Show Review -- 12/16/00 -- The Volcano Room -- Indianapolis, IN
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article: chris thomas
For a long time I've really wanted to see Man...Or Astroman?, and after waiting for almost 3 years, I finally got my chance. Two weeks ago [NOTE: I started writing this review in December] I was looking at the Midwest Show List, and I saw that MOAM would be playing at the Volcano Room. The Volcano Room is about an hour and a half away from me in Indianapolis and has recently become one of my favorite places to see shows. In any case, I made some phone calls, rounded up a few friends, and we hopped in my golden '88 Chevy Corsica and drove to the Volcano Room. Along the way we discussed everything from politics to ... well, just politics. Not one of my favorite subjects, but what can you do? When we got to there, we decided to make a quick pit stop at the McDonald's that resides in the same plaza. After we filled up on grease and starches, we walked across the plaza to the Volcano Room -- a very cool but very small, all-concrete venue with no heat or air conditioning. We got inside just in time to completely miss the first band, so there is an unfortunate omission in this review. A description of them and their hilarious antics will not grace this page. I don't even know their name. I apologize.
Now I'll skip to the second band, Tyro. This loveable bunch of boys (and girl) was pretty entertaining. If you want a really general description of the band, it was Man...Or Astroman with a female lead vocalist. Actually, it really was the Astromen playing, at least 3/4 of them. Where was the other guy? I dunno, he must not have been invited to be in the band. Maybe he smells. I'm really not sure. Tyro played a fairly eccentric mix of MOAM brand sci-fi mixed with Rentals-type pop rock. Overall, it was really entertaining, but the sound mix was a little off. The keyboards, played by the singer, overpowered the rest of the band, and the vocals -- which weren't always on key -- stuck out a bit, too. All in all, though, they put on a good show, and I would recommend checking them out. They are far from simply being a variation on the MOAM formula, but if you do like that style of space-rock, there's a good chance that you'll Like Tyro as well. My friend Nate loved them...not that that means anything to most of you.
Next at bat were the Rock*A*Teens, hailing from Georgia. This group seemed a bit out of place at the time, but looking back, they kinda fit in with the whole too-odd-to-be-popular set of bands. The Rock*A*Teens perfectly pulled off the late 60's/early 70's vibe that they were obviously going for. I was actually VERY impressed with how authentic they sounded (and looked). I don't really know how to describe their sound or who to compare them to. The best I can come up with is the Beatles meet the Doors. They were all really into the music they were playing, and all of them were very good. The whole set was about creating an atmosphere, and they seemed to be able to achieve that atmosphere by getting the precise sound they wanted out of their instruments at the right times. The best part for me was watching the drummer (being a drummer myself). He played perfect parts perfectly and really seemed to know EXACTLY what we was doing at all times. Each member played with the feel and groove that the music called for, and they strove --individually and as a band -- for authenticity. Surprisingly, the crowd was into it, although it probably wasn't what most people there would have called "their thing." Needless to say, I was very impressed. You should check them out.
Finally, the moment we had all been waiting for. It was time for Man...Or Astroman? Before MOAM-Proper landed onstage, their "crew" (AKA: the Astromen in disguise) placed the proper apparati in their designated areas (AKA: decorated the stage) to provide the necessary atmosphere for the show (no space-pun intended). As if the huge set of white projector screens with which they already covered the back of the stage wasn't enough, the crew added functioning laptop computers, plastic tubing, silver vent ducts, and various scientific-looking junk. This whole time, the screens presented odd shapes and lines that swirled, jumped, and danced as to make the set up more entertaining and less interminable. But FINALLY (for real this time), Man...Or Astroman? walked onstage, picked up their instruments and played their "hit single" (AKA: the only MOAM I've seen in video form on M2), "Theme from EEVIAC." Seconds into that first song, Birdstuff set his theramin ablaze, continuing to play it, moving his hands quickly in and out of the flames, closer to and farther from the metal pole, occasionally leaning his body in a bit too close, then darting away from it. All this action, and they hadn't even finished the first song. The screens throughout the show played a wide assortment of movie scenes -- including TRON -- clips from old science-class filmstrips, and weird shapes, diagrams, and schematics. Between songs, Birdstuff would explain songs and ponder the finer points of life in his fast-talking, nasal, southern drawl. It was really hilarious just listening to him talk about completely inane topics as well as the band's alien origins. If you're not familiar with MOAM, they play their own style of space-surf rock. They are ALWAYS in character, and if you didn't know they were really from Texas, you might find yourself believing that they really do come from some distant galaxy.
A lot of people would probably be surprised at how entertaining it is to just watch these four guys play music, even though there are few melodies to sing along to or lyrics to scream back. The facial expressions, the constant movement, the occasional bit of choreography; they all come together to create a really energetic show. They used an amazing assortment of odd, computer-related instruments in a number of their songs, the highlight for me being when they allowed Macintosh Fred to sing lead vocals on a song. (Macintosh Fred is a computer program that allows a robotic voice to say aloud what you type into it.) With the push of a button, Birdstuff commanded Fred to sing whatever lyric may be coming up next. It was quite impressive. Another interesting use of technology came when they played "Engines of Difference" from EEVIAC. At one point, Birdstuff pulled the cord out of his bass and made various odd bass noises by simply touching his finger to the tip of the input jack. He touched it to different people in the crowd and at one point got up on top of the speaker stack, reached down, and proceeded to suck some kid's brain out with it, making beautiful noise all the while.
At the end of the show, after the drummer set his ride cymbal on fire and they had sufficiently knocked over their equipment, the band put down their still-ringing instruments and ran to the door at the side of the room. Two of them pushed the crowd back from the stage as far as we could go while the others wheeled in a giant, homemade Van deGraff machine. You know those little globes that shoot out bolts of pink lightning, and you can make it follow your finger around the glass? Well, it was one of those. But huge. And without the glass. When the crowd was unable to move any further back, Birdstuff put on some kind of fur coat, and they fired up the machine. It began to shoot forth bolts of lightning several feet long while the band members got on their knees and worshipped it. Many of us in the crowd -- myself included -- were ducking behind each other for fear that something would go terribly wrong and giant deadly bolts of electricity would shoot uncontrollably at our eyes or noses or private parts. The whole scene was somewhat disturbing, with all the Astromen praising the machine while Birdstuff stood, cackling madly, arms open, embracing the machine from afar. Then it stopped. They unplugged the god, threw the fur coat over the top of it, and left everyone astounded and speechless. It was a great show by a great band, and it certainly gave us something besides politics to talk about on the snowy ride home.
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