When the Residents stopped by the Warsaw in Greenpoint on their 2002 Demons Dance Alone tour, the concert featured a surprising passage not included on the album they were supporting. The band member often referred to as “the singing Resident” took a seat at the front of the stage and delivered a middle-aged lament in rhymed couplets about the band having once been at the vanguard and on MTV, and now struggling in a country that pimps war for its SUVs. In the decade since, the 40-year-old anonymous art project has toured more than ever, and has now seemingly fast-tracked into old age, a Vegas-style show and possible senility.
Sam’s Enchanted Evening picks up from last year’s Talking Light tour, which continued their self-awareness (or delusions) of rock stardom with a frontman named “Randy Rose.” When last we heard from Randy, his band was falling apart and he seemed more interested in telling ghost stories than singing songs. Now a solo act with piano accompaniment, Randy is presenting a program of other people’s songs. The cover thing is nothing new to the Residents: The band’s early notoriety was based in no small part on a grinding, twisted cover of “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.” Thirty-six years later, Randy’s take on “Livin’ la Vida Loca” will seem no less apt a theme for the mysterious pop mutants.—Kurt Gottschalk