Awesome, manic or witty. If it’s difficult to imagine, that’s because you’ll never have seen or heard anything quite like it.
The Scotsman
Karbido’s „The Table” is a world-class musical project, an out-and-out instrumental avant-garde that proves that an unlimited imagination poses no limits to music.
A piece of furniture – a table – is transformed into a potent musical instrument capable of playing everything from ethereal percussion and jazz to heavy metal. Using strings, bows, coins and wine glasses as well as fists, Karbido produces an exciting, original and innovative performance.
The composition key elements of the performance stand for the four directions compass presented in the order: EAST | SOUTH | WEST | NORTH
Each part has different sound characteristics, it has also different range of musical reference. Exotic, windy-steppe ethno and maximal sound reduction, that refers to the Zen culture, meet in the “East” with Polish folk song and traditional song from the central Poland. Dynamic rhythms of the “South” invokes the culture of the Dark Continent, South America and Antipodes. The “West” is an energetic collage of industrial motorics, film themes, and songs of modern entertainment. The “North” dissolves all the acoustics in transparent, sea ambience, drops repetition, grating sound of the wood and breathing occurrences.
„The Table”, Shanghai Xintiandi Arts Festival, 2017
Audio-spectacle invented and powered by Karbido is an 1hour long amazing concert for electro-acoustic wooden table (and quartet). Absolute extraordinary concert with audience around the stage and music around the audience. Quadrophonic or double-stereo world just on touch. Explore music world from John Cage to Iggy Pop and enjoy this moment. No borders, no limits. World premiere: 2006, Awarded in Wroclaw (PL), Teheran (I) and Perth (AU).
„The Table” is no age restictions show, for minimum 100 p. audience, played in totally different places and spaces: theater, studio, church, ruined post industrial rooms, museums and art galeries as well as for 100 000 audience on Woodstock Festival 2008; presented more or less 350 times, all around the World – from Melbourne, Teheran, Jerusalem and London to Sao Paulo, from Hong Kong, Prague and Berlin to New York – still with great aclaim.
The Table presspack – short summary (pdf)
(…) The Table (Stolik) – created by the Polish group, Karbido – takes us on an electrifying acoustic journey round the globe. This „piece for four men and a table” is really an inspired DIY concert. Superb.
The IndependentIn The Table, Karbido create an extraordinary musical spectacle with four instrumentalists playing a table using sticks, bows, knives, hands and a mixing desk.
The TimesI’m not even sure how to describe „The Table”. From the opening moment this surprises.
The Sunday TimesIf there was one thing I prayed I wouldn’t have to see at this Festival, it was a group banging random objects to make so-called 'music’. Within five minutes of watching this show, I gladly ate my words. This amazing performance had me memorized as they played music from around the world…
Three Weeks(…)The result is a mesmerising performance, equal parts novelty value, imagination and skill. In other words, the perfect Edinburgh Fringe show.
The ListI promise you will never hear a version of The Stooges’ „Now I Wanna Be Your Dog” quite like this one.
The Financial TimesThe result is like nothing you have ever seen or heard before, which makes this the kind of novelty experience that one really ought to try at least once.
Philip Fisher, The British Theatre Guide 20074 musicians gather round a specially made table, tuned and with a number of built-in instruments. In 4 sections it begins with Eastern influenced world music, then Austro/African world, on to a rock/metal sort of thing, and concluding with a very ambient section. Highly inventive and quite enjoyable. Try this!
Ed Buckley
„The Table”, Langeland, Denmark, 2014
Playing „The Table”. Photo: Kris Ćwik / Award: Perth Fringe World Best Performance 2012
AWARDS:
PULA FESTIVAL 2017 (CROATIA)
***BEST PERFORMANCE***
FRINGE WORLD FESTIVAL PERTH 2012 (AUSTRALIA)
***BEST WORLD PERFORMANCE***
FADJR INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL, TEHERAN 2010 (IRAN)
***AUDIENCE AWARD***
MIDEM 2009 SPECIAL PROJECTION (FRANCE)
„The Table-The Movie”
Premiere In Palaices des Festivals during MIDEM 2009, Cannes
TOUCAN OFF’ 2006, WROCŁAW (POLAND)
The top prize for the best off-stream performance at the 27th Actor’s Song Festival.
EDINBURGH FRINGE FESTIVAL 07
***** /Hot Show/ The Scotsman
***** Three Weeks
***** Skinny Fest
Below: „The Table” at Cross Art Festival, St. Petersburg (RU), 2015 / full show from festival archive.
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