If there was any doubt in anyone’s mind that !!! is one of the best live shows touring, then allow the next few minutes of reading dispel that. Like a tsunami, you know it’s coming, but your not quite sure what to expect, talk of what is coming seems nearly speculative until it happens and it takes you with it. Caught up in !!!’s wave of sweat, dance and sex! As we make our way inland it’s clear we are all at the mercy of front man Nic Offer. Offer spends most of his time dancing and waving his arms at the very front of the sage, flailing and shaking yet graceful and rhythmic. Offer makes it known that he’s here to entertain and you have no option to join, as he makes his first tour around that crowd: you’re not dancing, now you are! Drinking a bottle of beer at the front of that stage: no you’re not, Offer is now dumping it over his head, now you’re all wet because he shook it all over you, it’s OK your drenched in sweat anyways.
!!! is joined by Shannon Funchess this evening. Funchess is really the icing on the cake. She supports vocally, slaps a little bit of bass and taps out a mean tambourine beat. Funchess runs and seems to almost be Offers hype woman, if such thing exists in this indie rock, dance-punk tsunami.
!!! is nearly impossible to explain, start, and then just stop, it’s not going to happen. Take electronic beats with psychedelic guitar and sexy androgyny for lyrics, think about that, it’s like that BUT nothing like that!
As this tsunami reaches its furthest point inland and begins to make its way back to shore, the riders know that it’s almost over and after every some cries of “don’t stop playing” come from every direction. It’s about now that a few people begin to crowd surf their way on to stage which allows them the chance to dance with Offer and Funchess, who have a funny way of dancing the same way with men and woman alike, this only further adds to the androgyny (who doesn’t love androgyny) there’s nothing to hate because it’s so ambiguous you don’t know what not to dislike! Apparently we are now fifty minutes into this ride but who really knows at this point, and honestly do you care? Some point between Offer inviting two people on stage to dance and the crowd seeing the ocean floor, there are now fifty people on stage freaking out! At first hesitation, but as the dancing few grow, there’s now a mass of people dancing on stage ignoring the threats of security to leave the stage to get one last hooray in with !!! before they leave. Offer leaves the stage with the looming statement “we killed it!” and yeah, I suppose you did. As the water recedes, the damage is done, the derby is everywhere, people looking for cell phones, glasses, shoes and everything else. There still looms the few who are relentless for !!! to come back out for a second encore, eventually after what must have been twenty minutes or so Funchess and drummer Paul Quattrone come on stage and make some noise, literally all it was was drum banging and Funchess yelling.
This concludes !!!, and we are all now left with a feeling that tsunami’s aren’t all that bad and if any band can sweep you up in their craziness and make you forget about everything else, then what they’re doing, then they’re doing something right.
!!! is a band you can listen to a thousand times yet there is a total disconnect between their recordings and their live show, in the best possible way. !!! make records to have a reason to tour, their music is merely a platter for them to serve you their live show and frankly, I respect civilization and eating off plates, but if !!! are serving it up, I’ll eat their shit off the floor!
