Bladerunner Lifts The Veil At Reggie's

By Casey Moffitt in Arts & Entertainment on May 5, 2014 2:40PM

John Zorn, Dave Lombardo and Bill Laswell form Bladerunner.

Bladerunner, the powerful triumvirate of free wheeling performers, hit the stage at Reggie's Rock Club Saturday and turned the place on its head. John Zorn, Dave Lombardo and Bill Laswell put on a dizzying display of genre-hopping improvisation that left the crowd bewildered and amazed.

The three men hit the stage and started out with a spacey jam which Laswell initiated. It was a slow starter, as Laswell deftly worked the fretboard of his bass guitar. He eventually captured a loop, played it back repeatedly and continued to play lines over the loop. Zorn joined soon after, and things kicked into overdrive when Lombardo joined in from behind his large - but not ridiculously large - drum set. It was like a train leaving the station. Once it started and got running, it was going to be hard to stop.

Each member was given a chance to initiate a jam at least once during the set at the early show. Whatever they felt like rocking to, they put it out there for the others to follow. Whether one wanted to work a funk jam, a bluesy riff, a world romp or a free form jazz lick, everyone else followed right along.

One of the highlights is when Laswell and Zorn took a few minutes off to let Lombardo fly off on a blistering solo. It was an impressive display as he pounded away on the double bass drums and let his right hand pond out eighth notes on the ride cymbal while his left hand whacked a syncopated rhythm on his snare. Eventually He let loose in a wild frenzy, which seemed to dazzle the other band members as well. Zorn could be seen standing in the back corner of the stage with a smile on his face watching Lombardo work his magic.

After all, he's fucking Dave Lombardo from fucking Slayer and sometimes you just have get out of his fucking way.

The solo led to metal jam, where Laswell joined in the lay down a rhythm which sounded like impending doom was on its way. As the jam progressed, it sounded like this horrible thing had descended upon the club, while Zorn's wailing saxophone was reminiscent of screaming people or perhaps souls.

That was one of the more fun aspects of the whole show. As there were no lyrics to the songs, it left them completely open to interpretation to the listener. And no doubt each listener heard something a little different than everyone else.

Particularly interesting was a free form jam in which Zorn took the lead. He made his alto sax squeal and wail with some interesting technique. One is when he would stick the tip of the mouthpiece up toward the roof of his mouth and flutter his tongue against the reed and make an odd, rapid fire squeaking racket. It was a gag he pulled out again and again throughout the set. But when he played that instrument straight, he created some gorgeous tones with some wicked phrasing.

It was fun to watch three guys work together in such an unusual way. Watching them watch each other for cues to move from one part to the next, or how to just end a jam was really cool to see. During one Laswell-led jam, things got a little crazy. Lombardo was watching Laswell fairly intently and he almost stumbled going back to theme Laswell had played earlier. Lombardo nailed the transition, but had a little smile on his face, as if he were saying, "Guessed it right," with a little relief. The show was a little like watching a highwire act.

Bladerunner has been around since 2000, but has played just a handful of shows in that time. Knowing who was in the band, and their pedigree made it an anticipated show. However, there are no recordings of the act and Saturday's sets were the first U.S. shows the act had played. Knowing the artists had worked in a variety of styles, it was basically impossible to predict what they had in store. But what easily could have turned into a selfish display of wanking turned into a dazzling display of musicianship which was challenging, yet readily digestible to an eager crowd.