Les Claypool Presents Gabby La La: Hello Kitty Meets Yoko Ono (and it’s Good)

The night of interesting performances began with legendary San Francisco protester Frank Chu -- whose signage inspired the club’s name and who receives free beer for attending shows -- delivering a nonsensical yet compelling monologue that went on a tad too long. Hardcore Primus fans aren’t known for their patience or manners, so they clapped and hooted and hollered in an attempt to drown Chu out. Chu persevered over the din, however, receiving warm applause when he finally uttered his last word. Standout words from his sign of the day, which he, naturally, brought to the show: “Krextocritical,” “Sanctify, Prosperity, Diligence.”

The musical opener was the duo of bluesy funk guitarist Eric McFadden and percussionist Wally Ingram. McFadden has played with Les Claypool and P-Funk, and looks like Lenny Kravitz’s dirtier, more interesting older brother. Ingram, who’s played and produced for David Lindley, Sheryl Crow and Crowded House, plays a custom drum set featuring numerous wind chimes, pot covers, a talking drum and a WWI helmet, along with more conventional elements. They opened with a sultry down tempo number, “Baby Doll,” that oozed sex and suited McFadden’s gravelly voice perfectly, then launched into a tight cover of the Pixies “Gouge Away.” Later several musicians joined them in a version of Tom Waits “Clap Hands” and a few stayed on for a heartfelt cover of “Jolene,” sung by bassist Paula O’Rourke. Then all the guest musicians left and Claypool joined McFadden and Ingram on stage for a final song. The audience was appreciative, but grew restless for more Claypool.

Gabby La La, a tiny Asian woman attired in a nondescript outfit, large red glasses and pink hair bow securing her long black hair, tapped her way on stage, climbed up on a speaker box and kept right on tapping, establishing a strong, interesting rhythm with her feet. For her second number, Ms. La La climbed off the speaker and picked up an electric sitar, playing it guitar-style and rocking it like Ravi Shankar in a long instrumental number. The sight of her petite hands moving over the broad neck of the sitar underscored her femininity. She then played a toy piano and accordion, and utilized a tape loop, all with great skill and verve, but the crowd wanted Claypool so gave less than their full attention. In between numbers La La nervously regaled us with adorable anecdotes about her hometown, Petaluma, her dog and her sister Mimi.

When next La La picked up her ukulele, coaxing out an irresistible, latin-flavored groove, people began to dance. Her cute and clever lyrics reminded us of the importance of brushing our teeth, and the music was infectiously poppy. Half the crowd was hooked in, but the other half was busy talking while waiting for Claypool to reappear.

I kept hoping Claypool would come out and scold the rude mothers. Scold them he did, too, both with his powerful bass lines and with occasional scowls. There was even a hot moment of controversy when Claypool crankily yet ever so politely chastised Frank Chu for blocking audience members’ view of the stage with his sign, removing the sign from Chu’s hands and hiding it back stage. Claypool’s bass playing was, as always, elegant, lyrical and massively funky, and he added a tremendous amount of depth to La La’s songs, although he remained a support player and let La La rule the stage.

In an evening highlight La La flexed her musical muscles for the testosterone-laden crowd by demonstrating her mastery of the notoriously difficult Theremin, an instrument played by manipulating two planes of radio waves in midair. Those familiar with the instrument were mightily impressed at La La’s skill. La La also charmed the crowd into joining her in a sing-along about vegetarians and Petalumans who eat butter and eggs, and another about disempowering the Boogie (Woogie) Man.

La La proved herself a true musical original, worthy of Claypool’s attention. She ultimately was too much woman for many of the Primus fans, however, who never demonstrated the enthusiasm for her that she deserved.

--SFist Claire O'rrific, contributing. Image from Gabby La La's site.