REVIEW
By Kathryn Bender, Star-Bulletin
Frank Orrall prepares for Poi Dog Pondering's
set at the Wave Waikiki.
Poi Dog’s eclectic
By John Berger
mix worth long wait
Special to the Star-BulletinIt's been roughly 10 years since Frank Orrall last played the Wave with a very different version of Poi Dog Pondering. Ten years and several incarnations later the band is a 13-piece group that travels with a film loop projectionist and a guest performer or two. One thing hasn't changed. A band doesn't get the same respect when it plays a club that it does in a concert hall or arena. Not even Poi Dog Pondering.
People came and went last night; some not bothering to stay until Orrall wrapped up the 75-minute set at 1:15 a.m. A few clubhoppers popped in off the street so far into the set it was obvious that they weren't there for the band. An early arrival, a man who thought he'd "heard something about Poi Dog Pondering being an interesting band," got tired of waiting and was gone by the time PDP took the stage at midnight.
The anonymous visitor missed a fascinating performance. The program was simply about the music of the group's most recent album, "Natural Thing," as performed by a band that includes a cellist, two violinists, drummer, percussionist, bass, and a musician who alternates among sax, flute and guitar. Orrall and two other musicians create the rest of the instrumental music with an assortment of electronic keyboards, computers and similar gear. Orrall is also one of four vocalists, and is generally the most animated performer on stage.
By Kathryn Bender, Star-Bulletin
Frank Orrall applies his wide-ranging interests
to his music.
Overall, the tech crew ran the sound louder than it needed to be. The band was also more slanted toward hard rock than on the album. The difference may be in keeping with the eclectic interests Orrall brings to his music. In either context PDP offers the striking fusion of an acoustic string section with electronic dance music in a melting pot of rock, jazz, gospel, and folk music."I wouldn't miss an opportunity to see Poi Dog Pondering for any thing, " said Alfredo, a club scene veteran, by way of explaining why he was hanging out late on a work night.
"They're always evolving. They're always providing something new. I didn't see Frank with the Squids, but from Hat Makes The Man on, and you can see the evolution. Even with Poi Dog Pondering there's been such growth and maturity. You have to get the new CD to really understand. It's a whole new sound, so I'm here because of the new CD. I want to hear the CD with this band.," he said.
The freshness of PDP's music inspired Katy to stay for the whole set even though she had to work this morning. "It had a lot of flavor and a lot of energy, something we don't see a lot of in Hawaii for some odd reason," she said. "Be sure to mention that they started too late, but all in all it was definitely a very positive performance."
One long-time fan who asked to be identified only as "an old-time Wavette" said she's tracked down copies of even the most obscure PDP recordings and was disappointed that Orrall didn't do any old material. "I'd have been happy if he'd done one or two of the old songs but he didn't do any. Now I'm waiting to seem him with Hat Makes The Man in September. They'll have to do their old songs because they don't have any new material!"
Choreographer Peter Rockford Espiritu found plenty to like. "I always look for innovative groups, and I think they've always been part of that. They also remind me of the '80s thing, bringing it into the '90s and now into the Millennium."
Malia remembered Frank Orrall from his days with Hat Makes The Man and says she's been following his musical odyssey ever since. "It was really funny living on the mainland (later) to think about a local guy with a band named Poi Dog Pondering making it big out of Austin and then eventually Chicago...
"I had heard the album on the mainland, and coming back now they were doing a concert ... I wanted to hear it live.."
As of last night "Natural Thing" didn't seem to be very well known in Honolulu. That should change by the time Orrall and his band play their final show at the Wave Sunday.
Poi Dog Pondering
In concert: Scheduled to play at 10:30 p.m. through Sunday; doors open 9 p.m.
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