Last night marked the eighth time I have seen
Man Man this year. "Six Demon Bag" the band's sophomore record is one of my favorite records of 2006. So I went into last nights show expecting to be blown away again the by greatness that is Man Man .
The Spiegel Tents circus tent meets Moulin Rouge setting was the perfect location for Man Man's sold out performance. By 11:45 a 200 person line snaked its' way around the tent which is locate underneath the Brooklyn Bridge. Once the doors opened the room filled up immediately with people trying get as close to the stage as possible. I luckily secured a great spot directly in front. The energy level in the room continued to rise as the show drew closer and closer. And my anticipation for the show continued to grow. It was amazing to see how far Man Man had come in the past year. I continue to think back to the amazing show they performed at the Cake Shop
earlier this year and there sweaty bar filled show at SXSW. But there wasn't too much time to reminisce because the band took the stage.
I instantly became consumed by the craziness of the show. Dancing and singing along to ever song. The set has radically changed from early this year when they would play the same set ever night. They have continued to add new material all of which sounds amazing. However just as the band was really starting to rock things began to get a little weird. I started to notice that crowd was becoming extremely obnoxious and overly insecure. It seemed as though 75% of the crowd all thought they were the biggest Man Man fan in the world. I have always have had a problem with people that compete for some sort of top level of fandom and I never thought I would see such behavior at a Man Man show. People's behavior at this show was almost comical. There was pushing for the sake acting out. There was crowd surfing by a girl that looked as if she was in high school. There was a big burly sweaty hoss picking fights and acting crazy in an attempt to prove that if given the chance he would kill to have Man Man's love child. All this was just too much for me and I kind of let my mind wander away from the music.
Yes the music last night was fucking great and the performance was off the charts but all of that couldn't make up for the behavior of the crowd. Now a day later I wonder what is next for these very charismatic performers. Will their next show be filled with drunken douche bags all trying to prove they are biggest fan? I certainly hope not but then again you never know. I do know that what ever happens I will continue to watch this band grow and slowly take over the world but from now on I will stay in back of the room.
