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The first fun part about this band is that they are all anonymous. Nobody knows who they are and they didn't give up on it like other groups such as "Slipknot". There are many theories about this that you find on the internet but no real hard evidence. Not to mention they have been together since 1966 but did not put out an official release until 1972. The band has made over 60 albums, 3 CD-ROMS, and 10 DVDs(according to Wikipedia). Their discography is intimidating much like Frank Zappas. SO MUCH FUCKING MUSIC. A good chunk of their career has been spent wearing tuxedos and giant eyeball masks covering up their identity. They are always on the forefront of new technology for their music and they don't use it in a childish way. It's always interesting and profound. After the eyeball time they dressed in different costumes according to the tour. I can spend hours on youtube just watching their music videos. Here are a few of the go-to ones.
I hope I did that right^ :-/
Don't be afraid to look at related videos by them. It's always a transcending experience.(well for me at least)
OKAY SO THE SHOW!
They came to Toronto right as I was getting excited about them. Right at my peak of being into this band. They showed up. I went with my roommate who got me into them and a good friend I met at recording arts school who I got into them. They played at the Opera House(which i had the privilege of playing at with my short lived glam band). I did not know what to expect because it was 2011 and the band was formed in 1966. This can be a bad thing or a great thing. In this case it was a great thing. They have way too many albums for me to know all their material but I managed to recognize ONE song. It was "The Old Woman" which is one of the songs in the second video I posted. Three men(women?) came out onto the stage. The one in the middle was wearing a weird mask and a red came and was hunched over the entire set mumbling weird stories into the mic between songs. The guitar player had an awesome pedal set up and tentacles coming out of his head with a red jump suit on from the neck down. The third member played the laptop being a drummer keyboardist and other sound guy. He wore the same outfit as the guitar player. It was a shock to only see three people because they have always been 4. The lead singer mentioned that one of the members went to see his grandma?
Three huge video screens played in the background with really bizarre stuff going on. They had the set of a living room with a fire place set up around them. The audience was a mixture of confusion and blessed euphoric beauty. I was right in the front with my wine glass on the stage enjoying the whole thing. Start to finish. One of the best shows I have ever seen. Amazing musicians.
Toronto gave home to me for a lot of music. I got to see OFF!, Fucked Up, Residents, Descendents and Man Or Astro-Man! there. All amazing bands. Not to mention the awesome local shows I got to see. This one train hopping punk band with only acoustic instruments(viola, acoustic bass, banjo, mandolin) playing at a punk house was amazing. The whole band got naked and then people in the crowd starting getting naked. Soon enough the whole house was either naked or in their underwear(like me...i was shy..whatever haha..) Propane Sass is the name. GREAT BAND! If they hop a train near you. check them out.
Anyways, I am not the best writer but I hope someone reads this and likes it. Or end up getting into the residents! Woo!
PS: Frusciante mentions in the Oral Visual history book that he once got a mix-tape from a friend with a lot of his influences on it. SUCH AS THE RESIDENTS!
