Drunken fans and brilliantly composed classical music do not usually cross paths. But when the Mardi Gras festivities in Burlington coincided with the night Tarantula arrived at the Higher Ground opening for Medeski Martin & Wood, the moon must have turned blue. I must admit, I was a little skeptical that their set may go sour because of all of the inebriated music fans and sloppily smashed college preppies I saw around me. Many of who were obviously in attendance to party no matter who the band was. So I was left feeling a bit relieved when Tarantula hit the stage to a nice open response. Folks seemed to be pulled into the intense emotional web that was being created. There were the overly talkative ones, barely holding their alcohol down, who at times clamored over the quieter parts of the music. But the band did take the reins at these awkward moments and continuously powered the energy back up.
Tarantula adventured through a set of music making nods to classical as well as dark metal music, gypsy and strange circus like music. However, this night of Tarantula did unfortunately have one missing element that was obvious – Jamie Reeder was missing. If they made mention of her absence, I did not hear it. Jamie
