Sons of the Sircus
The Absent Sound is set to celebrate the longest night of the year



Hurry! Hurry! Hurrah! The Multi-eared-ringin’ circus is back folks!

“It’s an old-school, earth-based celebration of the sun on the longest night of the year,” reports singularly named Absent Sound member Rob about the ElementSircus — the annual Winter solstice celebration presented by Ragpickers, Sweet Spot Productions and the very ubiquitous The Absent Sound on Dec. 21 at the Pyramid Cabaret.

“Some people celebrate this night on their own. I’ve seen isolated pockets of people getting together for smaller celebrations — the world over,” omnipresent Rob explains after detailing that he performs musical microsurgery within The Absent Sound by helming guitar, keys, a bit of drums, a loop sampler and a bit of vocals. Brian helps out on vocals and handles stilt-walking, while Dave plays guitar, keyboards and sings — again — a bit.

“That’s why we decided to do our own celebration.”
The Absent ones’re recording a new album for release on an as-yet-undisclosed local record label for a projected release in the spring, and after a year’s worth of high-profile gigs under their collective belts you’d figure they would be stilted towards kicking back in front of a well-tweaked, yule-logged fireplace to rest under the swingin’ mistletoe on their hard-won laurels.

But, being the champions of sound service that they are, these Absent ones are set to kick out more soundscapes than they have all year in one celebratory blowout that even has sensory deprivationists hiding under Druid-hewed stones awakening with excited costumed cacophonous cavorting!

This Sircus will be the fifth that the ambitious Absent trio and their amiable associates have put together for you snow-sloggin’ Streetbeaters, and if the past is any identical indication it will be a treasure-filled costumed celebration of spectacular sensory satisfaction featuring a brain-bogglin’ bonanza of magical music.

“It’s a celebration of change,” Rob says after indicating that winter is one of his favorite seasons.

Changing clothes — as in putting on a costume?

“First and foremost we encourage people to dress up for the Sircus. One of the basic elements of this is the concept to try and bring out different social genres of people to the celebration,” Dave says of the event’s thrilling participatory charm. “Everyone is the Sircus. You come dressed up and you’re a part of it.”

“The feedback we’ve received about the Sircus has been very positive,” Rob explains, “that’s why the festival is growing, but some people think that this is derived from a hippie mentality. It’s not. It’s way beyond that.”

So it ain’t just a bunch of hippies in costumes?

“This clichéd sentiment comes from people who haven’t actually seen and experienced the Sircus,” says Dave. “From the moment you walk into the Sircus, there’s going to be music and all kinds of things going on everywhere you look.”

“There’s a continuous flow,” Rob adds. “That’s why we encourage everyone to dress up crazy and participate.”

A portion of the press release announcing the Sircus indicates: “A good place to start would be Ragpickers, where you will get 50 per cent off costume rentals with the purchase of a Sircus ticket, or simply create your own costume.”

The Sircus performers this year will include, but are not limited to, the backwoods, soul-stirring D. Rangers; them psyche-sound croakers Mahogany Frog; theatrical prog rockers Antigravity; and the ever-at-hand Absent Sound.

Also featured will be The Bomb Sniffing Dogs, Unraveled Brown Cassette Tape, freak-show-stopper Mynor the Irrational, Young Lungs Dance Exchange, Video Pool Films, plus video and film by the Graffiti Gallery and S.N.A.C.C., the incredible traffic-stopping Fire Pixies (hey, I saw it swooshing with my own eyes), interactive games, projections by Greg Hanec and a small market area.

“We end the night with a percussion jam,” says Rob. “We have a sound art wall where attendees can come and bang on things that make noise: Cans, pipes and whatever else.”

“The reason why the show works so well is because so many people help out, dress up and enjoy the Sircus so much. It all happens smoothly in an entertaining way for all.”

Sircus tix are $10 with a costume/$12 otherwise at Ragpickers, Music Trader and Into the Music. Hit www.theabsentsound.com or www.teargasrecordingtree.com for more Sircus information.

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For more info see our What’s Up entertainment listings.