Pleaseeasaur :: Black Heart Procession & Pleaseeasaur at Knitting Factory LA
2002-10-12
LA WEEKLY
Parsing the pop-culture rubbish heap is one thing; it's quite another to testify as Cheez-whiz in overdrive. That's where Pleaseeasaur comes in. Armed with a mike, a machine that spits out lounge-rock beats, illustrated slide projections and costumes that range from interstellar disco-dancer to fuzzy albino gorilla, Pleaseeasaur (a.k.a. J.P. Hasson) took the audience on a non-sequitur riddled narrative of bumper-sticker slogans, TV Land advertising clichés and beefsteak islands. It was the ultra-coy cabaret of someone so credulous they think life is a commercial -- and for all too many of us, Pleaseeasaur seems to be saying, it is. One lout screamed, "Get the fuck off the stage!," but the rest of the crowd laughed eagerly and
indulgently. Pleaseeasaur's got a provocateur's streak -- multimedia-ist collective Negativland, Berlin-based MC Chilly Gonzales, Marxist hip-hoppers Consolidated or even the Art Guys come to mind -- but his only aim seems to be walking the delicious line between entertainment and annoyance. You got the feeling folks wanted to yank the plug but couldn't -- 'cause they might miss something amazing!
-Andrew Lentz
