You quickly learn what to expect next at a Monotonix show — expect anything. Yet, despite being a quasi-veteran Monotonix concertgoer (I saw them this past fall at Forward Fest), I still left last night’s High Noon Saloon shocked by the band’s antics. The most notable difference between the band’s September performance and its most recent was the crowd. Apparently word has gotten out about the absolute mayhem involved in Monotonix’s performance, as the venue was packed wall-to-wall with frenzied concertgoers. In typical Monotonix fashion, the threesome played from the floor, at least momentarily. For a good amount of the band’s performance, singer Ami Shalev went aerial, crowd-surfing with a garbage can on his legs, standing on a bar, or hanging 25-feet in the air from a support beam before falling in the arms of his newfound fans. If Monotonix is good at anything, though, it’s in creating an atmosphere. Granted, that atmosphere might be described as one of sheer terror and absolute delight. But this aura seemed to encompass all of High Noon Saloon, even reaching up into the balcony when Shalev and Co. took the show on the road. Audience members supported this change of scenery, passing pieces of drummer Haggai Fershtman’s kit overhead across the venue. Unfortunately, the great majority of Monotonix’s antics overshadowed the band’s music, about half of which was comprised of tunes from the threesome’s EP, Body Language. Whether the band is to blame, or whether it’s the fans, guitarist Yonotan Gat told me in an interview last week that the band doesn’t mind, as long as people have a positive impression of the show. And most people did. Sure, one or two terrified concertgoers moved to the fringes of the crowd after the band kicked off its performance by spraying the audience with water. But the crowd last night at the High Noon Saloon loved Monotonix, abuse and all.
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Related stories:
- Forward Music Fest: Monotonix (September 20, 2008)
- E&A to forfeit battle, maintain 'abilities' (February 18, 2010)
- Cealed Kasket descends on Madison (October 29, 2009)
- The Antlers and Phantogram Energize the High Noon (April 22, 2010)
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