03 March 2006

Man Man @ Mercury Lounge - 2 March, 2006

Oh Man Man, how I love thee. Seriously my impression after leaving the show last night was that Man Man is one of my top three favorite current bands. Granted I'd had a bit of bourbon and beer but their excellence in a live setting can not be denied. They stormed through their set like a stampeding herd of mad scientists. Watching them last night it finally hit me that their live shows remind me a bit of all of the Squirrel Nut Zippers shows I went to back in the day in Chapel Hill and Carrboro. There's this carefree throwback saloon nature to their sound (and the show) and as soon as they start playing I just feel the need to dance or jump around or something. Seeing Man Man live is guaranteed instant fun. It's like going to some alternative experi-prog-rock circus.

The crowd seemed to really enjoy it all at least. There were a few people who obviously knew the songs but also quite a few who were definitely seeing Man Man for the first time. I wonder how many people still showed up even though they originally bought tickets to see Test Icicles...the world may never know. But it was not nearly a crowded show, I'd say it was half full probably. Or half empty depending upon your take on things. Of course, in a world with bands as awesome as Man Man - definitely half full.

If you're not familiar with the band, check out this MP3:
"Van Helsing Boombox"

You NEED to buy Six Demon Bag because it's one of the best albums of this year so far. You can also go check out Man Man on MySpace.

I previously saw Man Man back in January.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

i agree completely. i need more man man in my life. maybe a weekly gig at mercury would satiate me.

The Sweet One said...

Just found your blog under Blogs of Note. Love your reference to Goonies on your profile. I haven't even read a post yet, but it's enough to make me want to.

TIP OF THE DAY: Always preview your comments. Sorry I had to delete the one above cause I f'ed up!

Matt said...

don't worry about it. i can clean those things up and make it look like nothing ever happened!

Anonymous said...

My gripe with man man is that they're too repetitive, which i think is more of a problem for their record, because as everyone seems to agree (myself included), they're really entertaining live. Like those freakin oom-pah i-flatVI-V progressions over and over. man. just me though. I really do like them, but i wish they'd go to other places sometimes within a song. A notable exception is 'ice dogs'...more of that please!

Jennings said...

Matt, you're dead on about Man Man . . . they're absolutely on fire at the moment.

jerry yeti said...

sk;dmfl;kremv

jerry yeti said...

matt,

can you clean that up for me?