Took a long weekend break to Stockholm in early December, primarily to see The Residents, but also my first visit to Sweden.
Had heard how expensive it is there, but nothing had quite prepared me for £8 for a bar of chocolate. A pub dinner (admittedly 3-course, an up-market bar, and elk & reindeer steaks scoffed) cost us over £100, so bread and cheese came into play despite the cold, grey and damp weather.
Residents show? Smallest venue I’ve ever seen them in, a theatre annex with a capacity of around 200 (it was jammed). A small stage barely big enough to accommodate personnel, equipment and the two basic ‘tent’ sets, but clear sound.
The Bunny Boy’s a curious album (and YouTube series etc….) and I’d looked forward to seeing the nascent mythology expanded upon. Disappointing in that respect as there was nothing on offer that’s not already available on disc/YT. Simple but effective presentation as the Bunny Boy himself lead proceedings, stalking the tiny stage and ranting throughout. It’s the music that fails to engage – the word ‘lumpen’ springs to mind, unfortunately.
A problem I’ve had with the last few Residents releases, imho not striking a good balance between spoken word, lyrics and musical inventiveness. The SandMan had superb musical backing that wasn’t allowed time to breathe, suffocated by spoken word that was insufficiently involved to stand repeated listening. Bunny Boy is the reverse – conceptually a more involving project, but hampered by music that doesn’t stand up to repeated exposure. What next for them, I wonder.
