Step outside your comfort zone with Les Bonsbons Electriques
Back in July at the Lounge at No Vacancy, Mark Ronning curated an event called Les Bonsbons Electriques, “a repeating audio/visual performance series that curates electronic musicians, sound designers, and visual synthesizer performers.”
Featuring Pink Phase, Babydoll, and Eric Rice performing music and Slotem performing live with analog visual synthesis, the event also had Ronning on modular synthesizer during the interludes between artists’ performances.
If you missed it, don’t feel bad, as the inaugural Les Bonsbons Electriques sold out, with over 70 people in attendance, according to Ronning.
However, for those intrigued by the concept, a second event takes place this Friday, October 28, at the Stray Cat Film Center. With performances from HXXS, Collidescope, Matthew Lloyd, and Coloratura, and Lahna Saccone doing analog visuals, the second showcase’s venue selection continues what Ronning calls a big part of the idea behind Les Bonsbons Electriques.
“I love going to shows in KC and I love so many artists in KC and I have so many emotional experiences going to shows in Kansas City, but I do feel like the stage that’s set is a familiar space I’ve been in so many times,” Ronning explains when we spoke by phone. “I have amazing connections to a lot of those spaces as a result of that, but I wanted this space to feel kind of different, a little more immersive and distinct from a lot of the spaces that people had been in previously in Kansas City.”
Ahead of the first performance, Ronning hoped that a consistent theme between these shows was that they’d travel from space to space, allowing for Les Bonsbons Electriques to take a new shape for every performance and setting a different mood or tone, depending on whatever space they’re in.
“I hope that people feel, stepping in the door, the visuals that are being performed are distinct and unique and feel just like a new experience,” continues Ronning. “Something they’re not as familiar with and a way to encounter both new music and new feelings in performance spaces that we love, but you can also have a lot of memories tied to. I want this to feel a little bit distinct and reflect what feelings that the music and, and visuals are pulling out in people, as well.”
If you’d like to experience music in a new and unfamiliar way, the second installment of Les Bonsbons Electriques takes place this Friday, October 28, at the Stray Cat Film Center. Tickets can be found via Eventbrite.
