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Bob's Lounge

After our Montreal shows Bob has gone into remission. Having attained a certain perfection within the form, we will pause in acknowledgment. For a time, indeterminate in length, as in life, love and sobriety, unless large amounts of money, alcohol, or venues irresistible to defamation are proffered.

recent lounging:

Max & Roza's wedding (20 Aug, 2011)

Dance Centre's 10th Anniversary (17 Sept, 2011)

At the VAG for Fuse (4 Nov, 2011)

At Cruela and Graeme's wedding (5 Nov, 20110)

From the hour

Pants-off party
Melora Koepke

Vancouver's Battery Opera takes the naked stage with their somewhat crazed, bigger-than-expected offshoot Bob's Lounge

During their four-night stint at Théâtre La Chapelle, Bob's Lounge will almost certainly take off their pants, probably more than once. And though it's encouraged, audience pantslessness is not a requirement at this booze-soaked, somewhat scary and utterly worthwhile lounge offshoot of Vancouver's art/dance outfit Battery Opera. When I saw them live, at some fake-French café on Main St., I was impressed with the size of their saxophone and the best cover of the Dead Kennedys' Too Drunk to Fuck I've ever heard. Chaos ensued that wet Vancouver night, but through it all, the pants stayed on. Or the band played on. I can't quite remember.

Indeed, pants-taking-off is only one pillar of Bob's Lounge - others include "barnyard love, anal sex, freight train jumping, birthing and penises - my penis, specifically," says Lounge lizard and Battery Opera principal David McIntosh. "We're trying to inhabit the core of that classic lounge material, basically. It's a religious thing - in which the spirit of alcohol aids in your personal quest to have your wanton needs met."

Bob's Lounge, to a large extent, defies description. The collaboration between McIntosh and Vancouver sax menace and frequent Battery Opera collaborator Aleister Murphy, as well as other Vancouver and Montreal-based performers, could be termed a loose-goosed, booze-drenched and sometimes dauntingly audience-participatory act. Past performance venues have included UBC's venerable Museum of Archaeology, and pictures on the Battery Opera website feature Murphy naked except for a silk bathrobe and a giant baritone sax next to an unidentified man in lederhosen known only as "the Austrian," under the towering totem poles in Arthur Erickson's iconic Great Hall.

"Yeah, we called that one 'Bob's Lounge Under the Oppressive Weight of History' - all that stuff is basically stolen and uprooted, so it's full of stories and presence," says McIntosh. "Besides, I hate Arthur Erickson - his buildings are suicidal bunkers with hidden entrances - the man is basically a menace to society."

So will there be any sacred cows to slaughter, architectural or otherwise, in the Montreal run of Bob's Lounge?

McIntosh says that they're trying not to "lock themselves in" to anything in particular for their four performances, each of which will be different, though he does cite "martinifraus" and "unibrow dancers" as good bets for opening night.

"We're not really aiming to impress or shock anyone - maybe oppress them a bit," says McIntosh. "The idea for a Montreal run came from [La Chapelle impresario] Jack Udashkin seeing this silly crazy show we did in Regina a while back, where there was a lot of audience resentment, and a lot of really weird things happened - some people thought we were torturing them, and Jack ran into us a while later and was like, 'Yeah, I remember you fucking assholes, I'm going to book you for my theatre.'"

Bob’s Lounge is:

“Un super groupe de bar louche”. «  Une beuverie interactive intime. »

Une bonne soirée pour aller lentement en enfer.

Bob’s Lounge met en vedette David McIntosh de battery opera, Aleister Murphy, de l’alcool, des invités spéciaux locaux, des rites de fertilité et vous. Retirez donc votre pantalon, prenez un verre et ouvrez votre cœur.

Bob’s Lounge est en même temps un examen d’interprétation musicale ainsi qu’une expérience sur l’interaction d’un lieu, d’un public, d’une forme et  d’un interprète. Au cœur se trouve un intérêt pour la gamme de possibilités offerte par l’association de voix et de trompettes et l’ambition vers la virtuosité pure. Aligner et souvent mettre en contraste, c’est avec ces objectifs fondamentaux que se déroule une pièce emplie de tensions et d’attentes d’une interprétation incarnant les jonctions mouvantes entre le profane, le sacré et le bar. En ouverture de la pièce, Bob’s Lounge invite les artistes de disciplines variées à s’engager avec ses intérêts. Depuis ses débuts en 2004, Bob s’est prélassé dans des discothèques, des cafés, des salons, des théâtres, des galeries d’art et des musées. Bob a hâte de se prélasser au Théâtre La Chapelle.

Si vous souhaitez accomplir un rite de fertilité ou vous transformer par la méthode spirituelle de Bob en état amoureux, de perdition ou d’alcoolisme, veuillez contacter Bob à <info@ batteryopera.com. > Nous vous enverrons une chanson à l’avance et nous vous donnerons un/des martini(s) bien frais.

Bob’s Lounge is:

“A Louche Lounge Supergroup”. "An intimate inter-active piss-up."

A good night to slowly go to Hell.

Bob’s Lounge features battery opera’s David McIntosh, Aleister Murphy, alcohol, local guest artists, fertility rites, and you. Take off your pants, have a drink, and open your heart.

Bob’s Lounge is at once an examination of musical performance as well as an experiment in the interaction of venue, audience, form and performer. At it’s heart is an interest in the range of possibilities presented by the combination of voice and horns, and an ambition towards an unadorned virtuosity. Aligning , and often contrasting, with these basic goals is an ongoing play with the tensions and expectations of a performance event- inhabiting the shifting junctures between the profane, the sacred and the lounged. To open up the play, Bob’s Lounge extends invitations to artists from various disciplines to engage with its concerns. Since it’s inception in 2004, Bob has Lounged in clubs, cafes, living rooms, theaters, art galleries and museums. Bob looks forward to Lounging at Theatre La Chapelle

If you wish to perform a fertility rite, or transform through Bob’s spiritual method to a state of love, loss or alcoholism, contact Bob at  <info@ batteryopera.com. > We’ll send you a song in advance, and provide your martini/s well chilled.

for a look at the Bob's Lounge residency to develop our latest concept vehicle, "Motel" batteryopera.blogspot.com/

Photo of David Serenading the wean by Tom Wiebe

Bob's Last Last Lounge in Vancouver at the DC 10th anniversary celebration

Bob's Last Lounge in Vancouver.

Bob's Lounge fertility rites at the Scotiabank Dance Centre Open House 2007.

Bob's Lounge in Wanton heat and Loose desire at the Scotiabank Dance Centre Open House 2006.

Bob's Lounge performing FiveYearFuck's "Melancholy Stew"

Bob's Lounge at Cafe Montmarte with Ajineen Sagal

Bob's Lounge plays some Purcell