I’m not retracting anything that I blogged about Bogus Pomp, but I feel like rounding that sentiment out after receiving a heartfelt email from BP member David Manson.
I’m going to paraphrase this from my email reply because I think it gets to the matter directly: “We see a tiny tiny slice of a band’s existence when we see them perform. As fellow musicians we know the real deal of how much work and sweat and often tears goes into making that tiny slice happen.” I found that making the change from rabid fan to performer was the hardest part of Zappanale 16 and the same difficulty with transition from fan to performer bit me in the ass right here on this blog. I’m sorry if it sounded like I singled BP out. They are brothers in arms and I owe them better.
Bogus Pomp is up against the same forces that faced Zappa, and then some. They play briliant, powerful, and often complex music with very little commercial potential. It has great meaning to a small but rabid fan base, and offers the musician the chance to be part of what could be the ultimate gestalt experience in the history of modern composition: To create the power of rock with the capabilities of an orchestra and the direction of a compositional genius. Not many people get that chance, and too few get the chance to see it happen live. With everything else aside, I was honored to have the chance to see Bogus Pomp perform and I think that didn’t come across well enough in the aftermath of the trip to Germany. I saw what I saw, and heard what I heard, and the good far outweighed the bad.
petebrunelli 