Man Man Causes A Fever At Lee's

Lee's Palace was nearly empty when Dragons Of Zynth went on stage. The quartet had trouble getting started, since it's difficult to work with a crowd of about 20 people, especially when you sound like a bad version of TV On The Radio. At one point, vocalist/keyboardist Aku and guitarist Akwetey told the sparse group they had better move closer and start moving, "or else we will come get you." It turns out they weren't kidding. At the end of the set, Aku took advantage of the still yawning space in front of the stage by launching himself into the air, landing in the pit and accosting the static crowd with his microphone. Despite a largely uninspiring set (which was partly not their fault), Dragons finished with some interesting polyrhythmic West African drumming and left on a high note, despite their awkward start.

Yeasayer, the long-locked Brooklyn experimental quartet, played in front of a screen displaying psychedelic videos and ran through songs from their All Hour Cymbals debut album. Their tunes went over well with the audience. Yeasayer's Eastern tinged tunes apparently provoked some religious feelings in the crowd because at one point, a particularly excited audience member screamed out, "Hallelujah! Holy shit!" The band replied with a comment about loving Toronto. But try as they might, Yeasayer still couldn't get anyone moving and the crowd mostly stood around, probably partly in a trance from the videos streaming on the screen behind them.

Interestingly, Yeasayer drew their own crowd. As many people left at the end of Yeasayer's set as arrived before Man Man went on. But there was no way Yeasayer could equal Man Man's stage show. Man Man's unorthodox set-up instantly makes them one of the most visually interesting acts around. They all dress in white outfits, wear war paint and play in a circle with drummer Pow Pow's multi-coloured kit placed in front and draped in white lights. They also make up for what Yeasayer lack in the facial hair department.

Although frontman Honus Honus and his five pals said absolutely nothing to the crowd during their set, they commanded the stage anyway. Honus looked like an unlikely rock hero in his white cut-offs and polo shirt, but he might have been the most interesting part of Man Man's set. He flailed and flapped his arms around while slamming his keyboard in time with his gravelly vocals. At other times, he stood on one of the abutments, towering over the crowd and waving erratically like he was having a seizure.

Man Man's other members didn't let Honus provide all the spectacle, though. Pow Pow manically thwacked his drum kit as if he was on speed. He plays with multiple sticks and mallets and held the sticks he wasn't using in his mouth. At times you had to wonder if he was going to lose it, but he never did. Guitarists Cougar and Chang Wang and bassist/keyboardist Sergei Sogay bided their time between playing their respective instruments by smacking something that looked like a gigantic metal fire extinguisher.

The set included more well-known songs like "Engrish Bwudd" from Six Demon Bag and newer tracks "Mister Jung Stuffed," "Hurly/Burly" and "The Ballad Of Butter Beans" from their just released Rabbit Habits. All of them were well-received, and the previously static audience fed off the band's energy and responded by jumping up and down to the beats of Man Man's spastic, off-kilter and ridiculously catchy tunes.

By the end of the show, it was evident the opening bands should have been taking notes. It isn't enough to play weird, unorthodox tunes with occasional Eastern-inspired melodies or atonal vocal passages. In order to be successful, you have to make your live performance more manic, frenzied and crazier than on record. Perhaps it wasn't so surprising to see Lee's so packed. It might seem a bit implausible, but expect Man Man to play even bigger venues in the future.