Mission of Burma & Jonathan Kane’s February: Geezer Rock Weekend – Part 2

Remember that scene in “A Clockwork Orange” where the powers that be reprogram the evil and sociopathic Malcolm McDowall? They prop his eyes open, strap him to a chair and make him watch horrifying video which eventually shatters his sanity? Remove the British accents and add four guitarists with no stage presence and you have pretty much what it was like seeing Jonathan Kane’s February open for Mission of Burma on Sunday night at the new Institute of Contemporary Art.

Stuck in my 4th row center seat it would have been unsightly to make everyone in the row get up and move, thus I found myself compelled to endure a half hour of this latest offering from ex-Swans drummer Jonathan Kane. Even my heavy duty earplugs could not shut out enough as the band played 4 compositions which centered around most of the guitarists and sole bass player hitting the same chord over and over for 7 minutes at a stretch. To make matters worse, was to watch how totally self-involved each of these musicians were. Not one could be bothered to acknowledge the presence of the other musicians around them, nor the crowd before them, instead focusing their minds on a single thought: “Dude, I am so totally awesome!” Surprising, when the ‘music’ this combo was outputting was such obvious garbage disguised as some kind of new-york-style high art. To be fair Kane was still a fine drummer and the only person who showed any stage presence or enthusiasm. At least the band’s name says it all; February is often the longest, coldest, and lamest of months here in New England - so as in life goes art.

Mission of Burma had none of these problems however. As a set of neon lit towers glowed at the corners of the stage and a giant picture window behind the band revealed flights and boats circling the airport and harbor; Clint Conley played the post-punk hunk, Roger Miller the mad scientist, and Peter Prescott from behind a clear plastic wall encircling the drum kit, the one who could keep it all together. As they have been at every gig I’ve seen them at since reuniting, they churned through their set of mainly newer material ("2twice", "1001 Pleasant Dreams" "Careening With Conviction") with an uncanny precision and a bursting at the seams energy that’s unrivaled by bands half their age. The only disappointment was a lack of older songs, specifically "Academy Fight Song" and "That’s When I Reach For My Revolver", but at least encores of "This Is Not A Photograph" and "That's How I Escaped My Certain Fate" satisfied.

As we walked the barren streets near the ICA looking for the train home my show-companion Susanne admitted to me that Mission of Burma were not her favorite band. Apparently she’d thought we were going to see Human Sexual Response. Upon reflection, this is possibly the only classic Boston band I didn’t see reunite this weekend. Still something to strive for.