However, it works as its own sort of drug, by turns seductive, beguiling, off-putting, obnoxious, bewildering and immensely entertaining. Of course, this was made with college kids in mind and I imagine it was popular with the stoner crowd. That what looks like chaos must indeed be very well choreographed is astounding, and could only have been wrangled with the help of the brilliant musicians Ms. Anderson, the ringmaster, who is by turns sexy, cute, scary, androgynous and almost always remote.but with a warm twinkle in her eye and dry sense of humor never far away. At times the whole thing seems to unravel only to come back around to a unified center again-that center always being Ms. Hypnotic back-projection accompanies most of the on-stage action, including an eerie, "OZ"-like moment where Laurie's giant, disembodied head floats above the proceedings, glancing around non-committally. The overall tone comes off as stream of consciousness, the language filled with dream imagery and non-sequiturs. Assembled loosely into small "bytes," the performances in Laurie's concert range from simple statements of fact to speculation, to obtuse poetry, to accessible pop music to challenging political statements, to beyond-surreal vignettes about nothing whatsoever. The existence of this concert film/performance art piece is a testament to the unique presence Laurie created out of herself in the 80's and her appeal to a truly appreciative audience of the time. It's possible that, in an era of digital magic, the originality of Laurie Anderson's use of technology in the 1980's has been diminished, but one thing that time hasn't affected is her originality.
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