I recently had the pleasure of working with artist/musician Adam English on a cartoon entitled “Clicker Clatter.”
Well, he’s multi-talented, and one of those talents is presenting songs about Mr. Potato Head and Aquaman to crowds of adoring geek fans.
So come out for a night of frivolity February 18th. You won’t regret it, and neither will your inner monkey.
Calling All Ookla Fans!!!
Jon Simon Presents
OOKLA THE MOK — ROCK MUSIC FOR NERDS
Sunday, February 18th– 7pm-10pm
Mohawk Place, 47 East Mohawk Place, Buffalo NY (716) 855-3931Dancing Superheroes! Rapping Klingons! FULL FRONTAL NERDITY! Come take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be a part of a Hollywood documentary. Indie filmmaker Jim Hanks (brother of actor Tom Hanks) is making a documentary featuring your favorite nerdy rock band, OOKLA THE MOK. The filmmakers will be interviewing audience members– this could be your big break! This show will be filmed, so leave your ugly friends at home.
My favorite way to listen to music is in a low-lit room, staring into space and contemplating my place in the universe.
However, I sometimes get off my behind, leave the house, and actually go to a place where I can take in a live show.
I stopped in to the East Ave. Record Archive on Tuesday for the “Versatility of Emotion” CD release party. I recently did the cover for said album, the debut from Reality Fix. Or, as I know him, Nick Bovenzi.
Nick put on a great show, with a little help from another hip hop up-and-comer, ASAP. They began by speaking against “corporate” rap, which seems designed to sell merchandise to suburban kids and defame women. This led into performances of songs from the album, as well as spouting some freestyle rhymes.
One Reality Fix song, “Father Earth,” includes a real unique beat featuring harmonica(!) by Nick’s uncle. (Some trivia: The track kicks off with a sample from the anime Full Metal Alchemist, which also inspired the album cover.) Nick encouraged people to check out track 11, which is a sort of cross-genre fusion piece. Great stuff.
Check out some tracks online over at music.myspace.com/realisticfix.
You can visit the main site at www.realisticfix.com, and be sure to stop into the Record Archive and pick up a copy.
My next adventure in music-going was last night at Milestone’s, where the MDG Band rocked the house. I’ve known MDG (Matthew D. Guarnere for you squares) for several years now, having designed his website. For this particular show, Matt and company were video recording (four cameras, no less!) for an upcoming promo disc he’s planning.
When the MDG Band gets going, there’s no stopping them. They do big, loud, adventurous prog rock. This includes many of MDG’s recent tunes, like “White Trash Wonder,” “Underachiever,” and “Roadmap,” but also classic rock covers of Rush, Queen, and even Stone Temple Pilots. Matt plays his rock star role to the hilt, with shiny clothing and stage acrobatics. It don’t matter how big the room is, he performs like the world’s gonna end tomorrow.
Maybe I should also mention that they can do quieter numbers, too. Like the original “Where’s everybody gone?” — but I do so enjoy the rockin’ tunes.
Anyway, visit matthewdguarnere.com to find out more about the band. MDG CD’s are available at a whole lotta record stores around Rochester.
Last up was The Niche, a Rochester jam band. I’ve heard about them for a long while, since my friend Ryan DeClerck does their posters. Well, I stuck around and grooved to their song stylings. They’ve got quite a hippie following, folks who get right up to the stage and dance. If you’re into Phish, String Cheese Incident, and even Kansas, check out these guys at www.theniche.org.
Had a great time on Thursday at The Bug Jar in Rochester. I went mainly because my friend Keith would be playing guitar, and got bonus enjoyment from the other two acts I saw.
I arrived too late for Chickenhead Jones, but instead walked in as “ShoEboX” was strutting and fretting onstage. Timothy F. Crist (A.K.A. ShoEboX) actually performs as Worm Quartet. I know, that’s a lot of names for a guy singing along to a CD player. But he made the most of it, and damn if he wasn’t funny. Great voice and great production on the pre-recorded music. He’s probably heard it before, but he’s like a dirty Weird Al. I bought both his albums.
Next came Powered by Satan, which (again) was just one man. But he really put himself out there. Powered by Satan is more absurdist comedy than strictly music, which was obvious from the minute he stripped to his red leotard complete with devil horns and a tail. I’ve been singing his mantra to BEEF ever since.
Finally came Peachy Neachy, which I found hard to get a bead on. They started with 8 people on stage (including Keith) doing a couple folk numbers. Great female singer and fiddle playing. Then began the musical chairs. The keyboardist became the singer, the harp player went to the keyboard, and the singer and violinist sifted into the audience. Out came the Ozzy and Zappa covers. Eventually their woman singer played some keyboards too. So the structure was loose (Setlist? What setlist?) but the music was fun. Plus, Keith got the chance to do some blazing stunt guitar work.
Keep rockin!
-M
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