Don Caballero
with Pair Bambi, Sonic Boom Project
Thurs. March 4th, 2004 @ Mohawk Place, Buffalo

It’s pretty common nowadays for a band to undergo a number of line-up changes throughout its career. A lot of times the line-up that started the band is almost completely different from the line-up still playing in that band a few short years later. Sometimes it is questionable whether or not they should even be using the original band name, especially when the fusion of new blood has taken the band in an alternate musical direction.

But how often do you find a band where the only original member left is the drummer? Well let me tell you: not too often. Such is the case with Don Caballero, and yet, drummer Damon Che is arguably the most important member of this all instrumental, insanely intricate band. After Don Cab broke up a few years ago, each of the contributors went their own separate ways; guitarist Ian Williams continued on with his side project Storm & Stress and then a new band called Battles (featuring ex-Helmet drummer John Stanier), while Che himself formed a new project called Bellini. Before long however, Che decided to return to the Don Caballero name that has been a part of him for well over 10 years, and he recruited some friends from the Pittsburgh prog/math/metal band Creta Bourzia to come along for the ride.

While organizing a “reunion tour” without the rest of the band does seem a little questionable, I have to say that any new musicians who can jump on stage with Che and actually play existing Don Caballero songs have already more than earned my respect. I was interested to see exactly what this new line-up would sound like, and considering I had never seen Don Caballero play live before, I was hoping they would be able to live up to the band’s reputation.

We arrived at Mohawk Place in Buffalo precisely as Sonic Boom Project ended their set. After a somewhat long wait, Pair Bambi plugged in all their gear and delivered their haphazard sound to the gradually building crowd. It was easy to see how this Buffalo band fit on this bill as they were mostly instrumental and attempted to create math rock-y riffs over off-time rhythms. At times they succeeded, but at other times the band was just not tight enough to pull it off. There were too many moments where they sounded like 4 separate musicians playing 4 separate songs. Also, whenever they decided to forego the strict instrumental policy, the guitarist/frontwoman dished out vocals that were difficult to endure. She was trying too hard to sing with an operatic voice that she did not possess. To make matters worse, I just couldn’t shake from my head her resemblance to former Saturday Night Live cast member Ana Gasteyer. I kept expecting Will Ferrell to come out and join her onstage.

At any rate the crowd was receptive and Pair Bambi did a sufficient job of warming things up. By the time Damon Che stripped down to his boxers and took a seat behind his drumkit, everyone was anxious to see what would happen next. A trio of young hip-looking guys followed him up there and they launched into a brand new song that did not sound to me like Don Caballero. I was impressed but a little put off by the chugging drop D guitars and all-out thrash assault. Was this really what I just paid to see? Fortunately from there they settled into some existing Don Cab material, with both guitarists combining their efforts throughout the entire next song with complex finger-tapping patterns, while Che and the bassist laid down dizzying off-kilter beats.

It was amazing to watch Damon Che as he would often sit almost motionless, hunched over his drum kit with his head down as his long arms flailed effortlessly about the drums in hypnotic and precise patterns. He has often been compared to an octopus, not only because of the number of arms he appears to have as he plays, but also the undersea-like grace with which he maneuvers. It’s quite interesting, especially when you consider how chaotic the music can get, but it’s as though he is sitting within the eye of the storm. In between songs he would mutter cryptic phrases and gibberish into the microphone beside his kit (the lone microphone on stage) and banter back and forth with the crowd in a schizophrenic manner that reminded me of Hunter S. Thompson or some other well known crackpot. (Whether or not this is entirely an act I can’t say, but I somehow suspect he doesn’t live in exactly the same world most of us do.) The other band members would only quietly sip beer and look content with themselves, although occasionally the goofy-looking bass player laughed at his lines like a stoner sidekick. Even though the new guys on stage seemed like obvious imposters to the band, they clearly knew their shit when it came to performing the songs.

The rest of the set continued along like this as they played a variety of stuff from their last release American Don and covered stuff all the way back to their very first album (perhaps even earlier). I am not that familiar with Don Cab’s oldest material, but I suspect that there were a couple of new songs thrown into the mix as well because every now and then they would perform another song with dual shredding guitars that just seemed a little out of place. Although it is difficult to keep the names of their songs straight (especially considering the length of the song titles) some highlights of the night that I recognized included “I Never Liked You” and “In the Absence of Strong Evidence to the Contrary, One May Step Out of the Way of the Charging Bull”.

All too soon the set was over, ending with an epic metal dirge that I believe may have been another new composition. Fortunately, for an encore they came back with a blistering version of “Fire Back About Your New Baby’s Sex”. Even if this wouldn’t be considered by some to be a performance by the real, authentic Don Caballero, it was still one of the most impressive displays of musical talent I’ve ever seen. I suggest you catch them live while you have the chance because it will be one of those shows you still remember years and years down the road. — Sean