I hustled to the Dryden Theatre Friday night to catch Dreamland Faces accompany a rare showing of short films exclusive to the George Eastman House. The accordion-and-saw-playing duo (Karen Majewicz and Andy McCormick) often accompany old cartoons, and on Friday, among other films (including one of trippy kaleidoscopic images, one on record-making, and another about a haunted hotel) it brought life and voice to Felix the Cat and his cohorts. The accordion could be raucous at times, as when McCormick, in a fit of emotion, stood and seemed to shake the instrument at the screen. When he gave a long yell during Felix's fall from Mars to Earth, it was unexpected and delightful.

Majewicz's sweet warble lent warmth and whimsy to what would have been a cold, clinical short: at one point, she made a skeletal image sing. The saw's singular "woo" and bend made images bend and sway, too.

During a short about a head-in-the-clouds poet, the use of Dreamland Faces' song "Beautiful Soup" made me laugh out loud; it appeared a harp-strumming woman onscreen was singing the words, too.

Saturday night, Apostles of the Hidden Son and Handsome Jack played to a kinda sparse crowd at the Bug Jar. Herman (the bartender) thought it was because people are broke, and some "goofy party" was going on elsewhere; I attributed it to Lilac Festival happenings (the Hi-Risers played earlier in the night) and a Monty's Krown show.

Anyway, the Apostles and Handsome Jack just didn't do it for me that night, which was too bad, because I usually enjoy them both. It had something to do with the on-floor setup, I think; instead of meshing with the audience, an invisible barrier somehow seemed in place. The Apostles' set ended with the drummer pushing his drums to the floor, cymbals crashing; it could've done without, as the use of smoke and strobe lights amid the cacophony of never-ending guitar noise was big enough (and loud enough) on its own.

The barrier dynamic continued through Handsome Jack's set, with most of the audience kind of rigid, though El Destructo did wander in at one point and wiggle around closer to the band. The bass player's dancing feet had my attention when the rest of the band didn't.

By the time The Electric Prunes came on, the room had almost filled, and I'd hit my stride with the Genny Cream Ale...so suffice it to say the band played a lotta new stuff, and it was great. We all danced. And as  the band filmed each other and the audience from the stage, between its music and banter, the barriers melted away. This, lead singer James Lowe said, is what clubs were like in the 60's. -JEN GRANEY