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Orrall’s Wave return
reason to dance

8FatFat8: At Wave Waikiki, 1877 Kalakaua Ave., repeats at 11 tonight, for ages 18 and up. Cover is $10 for under 21, $5 for those older. Call 941-0424.

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By John Berger
Special to the Star-Bulletin

FRANK Orrall -- Club DJ. That was the bottom line last night as Orrall returned home to Hawaii and introduced his latest project in the first half of a two-nighter at the Wave Waikiki. Officially it's a duo called 8fatfat8, Orrall plus a vocalist. What the few dozen people who happened to be there during the performance experienced last night was Orrall programming almost 150 minutes of solid, high-impact dance music with occasional support from a vocalist and Kit Ebersbach on keyboards.

There didn't seem to be many people in town 21 and older willing and able to come out late on a Tuesday night to find out what 8FatFat8 is all about.

Still, for Orrall music is about the art of it, not how many people are there. He delivered a club concert performance people could dance to. It was also the first sample here of another facet of Orrall's diverse musical interests. It should come as no surprise to people who remember his work with the Squids and Hat Makes The Man and the evolution of Poi Dog Pondering that Orrall can have a keen interest in electronic music and enjoy stepping out of the live organic context of Poi Dog.

Orrall did a fine job last night. If the primary purpose of a club DJ is programming rhythms that satisfy the dance fiends then Orrall did his job and more. There were at least a few people dancing for almost every song. One woman got so into what Orrall was putting out that she climbed up on the stage and performed as 8FatFat8's go-go dancer for much of the night.

Orrall also created an interesting listening experience with his deft use of rhythm, tempo and sonic texture. He opened with a laid back "New Age" ambience and worked that sound for a while. From there he moved into a strong traditional funk sound and then into harder and harsher sounds and stronger and more frenetic rhythms, then back and off in other directions. Sound bites, sonic loops and sound effects were also part of the program. Orrall covered a good deal of modern club dance music and mixed genres well as he did so.

He did it with synthetic drum machines, sampler/sequencers, mixers and electronic gear that is the modern equivalent of the turntables, vinyl records and scratch mixing of "old skool" jam masters of the late 1970s and early '80s. His vocalist added a powerful organic element to the mix. She wasn't introduced from the stage, but pre-show publicity identified her as Charlette Wortham.

Orrall did introduce Ebersbach and that was certainly appropriate. Ebersbach playing with Orrall meant that two members of the Squids were back together at the Wave where the legend started.

However it didn't take a musical historian to notice that Orrall and his 8FatFat8 partners put together powerful dance music.

As one anonymous clubber put it, "I don't know who that guy is but he is totally off the hook!"

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