Thursday, November 20, 2008

Film captures Process of stage extravaganza



Thursday, November 20, 2008
SUE WHITE
THE SAGINAW NEWS

If there was a retro feel to The Process' standing-room-only show last March at the historic Vassar Theatre, it was totally by design.
The Pigman -- guitarist Garrick Owen in an oversized pig head -- returned to the stage, as did the Skullman, the embodiment of a 1,000-year-old Ethiopian holy man.

The music, lead singer David Asher and drummer Gabe Gonzalez locked a powerful fit of ''Rasta madness'' and bass player Bill Heffelfinger and Owen flying high, embracing the scope of the rock-reggae band's existence.

And the journey continues in a DVD that captures the experience in its multi-media entirety. Catch it Saturday, Nov. 29, at the official DVD release party at Indian Barry's in Bay City. Also performing are the band KMJ and Born.

''It is a very theatrical production,'' Asher said of the homecoming concert on the stage the band first played in the early 1990s. ''We wanted to bring back the feel of, say, Alice Cooper or Peter Gabriel.''

That comes across in full fury, falling just short of aroma-vision in its riveting blast of lasers, vintage film and rolling banks of smoke. Gary Bredow, Lavel Jackson and Art Bissonette worked behind the scenes, he added, to pull it all together.

''We had to bring our own stage in, so we were there at 9 in the morning, and we were working until 2 in the morning tearing it down,'' Asher said. ''But to see how it looked from the audience, that's always a kick. A little weird the first time, watching yourself on a big screen, but then I was more relaxed about it.

''It captured us chronologically; it documented the event.''

And that's the one criticism. While the live segments are professional in every sense of the word -- this is the crew behind the documentary ''High Tech Soul'' -- there's an awkward transition between songs.

''Some wanted to baby-sit the filmmakers through the process but I say to let them do what they know how to do best,'' Asher said. ''We could have tinkered with it, but I don't know if that would have made it better.

''The word is getting out on the DVD -- it's available on CD Baby or on our Web site www.myspace.com/theprocessmusic -- and everything we're hearing is very positive. It's good.''

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