet.  That’s all he had.  Millevoi often started a drum machine as he started playing so technically Avery didn’t have a lot to do, but seeing and hearing him add bass drum was a nice touch.  Avery also played with some electronics on a table near him–I think he was doing a lot more than I realized (since I couldn’t see him very well, it’s hard to know).

They played for about 40 minutes and it was a great rocking set.  Nick and Chris both played great solos from time to time and Mikel held it all together.

I do hope to see them one more time, hopefully from the front where I can really see what’s going on.

And what was fun was that Chris and his family (I assume) stood next to me at the end of Tinariwen, and then he was super friendly after the show where we chatted about the upcoming Basic album.