Posted by Levi Hanes
Photos by Patrick Sullivan
Kenny Mellman played his heart out on Monday night. Creating a non-chalant performance as Grace Jones Mellman belted out show tunes, Joy Division chants and spoken word. What had been a minor dormant obsession of mine was awaken and I wanted to head out to the record store and buy every Grace Jones release I could find.
It was performances like last night that made me think Portland does just fine for itself, that is so long as PICA keeps working their asses off to bring us such things as TBA. The opportunity to see Mellman, Neal Medlyn’s bloody, endearing, and spastic opera set to Lionel Richie, and Faustin Linyekula’s piece on remembering the Congo in the same night would be unheard of in any other like-sized city.
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On Monday I traversed to Portland (garnering a speeding ticket-alas) to arrive at the Works to watch Kenny Mellman in I Am Grace Jones. I was riveted to the cold cement floor while I watched enraptured as the the clever schmaltzer covered some of the diva’s greatest and not so greatest songs- Just him, a leather hood, sunglasses and a piano. At times he opted for an understated execution as with ‘Hollywood Liar’ and ‘Send in the Clowns’ a subtle, wry delivery that had me in stiches, but his hard core queer rock blues cover of ‘Pull Up to the Bumper’ had me ready to storm the stage! I was disappointed to see he had received some unfavorable reviews, the reason being that he didn’t camp it up enuf.–Mellman’s straight delivery of such kitch songs was what made the show such an unforgetable evening– at least for this Grace Jones Junkie.
Posted by: Jason at September 17, 2005 04:13 PM