Man Man's Newest Fan
I saw Man Man open for Modest Mouse in Philly on Thursday, and I can unconditionally say they were absolutely fantastic. Stole the show, you might even say.
Have you ever seen them? Their stage show is outrageous, insane and the most entertaining thing I've seen in a long time. I felt kind of bad for Modest Mouse having to follow them, as they were hard put to match the energy and enthusiasm and pure life force that Man Man put out.
It was wild. From the moment they started playing the first song, they never stopped moving. The songs flowed continuously from one to the other with no actual break in sound. I'm certain their act is choreographed, but it has the look and feel of being spontaneous and freeform. There were seven of them onstage Thursday, which I think is more than usual, and probably added to the madness factor.
Philly is their hometown, so the sold-out crowd was totally into it. I imagine it was quite a thrill for them. I was sitting upstairs at the Electric Factory (protecting my broken toe), so I got to watch the crowd react to their set, which included lots of manic jumping and bouncing and general enthusiasm.
Man Man--"Hot Bat" mp3 off Six Demon Bag (buy)
Man Man--"Engwish Bwudd" mp3 off Six Demon Bag
I suppose I should mention Modest Mouse's performance. In spite of some technical glitches (lots of unintended feedback), they were really good. In fact, I had the strangest emotional reaction when they played their first song. See, my daughter loves them. They're her favorite band and she was soooooooooooooo excited to see them. I was watching from above, and when they played the very first chords and the stage lights flashed, the crowd surged as one toward the stage and just kept surging and receding like a huge wave. I couldn't help but think of how powerful that must have been for her down there in the midst of it, with all the feelings she has for the band. Of course, I was scared for her too, afraid that she would get crushed or hurt or something, but she handled it just fine. Anyway, it unexpectedly brought tears to my eyes, which I tried to contain, but I didn't mind, really, as it was one of those moments I won't soon forget.
photo courtesy spin.com
They sound like good times indeed...I bet they put on a hell of a show.
Awesome times 2 ;-)
oooh, baby you said it! i actually got to speak briefly with the drummer
and tell him how freaking awesome they were. he was still all sweaty and
everything. : )
I don't know if I'm delighted that they were that good, or just plain
jealous because I'm not going to be able to see them myself any time soon.
Probably the latter ;-)
toad, i swear i said to myself when they first started to play, "toad would
be so jealous!" i hope you do get to see them sometime. fun fun fun.
Yeah, yeah, just you laugh. ;-)
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