Live Review and Photos: Black Moth Super Rainbow, Serengeti and Polyphonic at The Drunken Unicorn in Atlanta, GA (7/29/09)
All photos by Clint Miller.
Wednesday I got to see Black Moth Super Rainbow with openers Serengeti and Polyphonic at the Drunken Unicorn. I wasn’t aware of BMSR having much popularity so I was surprised when the show sold out. Maybe they are starting to get the recognition they deserve.
Serengeti and Polyphonic opened, yet they had major computer malfunctions that crippled their set. They are composed of David Cohn (Serengeti) and Will Freyman (Polyphonic) on laptop and various electronic instruments making the beats. Very shortly into their set the computer crashed and the rest of the set was crippled by technical difficulties. The rapping was terrible. It was really muddy and incomprehensible at most times. Also, due to the fact that I was dressed up in a Dharma jumpsuit (from TV’s LOST) I chose to sit outside for most of their show. It was just way too hot to endure their terrible set. They ended their set early due to the technical complications.
While waiting for Black Moth to set up I got to know some of the fellow Atlanta area fans. I was surprised as to the number of people on psychedelic drugs. Some kid wearing a dancing bears shirt asked if I wanted to purchase any “mush”. If you can’t figure that one out, go ask your local D.A.R.E representative. Also because of the jumpsuits my friend and I were wearing we had to pose for a quick photo as well as a barrage of “Oh hell yeah nice jumpsuits!”
Black Moth Super Rainbow opened their set up with two separate videos, which were hilarious. The first was a mock YouTube style video where a guy rags on one thing or another. It was pretty hilarious. I remember the line, “Now you all know the mainstream bands that totally blow like Creed or Nickelback or Linkin Park. Well I’m here to tell you about 5 bands from the underground who totally suck.” then proceeded to go off on BMSR and how “Goth” their music is, and how the only types of people who can possibly find enjoyment in their music are total and complete douche bags. Even though his statements were continuous he was wearing something different every five to ten seconds. This video was followed by something even more hilarious and totally epic. Eric from Tim and Eric Awesome Show had his own little video. Of course, being in Atlanta, the crowd totally loved this. Eric made us all repeat that we were not douche bags or even “DBs” for liking the Black Rainbows featuring Super Goth.
The video ended and as the band was coming on stage I hear several people behind me yelling “TRIPPING BALLS!” I found this to be strangely comforting and hilarious at the same time. The band’s personel set up is unique. Since Tobacco, main songwriter and vocalist sits down near the back of the stage throughout the entire set, they have a guy dressed in what I can only describe as an Asian caveman lip- synching while providing grade A crowd interaction.
Throughout the set he would touch people on the heads, walk into the crowd, and crowd surf everywhere. At one point he walked all the way to the back of the venue and crowd surfed back. At the time I was under the impression that he was singing while doing the crowd surfing, which impressed me. It was later when I realized that his mic chord had become unplugged and the vocals didn’t change that he was most likely lip-synching. He’s a surrogate front man for the band. This actually went very well with the overall attitude of the music. At one point Ohmpark photographer, Clint Miller acidentally dropped the yeti suited front man on the monitor in the front of the stage as he was trying to shoot and help him onto the stage. It looked as if the dude might actually have been seriously hurt. He just laid there for a few seconds. I was watching the whole scene from about five feet away. After a few seconds, however, he got up and started dancing again right away. Before the encore in his stage banter he joked about the whole thing.
The sound was incredible. Even standing in the front row I could hear the vocals well. Most of the set was comprised of new material off the album, “Eating Us”. They also played a few older songs. I went into the show not really knowing what to expect from these guys (and gals) and ended up being completely blown away. The songs that I was familiar with sounded better live than on the album, and the songs I didn’t know managed to keep me just as enthralled. The highlights were the songs “Born On A day The Sun Didn’t Rise” and “Iron Lemonade,” both off their newest album. My one complaint was that the set was not long enough. I noticed everyone was in high spirits before the show and when they left everyone was ecstatic. The surrogate singer really helped get the crowd involved and interested. It seemed to me that his interaction actually brought the crowd together with an almost community like feeling. Also, the drugs probably didn’t hurt. The band uses a neat mix of standard instruments with a variety of analog electronic instruments. My friend in the other jumpsuit described their sound as psychedelic indie pop. This is a really good description, although a band like this comes really close to being unclassifiable. If you haven’t then I recommend checking out their albums. If you are into that, the live show is gonna blow your mind.
- Posted by Joe Ennis on August 6, 2009 at 1:09 pm
One Response to “Live Review and Photos: Black Moth Super Rainbow, Serengeti and Polyphonic at The Drunken Unicorn in Atlanta, GA (7/29/09)”
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kimb Says:
August 8th, 2009 at 5:57 pm
great read joe! i laughed the whole time. sweet show!
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kimb Says:
August 8th, 2009 at 5:57 pm
great read joe! i laughed the whole time. sweet show!
