Mono Puff NYC 6/29 Review. You like it.
Opus Mo
Heck, if a concert were a cake, this would be one of those really good
ones with a lot ofrosting and where you get a BIG part of the icing
flower on it, and you even get to lick the candles.
I must say I was amazed by the rockin' Mono Puff show at New York's
fabulous Mercury Lounge yesterday. I expected to have fun, but it was
wacky zany madcap fun. Which, as you know, is entirely different.
First of all, the first opening act was The Ghost of Tony Gold. They
were a swell bunch of guys, you could tell how much fun they were having
up there on stage. Most annoying about their set was that their groupie
girlfriend floozies were clusily dancing and taking distracting flash
photos throughout the set. Most entertaining were the guitarist/banjo
player's grimaces throughout his performance (which seemed a cross
between Pete&Pete's Artie (the strongest man in the world), and a
popeye-era Robin Williams). I would agree with JaredEdit in that they
were pretty spiffy; I'll be watching for that album they say they're
going to have out in the fall.
Second of all was Hal Sirowitz, which was one of the most pleasent
surpises of the evening. He's one of my favorite poets, and his book
"Mother Said..." is my "staff selection" at the bookstore where I work
(If anybody's in CT, stop by Borders in Farmington and you can get said
book for 30% off). I got a chance to talk to Hal before the show and he
said he might get a chance to tour with TMBG in the fall. I'm hoping he
does because he was excellent. His poems, for those who don't know, are
a humorous but emotional look at his overbearing mother, read with a
deadpan style that heightens the humor. I was telling everybody around
me to treat him nice, becuase I was worried that the crowd wouldn't take
well to straight spoken word, but the audience was very receptive. A
very successful reading, I thought.
And, of course, the main show was none other than Mono Puff themselves.
Flans was especially talkative during the performance, giving little
song intros and stories that he seemed to have given up long ago for
TMBG performances. And the rest of the band was having fun up on stage,
as well, which was good to see.
Highlights:
* To serve mankind, which he said he named after a Twilight Zone
episode called "To Serve Man". Yes, they screwed up, and he apologized
to all of the Twilight Zone fans in the audience, or even people who
liked The X-Files. He said they'd change the name as soon as Michael
Jackson got around to changing the anti-semetic lyrics on HIStory.
* The actual playing of To Serve Mankind, which had Flans singing
with a trombone accomponyment. I was jumping with glee to hear his voice
bouncing around the song like the Melotron did in the original.
* There was sone other song which he described as "a song first
recorded by Mono Puff, and has been covered by NOBODY since it came out
a few weeks ago.."
* He had a cheat sheet for "The Devil Went Down to Newport" which
he brought out but said he wasn't going to use. If he did end up using
it, eh said, he's give us a little wink to let us know because he wasn't
going to keep any secrets from us.
* Flans mentioned that they went to D.C. to do a segment for NPR's
all things considered (which will air, apparently, on July 4th). He
joked that everybody who appeared was forced to learn the All Things
Considered theme, and launched into it for the band intros. For a
public-radio-lovin' dork like myself, this was a dream come true.
* Distant Antenna, where Hal Sirowitz joined the stage once more to
do the reading.
* A new song (written just 6 days ago) called "Felt Tip Pen" which
was about a friend of Flan's who was obsessed with the Felt Tip Pen as
an art form. I'm thinking it could be about artiste extrodinaire Brian
Dewan, but I'm not sure.
Sadly, they didn't do an encore, but the show was enough to leave
me sweaty, sore and happy. I was the one, in case you were there, in the
bowler and animanacs tie, bouncing around in the front and most likely
obstructing your view. Apologies to you short people.
Also, I was quite pleased to meet many swell people at the show.
Being the big tall spiffy guy I am, I tend to stand out, and I met
people just because they said, "Weren' you at _____ show last year?"
Any of these new friends of mine can feel free to write me at
Opu...@tiac.net and perhaps even see me in Le Grande Pomme again for the
Soul Coughing show on the 16th (this and more tour info for S.C. can be
found on The 5% Nation at http://www.tiac.net/users/opusmo/soul/
casio.html)
I didn't get home until almost five in the morning (and was locked
out of my house) but I can say that that day in NYC was truly one of the
best days in my life. I didn't know if Mono Puff was a good idea when I
first heard about them, but now i hope they might live long and continue
rockin' in the style Flans seems most appropriate for.
love and cheese products,
opus
Pia Mukherji
The show was great! I haven't seen that much energy in a TMBG show in a
while. Although I did think it was lame when Hal Sirowitz asked for
questions and somebody asked if he had ever waved his arms out of a
fast-moving passenger train.
One thing: Instead of "What Bothers the Spaceman," it said "Evil" on
the set list. Is WBtS not the real name of this song? Or do they just
think the song is evil?
"To Serve" was awesome. Flans sang! The whole show... wow. And i loved
that smile of pure joy that would appear on his face every now and
then.
Flans walked into the Mercury Lounge right before my friend and I. But
we didn't talk to him because we couldn't think of anything to say. We
wimped out, I guess. He was hanging out during The Ghost of Tony Gold
and talking to people outside. Anybody get to talk to him?
:)
Pia