Last Friday, Barbara Sukowa and The X-Patsys took the stage at Le Poisson Rouge to perform Devouring Time: A Song and Spoken Word Journey into Night, presented by Performa. What began as a buzz emanating from Anthony Coleman’s keyboards gradually built to an atonal howl as the rest of the band — Robert Longo, Jon Kessler, Knox Chandler, Sean Conly and Anton Fier — added to the din. After a few notes played on harmonica, the audience was plunged into the dark world of the classic Reverend Gary Davis song “Death Don’t Have No Mercy in This Land.” From there it was a wild, exhilarating performance that took many unexpected turns, from German poetry by Andreas Gryphius, to Shakespeare. English translations designed by Andrew Ohanesian were projected behind the band.

The musical selections were from all over the map as Barbara Sukowa, an award-winning actress and Grammy-nominated singer best known for her work with Fassbinder, delivered a tour de force performance. The music included everything from quiet etherial sound effects to pounding blues and rock to folk music — all played with equal commitment. In one piece the verses sounded like a German folk song switching abruptly to “Ring of Fire” for the choruses. At the end of the set they played a medley of Patsy Cline songs which were deconstructed and reassembled to illustrate the themes of the performance: love, aging and death.

Photo by Virginia Parrott.