Claude/Fran

  This I saw almost last minute at Empty Bottle on a Free Monday 4 February. Sometimes I look the Empty Bottle website. I did this half-ass search, not really wanting to find something to go, but kind of knowing I may find something that will sting if I miss it.  Oh look, Fran is playing. So I go. I saw her last I think a year ago at East Room with Staring Problem. She even remembered me when I walked over to buy the Fran shirt. I'm jumping ahead.  Claude was playing last. Fran was cool without effort, kinda under the radar sweetened cool.  The song that got me into her is Desert Wanderer.  Yeah, put that one in for Audrey from Twin Peaks to dance to. Her voice reminds me of Karen Carpenter/Aimee Mann. Yeah, I think Fran is kind of Twin Peaks cool.  And while we are at it. So is Ms Claude. She sold me when I heard Screen. Her voice is velvety chalk sidewalk art. Damn....now I gotta get off my ass and shower.
 
  Off I go. As the process of me getting ready continues. The laziness wears off and now I really want to see this.  I search the memories now to connect this story. The casual pace that compelled me to see this was from deeper with more authority. Some things are gonna hit later. Your appreciation will be light at first but it will deepen. Desert Wanderer from Fran got me because I stayed still long enough while waiting for Staring Problem. And now Fran got me to stay and now I like Claude. The Fran Goes South tour was kicked off at Empty Bottle. I wonder how the stages look like as she plays Desert Wanderer. Songs like that can capture moments without apparent effort beyond just being cool. Hmm... I can have this same curiosity with every band I see....yeah I do.  Claude, then let's say...when she's playing Enactor, Screen.  Someone put that on YouTube.
  Claude had enthusiastic fans there at Empty Bottle. One girl I think wore the long sleeve white shirt. The artwork on it was nice.  Enactor is the 6 track EP released on cassette with a download code via Just For You Records from Indianapolis. Claude is Claudia Ferme....from Chicago. I had to space that out. You try saying that fast. Anyway this is ethereal dream pop similar to Fauvely's Watch Me Overcomplicate This. Only Claude does not seem sad so much as numb and distant. I'm just enactor she breathes. There is a fascinating video for it.  Claude has this gothic casual tai chi dance style, and it's not just because she wears black in parts of the video.  Her moves can be included if not partly take the piss out of Angela Benedict's how to dance like a 90's goth. How she dances triggers memories of going to pre Covenant/VNV Nocturna and Neo.  The dance styles varied so widely because the pace was mid tempo mostly. Regular goths betrayed movements unique to them. Anyway, damn....this tangent made me forget where I parked the car. I'm just taking the scenic route in saying I like how Ms Claude dances. Anyway, I'm glad I caught the show. Claude without effort made me a fan.
Zig