Review + Photos: My first Residents show was the strangest musical experience of my life
The Residents (photo: William Wayland) The Residents. No other musical ensemble has ever come close to making stranger, funnier, scarier, or more disturbingly rewarding music than the Residents. Last week, the band performed back-to-back nights at the Chapel on April 5 and 6, and it was the strangest musical experience I've ever had. Lore has it that this band, born from Louisiana, hit the road in the 1960s. When their van broke down in San Mateo, they stayed. Soon after, their debut LP, Meet The Residents (an unapologetic nod to the Beatles' first Capitol record), hit stores. Meet The Residents remains the group's most [...]
The Residents documentary makes local debut at SFIFF
The Residents – a mysterious music, art, and multimedia collective long associated with the San Francisco Bay Area – are stepping into the spotlight as part of this year's San Francisco International Film Festival (SFIFF). After top-notch reviews from their SXSW debut, Theory of Obscurity: a film about The Residents will make its first local appearances tonight (Friday, May 1) and this Sunday, May 3 at the Sundance Kabuki Theater. Hardcore fans of The Residents will be delighted by never-before-seen footage unearthed from the vaults of the Cryptic Corporation, the “management team” that has kept the identity of The Residents [...]
Review & Photos: The Residents @ Bimbos, 4/16/11
Shrouded in mystery, The Residents may have come to SF in 1972 from Shreveport Louisiana. The story goes that they met in high school and headed west in 1966. The truck broke down in San Mateo where they stayed for a few years making their first recordings in 1969. The first appearance with the name The Residents was indeed at SF's Boarding House in 1971. Fast forward through 1976's Third Reich 'n' Roll, giant eyeball heads and 1979's eerie Eskimo. I was 10 at that time and my brother challenged me to listen to that frozen tundra of a disc [...]