Eskimo Live

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Eskimo Live
Performers	The Residents
Date	ca. 1980-1981, 1992, mid-to-late 2000s (unproduced versions) March 2nd 2024 (Night of Ideas)
Location	San Francisco Public Library, San Francisco, California (Night of Ideas)

Since shortly after its release in 1979, The Residents have long sought to create a live performance adaptation of their 1979 concept album Eskimo.

Originally, the show was to be a live tour, running approximately between 1980 and 1981, but this version of the show was never thoroughly developed, and The Residents instead debuted as a touring act in 1982 with The Mole Show.

The Residents revived the idea of adapting Eskimo as a stage performance in 1992, this time as an opera, but the idea again failed to get off the ground, despite the group commissioning set designs from Cube-E collaborator Ron Davis. Another attempted production of the album, referred to as "Eskimo On Ice", was suggested in the mid-to-late 2000s, but also failed to become a reality.

On March 2nd 2024, The Residents performed a "condensed" live arrangement of Eskimo at the San Francisco Public Library on March 2nd 2024, as part of the annual multi-city event Night of Ideas.

History

Unproduced attempts

Eskimo Live (1979-1981)

Around the time of the release of their 1979 album Eskimo, The Residents were planning what was intended to be their first touring show, a performance based on the album. A concept album designed to tell stories through sound, the group felt that Eskimo would lend itself well to a visual performance project.

Eskimo Live got some way into the planning stages before it was abandoned by The Residents due in no small part to the expense and complexities involved in such a large scale performance project, especially as they had never toured. The Residents' interest in touring continued to develop, resulting in live in the studio rehearsals in 1982, which included a suite of tracks from the Eskimo album, indicating that the idea of a live performance of Eskimo had not been entirely abandoned by The Residents up to this point.

Ultimately, the group's first tour would be The Mole Show in 1982, which did not feature the Eskimo suite (instead, being wholly dedicated to the group's then-ongoing Mole Trilogy).

Eskimo Opera (1992)

"The Walrus Hunt" set design by Ron Davis, 1992

The Residents revisited the idea of adapting Eskimo into a theatrical performance in the early 1990s, developing an "Eskimo Opera Proposal" - a vocal and orchestral demo suite featuring pieces of music intended for an operatic adaptation of the album.

The group commissioned a number of set designs from artist Ron Davis, who they had previously worked with on their Cube-E production in 1989. The Eskimo opera seems to have not developed beyond these initial designs, however, and The Residents themselves would not perform an advanced show until Disfigured Night in 1997.

Eskimo On Ice (late 2000s)

In the mid-to-late 2000s, Glenn Max, a programmer for the Southbank Centre in London who often booked The Residents at the venue, proposed a live performance adaptation of Eskimo to be performed "on ice" at an undisclosed location off-site while the Centre was closed for renovations.

"Eskimo On Ice" was proposed to the Southbank Centre by Max, but the Centre ultimately decided not to go ahead with the project.

The Residents performing "The Festival of Death" at Night of Ideas in the San Francisco Public Library, March 2nd 2024 (photo by Josh Keppel)

Night of Ideas (2024)

The Residents performed a "condensed" 25 minute arrangement of Eskimo at the San Francisco Public Library on March 2nd 2024, as part of the annual multi-city arts event Night of Ideas.

The Night of Ideas arrangement of Eskimo consisted of shortened versions of all six tracks from the album, accompanied by the graphics and narrative text from the Eskimo DVD, as well as other newly-created visuals. The Residents followed the Eskimo suite with a rendition of "Diskomo".

Despite describing the show as "a BLAST", The Cryptic Corporation later warned fans who missed the show that "it might not ever happen again".

Legacy

"A Spirit Steals A Child" set design by Ron Davis, 1992

The Eskimo Opera Proposal (with vocals from Chris Romero and Mark Salvatore) was released officially on the compilation album dot.com in 2000 and later featured (newly remastered by Scott Colburn) on the pREServed edition of Eskimo in 2019. 

The Residents' continuing desire to adapt Eskimo in a visual context eventually culminated in the creation of the Eskimo DVD in 2002, featuring the original album in 5.1 surround sound, with still images and text directly adapting the corresponding stories from the album's liner notes.

See also

"The Festival of Death" set design by Ron Davis, 1992

• Eskimo
• Eskimo Opera Proposal
• Night of Ideas
• Eskimo (DVD)
• Ron Davis
• Assorted Secrets

Listen online

• "Eskimo Opera Proposal" on Spotify

External links and references

• Eskimoat The Residents Historical
• Eskimo Live at RZWeb
• dot.com at Discogs
• Eskimo pREServed edition at Discogs