Show Review

Drunken fans and brilliantly composed classical music do not usually cross paths. But when the Mardi Gras festivities in Burlington coincided with the night Tarantula arrived at the Higher Ground opening for Medeski Martin &Wood, the moon must have turned blue. I must admit, I was a little skeptical that their set may go sour because of all of the inebriated music fans and sloppily smashed college preppies I saw around me. Many of who were obviously in attendance to party no matter who the band was. So I was left feeling a bit relieved when Tarantula hit the stage to a nice open response. Folks seemed to be pulled into the intense emotional web that was being created. There were the overly talkative ones, barely holding their alcohol down, who at times clamored over the quieter parts of the music. But the band did take the reins at these awkward moments and continuously powered the energy back up.

Tarantula adventured through a set of music making nods to classical as well as dark metal music, gypsy and strange circus like music. However, this night of Tarantula did unfortunately have one missing element that was obvious - Jamie Reeder was missing. If they made mention of her absence, I did not hear it. Jamie’s violin is very intricate to the Tarantula sound and it was sorely missed. The band made do as a three-piece and performed a top-notch show.

Most notable of the evening were the first two sections of a three-piece suite of composed music that they wove through the much too short set. Tarantula ran out of time before they could complete the third section of this most beautiful composition. During the night Saunder Jurriaans switched back and forth between guitar and bass with daunting and sometimes haunting riffs. His instrumental mastery was most evident in his patient determination, while running through the classical side of the music.

I could honestly listen to Tarantula for hours on end and I do hope they return to Burlington soon to finish what they started. Not that we up here in the north-country drunkenly deserve it, but because we need it!

Tarantula is:

Jamie Reeder - violin

Gregory Rogove - drums

More information on Tarantula can be found at: Tarantulamusic.com

Joe Adler is a musician and free-lance music journalist based out of Burlington, Vermont. He performs regularly around the Burlington area with his very own band The Joe Adler Acoustic Project.