Back to Projects        Back to Home Page

There have been three version of PAK.  The current is version 3.

Version 1 - Ron Anderson, Jesse Krakow, Will Redmond, Race Age (2000-2002)
Version 2 - Ron Anderson, Jesse Krakow, Race Age (2002)
Version 3 - Ron Anderson, Jesse Krakow, Keith Abrams (2003 to 2006)
Version 4 - Ron Anderson, Keith Abrams, Tim Byrnes  (2007 to present)

Returning to the United States in September of 99 after a year living in Switzerland, Ron Anderson  started working with drummer Race Age as a duet, with gigs at the Cooler and Abc No Rio in New York City. Race has worked with W.O.O. and Dog Bowl and with RA on recordings and gigs that date back to the late 80's. PAK started rehearsal in May of 2000 with the addition of two young and extraordinary musicians, Will Redmond and Jesse Krakow. Jesse also works with Gary Lucas and Phillip Johnston in Fast 'N Bulbous, a band that plays big band interpretations of Captain Beefheart compositions. 

"PAK - who are one of the best prog/punk outfits to emerge from NY in years!" Bruce Lee Gallanter Downtown Music Gallery.  

"PAK is my  next step beyond The  Molecules, without looking back, a band that can make complex time signatures groove like 4/4, turn it over, make it twist, then stop on a dime". RA. 

In March 2001 PAK  kicked off a ten concert tour of the East Coast of the United States at the Knitting Factory in New York with Ruins. In August PAK had there European debut at the Festival Fruits de Mhère in Mhère, France. They toured Europe again in winter of 2002 and finished their first CD - 100% Human Hair a co-produced between Elliott Sharp and RA. 

September - First Street Block Party, New York, NY

October 27^th - 14 Karot Cabaret, Baltimore, MD

January 18^th - Brownies, New York, NY

Ruins, PAK, RonRuins tour

March
14 Knitting Factory - New York, NY (just Ruins and PAK)
15 Middle East - Boston, MA
16 The Flywheel - Easthampton, MA
18 Khyber  - Philadelphia, PA
20 Ottobar - Baltimore, MD
21 Alley Katz - Richmond, VA
22 The Millvale Industrial Theater - Pittsburgh, PA
23 Speaking Tongues - Cleveland, OH
24 Gold Dollar - Detroit, MI
25 The Empty Bottle- Chicago, IL

August 5    Festival Fruits De Mhere - Mhere, France 
            26  Berwick Research Institute - Boston, MA
            29   CBGB - New York, NY

October 12th Free 103 - Brooklyn, NY

PAK European  Tour Winter 2002

PAK in Lille, France  Photo by Philippe Lenglet

February 27   MS Stubnitz - Rostock, Germany 
March      1     JH Friesenstrasse - Bremen, Germany 
                2     SCSI-Cell - The Hague, The Netherlands 
                5     La Malterie - Lille, France
                7     Campus De Laborie - Limoges, France 
                8     Salle des Fetes - Verrieres, France
                9     The Chatodo - Blois, France

The last concert for Version 1 of PAK was in Blois, France. Will Redmond left and the group continued as a trio. Version 2 - Ron Anderson - guitars, trumpet, voice. Jesse Krakow - bass, voice. Race Age - Drums

Europe Autumn 2002   

September 20   L'Intro - Dudelange, Luxembourg
                  21   Festival Fresnes in Watt - Fresnes in Woevre, France 
October      2     La Malterie - Lille, France
                  3     Les Potager Natures - Boredaux, France                   
                  4     Pannonica - Nantes, France 
                  5     Salle Du Clous - Brest, France 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Version 3 - Ron Anderson - guitars, trumpet, voice
                 Jesse Krakow - bass, voice
                 Keith Abrams - Drums

After the European tour Race Age was replaced on drums by Keith Abrams.  Keith is an amazing young drummer, with incredibly fast hands, great ideas that he is always ready to put to use no matter what time signature we are in, and a great sound. Jesse has been playing with Keith for many years and asked Ron to audition Keith for the band. For the  audition Keith walked into the rehearsal room, sat down at the drums and played with out warming up, Beautiful Thoughts Never Last with the band at a fast tempo.  The opening of this composition is one of the more difficult moments in PAK's music, which drove many drummers to tears in their attempts to play it (at a much slower tempo) during auditions. 

2003

February     6     Williamsburg Publik House - Brooklyn, NY
March        11   Kenny's Castaways - NY, NY 
July             27  Star Food - NY, NY
August        28  Knitting Factory - NY, NY (with Samla Mammas Manna, Doctor Nerve)
September  22 Star Food New York, NY (with Zu, Friendly Bears)
December      23   Knitting Factory  - New York, NY with (the Pleasant Livers)

 2004

South East Tour - PAK will toured  with are friends and great band Aheluchatistas.

 May     30 - Talking Head Club - Baltimore                     
June     2   - Tasty World - Athens, GA (with Carry Nations)
              3   -  Lenny's - Atlanta, GA
              4   - The Nightlight - Chapel Hill, NC (also Sentinel)
              5  -  Vincent's Ear - Asheville, NC (also Doom Ribbons, Pattern is Movement)
              6 -   Relative Theory Records - Norfolk, VA (also Pattern is Movement)
              7 -   The Where house Next-door - Washington, DC (also Pattern is Movement)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

September    25 - Knitting Factory - New York, NY 
October         29 - Boogaloo - Brooklyn, NY
November     23 -  Bowery Poetry Club - New York, NY (with Doctor Nerve)
February       23 - Bowery Poetry Club - New York, NY

2005

Europe 05

June 24 -   Lit lounge  - New York, NY
November 5 - The Future Festival of Experimental Rock -New York, NY
June 10 -  The Athenaeum - Philadelphia, PA

2006

September 20 - Bowery Poetry Club - New York, N Y - with Jac Berrocal.
November 9 - Cake Shop - New York, NY

2008

 Ron Anderson took a year off from working with his New York avant-rock band PAK to do a couple of tours of Europe and the West Coast with The Molecules after their 2007 CD/DVD release “Friends”. Now he is back with PAK playing on bass, not guitar, and with a new line-up of musicians and a new set of music. Powerhouse drummer Keith Abrams is back with new member Tim Byrnes (Friendly Bears/Hazel Rah) ..boards. After a very successful concert in New York at John Zorn’s performance space The Stone they are writing new music, and touring cities of Northeast and then Europe in October and November.

March 28 - The Stone - New York, NY (with Jason Berry)

July 9 -   Cake Shop - New York, NY
         11 - Millcreek Tavern - Philidelphia, PA
         12 - Floristree - Baltimore, PA

September 12 -   PA's Lounge - Boston, MA

PAK European Tour 08

PAK European tour with Stig Noise Sound System from Liverpool, U.K.  

 October

16 - Montreuil (Paris), France - Les Instants Chavirés
17- Pont Sainte Maxence, France - La Manekine
18 - Saint-Piat, France - L'étable
19 - Angers, France - L'étincelle
20 - Saint Herblain, France -  Le Fouloir
21-  Bordeaux, France - El Inca
22 - Clermont Ferrand, France - Raymond Bar
23 - Nancy, France - Festival Michto
24 - Bourg-En-Bresse, France - La Tannerie
25 - Marseille, France - L' Embobineuse
26 - Geneve, Switzerland - L'écurie
27 - Basel, Switzerland - Hirscheneck
28 - Freiberg, Germany - KTS
30 - Amsterdam - Netherlands - Stubnitz
31 - Lille, France - CCL

November  

1 - Amiens, France - Le Grand Wazoo
2 - Paris, France - Sous Chapiteau
3 - Allones, France - Peniche Excelsior (A STEREOTYPE)
4 - Rennes, France - 1929
5 - Brest, France - La Carène
6 - Saint-Nazaire, France - V.I.P.
7 - Reims, France - Centre Culturel du Crous (CROUS avec l’association CAKTUS)
8 - Bielefeld, Germany - Bunker Ulmenwall

2009

July

25 -  Olive’s 118 Main Street, Nyack, New York

December

18 - The Marvelous - Philadelphia, PA
22 - Freddy's - Brooklyn, NY

2010

March

19 - Inciting HQ - Philadelphia, PA

Photo - Laurent Claus

                                           Back to Bands    Back to Home Page