CONCERT REVIEW: Man or Astroman?, Indianapolis, Indiana
- Andrew Duncan
A sound echoes through the amplifiers filling the room with a rumbling bass frequency so low, it feels like the room is floating in space. The origin of the sound comes from a series of samples that mimics the emotion of a hovercraft with a transmission problem.
Vintage green and yellow-screen computer monitors sporadically tower on the stage. The blank screens leave something to be desired. However, the faux-satellite dish and neon red and green plastic tubing that coils around microphone stands and dangles from the rafters are a sign that something incredible is about to take place.
That something is Man or Astroman?
The small club on the north side of Indianapolis earth people likes to call The Patio was packed waiting to see the surf/sci-fi group.
"My perception of surf music is the Beach Boys," said Jane Briscoe, 30, who has never seen or heard of the band. "I am wanting to be enlightened, and by the end of the show, I'm sure I will be a fan."
This is also a first for Ben Adrian, 23.
"I've listened to and enjoyed Man or Astroman? for a few years, but I've never driven to see them."
The audience's interest was satisfied as bassist and sampler controller Coco, drummer Birdstuff and guitarists Blazar The Probe Handler and Trace Readings walked on stage dressed in homemade jumpsuits and futuristic colors - bright oranges, blues and chrome. Both Blazar and Readings are new members to the Astro-team.
Picking up their instruments, the bland computer monitors change to images of NASA space footage and‘ 50s education videos. Like warp speed, the band kicked off the set with "Maximum Radiation Level" from the album Infinity Within.
The live interpretations of their songs - or experiments as they like to refer to - were much faster in tempo than with their studio releases and like a whirlwind of sound, one song interchanged with another.
Sometimes hard to detect and sometimes blatantly obvious, the band would make mistakes. Whoever would make mistakes was required to do a series of push-ups as punishment. During the song, "Man Made Of CO2," from the EP 1000X, both Blazar and Readings were required to submit to military punishment.
The band kept to their set list schedule like a mission statement and even showcased a few songs from their upcoming album EEVIAC, due out in spring.
With a new album will come a new tour and stage concept. Talking with Birdstuff prior to the show, he stated that the band will expand their stage show by turning their amplifiers and monitors into huge, behemoth supercomputers. Like the UNIVAC, designed in the 70s, the EEVIAC is a supercomputer for the 90s.
"EEVIAC is a supercomputer designed by Coco," he said. "No longer are people going to want to rely on personal computers. People are going to go back to using computers that would occupy entire buildings."
By the end of their set, Coco showcased an oversized, homemade tesla coil. After everyone assumed a safe distance, Coco lit up the stage with bright blue electrical currents. The heat from the bolts of electricity radiated the club with cigarette smoke blending into burning air particles. People walked out of the show never to forget what they just witnessed.
"The show was completely insane," said Adrian. "I didn't expect the show to be so haphazard."
