Tunnels/Percy Jones @ Eyedrum-Atlanta 9/30/06

[The Owl]

I had the distinct pleasure of seeing Tunnels with Percy Jones this past Saturday at Atlanta's Eyedrum, a great little venue that's both performance space and art gallery.

They've been doing a 2 week mini-tour of the eastern US in support of their newest CD, "Natural Selection". See Percy's website for remaining tour dates www.percyjones.net

This time it was the core 3-piece, Percy, Marc Wagnon (midi-vibes) and a brand new drummer who'd only been with them about a week (their drummer bailed on them just before they were to hit the road, a quick ad on Craig's List enabled them to find a very capable replacement in short order).

They played the entire CD in sequence. I was floored by how well all 3 listened to each other, Marc Wagnon's masterful and creative use of synth textures and samples with the midi-vibes and of course, our man Percy as brilliant as ever. These days, he's playing a custom made Ibanez Ergodyne 5-string (low string tuned to C) with NO magnetic pickups, just a piezo in the bridge, resulting in a more elastic and woody sound. His amp was a new Epifani combo with a single 12" which sounded amazing!

The music itself was spellbinding, the grooves relentless and for me, VERY inspiring.

Best yet, Tunnels are 3 of the most approachable and friendly folks you'll encounter. Marc Wagnon may look real serious ionstage but he is one of the funniest people I've ever met. The new drummer (must be in his early 20's at most) was just so energetic and very happy to be doing the tour. Percy himself was very cool, soft-spoken and still has his Welsh accent. To thank him for making the trip through ATL and for his inspiring playing, I gave him a copy of one of my CD's which he said he'd play in the van the next day. They all signed me newly purchased Tunnels CD . All in all, a great night and a great lesson in how to play fretless. If you get the chance, definitely see them, especially as a3-piece.

Hard to believe they were able to fit themselves AND their gear in a mini-van!

[xush]

wow, I am sad to find out about this too late! Would have loved to have seen that- Percy is something else!

do you mind telling me a little about the venue? We've discussed booking there, but I don't know much about the place
TIA...

[Mike Dimin]

Originally Posted by The Owl

I had the distinct pleasure of seeing Tunnels with Percy Jones this past Saturday at Atlanta's Eyedrum, a great little venue that's both performance space and art gallery.

They've been doing a 2 week mini-tour of the eastern US in support of their newest CD, "Natural Selection". See Percy's website for remaining tour dates www.percyjones.net

This time it was the core 3-piece, Percy, Marc Wagnon (midi-vibes) and a brand new drummer who'd only been with them about a week (their drummer bailed on them just before they were to hit the road, a quick ad on Craig's List enabled them to find a very capable replacement in short order).

They played the entire CD in sequence. I was floored by how well all 3 listened to each other, Marc Wagnon's masterful and creative use of synth textures and samples with the midi-vibes and of course, our man Percy as brilliant as ever. These days, he's playing a custom made Ibanez Ergodyne 5-string (low string tuned to C) with NO magnetic pickups, just a piezo in the bridge, resulting in a more elastic and woody sound. His amp was a new Epifani combo with a single 12" which sounded amazing!

The music itself was spellbinding, the grooves relentless and for me, VERY inspiring.

Best yet, Tunnels are 3 of the most approachable and friendly folks you'll encounter. Marc Wagnon may look real serious ionstage but he is one of the funniest people I've ever met. The new drummer (must be in his early 20's at most) was just so energetic and very happy to be doing the tour. Percy himself was very cool, soft-spoken and still has his Welsh accent. To thank him for making the trip through ATL and for his inspiring playing, I gave him a copy of one of my CD's which he said he'd play in the van the next day. They all signed me newly purchased Tunnels CD . All in all, a great night and a great lesson in how to play fretless. If you get the chance, definitely see them, especially as a3-piece.

Hard to believe they were able to fit themselves AND their gear in a mini-van!

PLEASE NOTE: Percy was NOT playing an Epifani combo. Percy was playing the EA iAMP 800 Combo. EA is proud to announce that Percy Jones now plays and endorses EA amplifiers. Infact Percy's wife just called to tell me how thrilled he is with the amp

Mike

[j-raj]

Originally Posted by The Owl

I had the distinct pleasure of seeing Tunnels with Percy Jones this past Saturday at Atlanta's Eyedrum, a great little venue that's both performance space and art gallery.

I missed this one too... Dang!!

Originally Posted by Mike Dimin

PLEASE NOTE: Percy was NOT playing an Epifani combo. Percy was playing the EA iAMP 800 Combo. EA is proud to announce that Percy Jones now plays and endorses EA amplifiers. Infact Percy's wife just called to tell me how thrilled he is with the amp
Mike

Nice Mike ...always waving the EA flag.

[Mike Dimin]

Originally Posted by j-raj

I missed this one too... Dang!!

Nice Mike ...always waving the EA flag.

This is Percy's first tour with EA. I can't let such a grevious error go ... now could I

Mike

[Mike Dimin]

Here are the rest of Percy's dates:

Oct 4 2006 8:00P RadioRadio Indianapolis, IN
Oct 6 2006 8:00P The Winchester Cleveland, OH
Oct 7 2006n10:00P Prog in the Park Rochester, NY
Oct 9 2006 8:00P Harpers Ferry Boston, MA

[j-raj]

Originally Posted by Mike Dimin

This is Percy's first tour with EA. I can't let such a grevious error go ... now could I

Mike

yeah man, no doubt... It's just funny, anytime you *sense* a disturbance in the force, you chime in about EA. It's almost like you're really into EA or something...


OH BTW, could you tell the cats @ EA to bring back the VL110, I wish I never sold mine.

[Mike Dimin]

Originally Posted by j-raj

yeah man, no doubt... It's just funny, anytime you *sense* a disturbance in the force, you chime in about EA. It's almost like you're really into EA or something...


OH BTW, could you tell the cats @ EA to bring back the VL110, I wish I never sold mine.

I now actually have my own extension in the phone system (704)

Mike

[j-raj]

^that's too funny.


so... back to Percy and tunnels. Any Brand X'ish stuff in this Tunnels stuff? I have a couple Brand X albums, but I haven't heard enough of This new group of his.

[The Owl]

Originally Posted by j-raj

^that's too funny.


so... back to Percy and tunnels. Any Brand X'ish stuff in this Tunnels stuff? I have a couple Brand X albums, but I haven't heard enough of This new group of his.

It doesn't sound like Brand X in the slightest, though Percy still sounds completely like himself and no one else. The music is alot looser and more harmonically dense than Brand X, not a lot of hyper-speed unison passages (which frankly gets old real fast), but lots of intersting melodies and counterpoint, not to mention tons of constantly shifting textures (gotta love those MIDI-VIBES).

Here's a link to samples on E-Music:

http://www.emusic.com/album/10914/10914742.html

[The Owl]

Originally Posted by Mike Dimin

This is Percy's first tour with EA. I can't let such a grevious error go ... now could I

Mike

Mike, my sincerest apologies for my earlier error.

But in any case, Percy sure sounds DYNAMITE with that new amp, hard to believe such a HUGE sound could come from something that size!!!

[The Owl]

Originally Posted by xush

wow, I am sad to find out about this too late! Would have loved to have seen that- Percy is something else!

do you mind telling me a little about the venue? We've discussed booking there, but I don't know much about the place
TIA...

Lookie here:

www.eyedrum.org

[j-raj]

Thanks for the info man... I've been a fan of his and really love his approach to fretless.

As for the Eyedrum, man there are some great avant garde gigs there...