[FRINGE] the violin is one of my favourite instruments ... and here's why

Last night I made my way to the Spiegeltent to see The Twoks. Now I formerly liked to describe The Twoks as "Xani playing with herself on stage for an hour, whilst a male accomplice beats his drum nearby," but that tended to convey the wrong impression to too many people as to the nature of the show. And it's no longer quite correct any more. For one thing, it's now a threesome. So instead I'll simply tell you that Xani Kolac, an exceedingly talented violinist, loops the sounds she produces on her violin (not all of which are produced in the traditional manner), and then plays the same violin over those loops, in order to produce an intricate, complex and multi-layered soundscape. She is aided in this endeavour by Mark Leahy on the drums and newcomer Stewart Taylor on the electric bass guitar. Over the years that I've seen their shows, their music has changed from the rather avant-garde jazz improv to a more mainstream "poppy" sound. While this has resulted in a slight loss of technical complexity, it has resulted in a much richer and deeper sound that resonates with the audience a lot more. Although this may be because Xani didn't have a chair this time, and her normal style of music involves playing with her feet as much as anything else (which I find fun to watch). Add to this the throaty vocals of Xani, and you have music that cannot help but uplift you and take you to a wonderful place. This is probably the best show I've seen at the Fringe and I cannot tell you why. Words really can't do justice to the high you experience with this music performed (very energetically) live. I just wish I could remember what the last song she played was, but each time I try my mind just gets lost in the beauty of the song. Yet again. [Although maybe if the vocal imagery didn't include mention of slave girls and whipping it might be easier to remember. <evil grin>]

( Some of The Twoks YouTubey things )