I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: August 27, 2019] Okilly Dokilly

When I heard about Okilly Dokilly from The Simpsons, I knew that I would like to see them live.  So, when it was announced that they would be playing with Mac Sabbath (who I’d never heard of), at a venue fairly close to me, I grabbed a ticket.  Hilariously (although not for me), this show apparently sold so poorly that by a week before the event, the venue was literally giving tickets away.  So I signed up for free tickets and then couldn’t get anyone to go with me.  Oh well.

When I saw their video for “White Wine Spritzer,” in the credits of The Simpsons (clip at bottom of page), I loved the idea of a heavy metal band comprised of many Ned Flanders (technically: Head Ned (vocals), Dread Ned (drums), Shred Ned (guitar), Bed Ned (bass) and Zed Ned (synth)).  But I was a little disappointed that the vocals they chose to use were so cookie monster/growly.  I mean, it makes huge comic sense to have Ned sing like that, but it’s disappointing to not be able to understand all of  the lyrics which are “75 per cent made up of Ned Flanders’ quotes.”

But this band is dedicated to their craft 100%.

When Playboy Mandbaby left the stage, five guys in full hazmat suits came on to set up Okilly Dokilly’s gear.  Of course, these were the Flanders men fully covered so you could not see either their Ned clothes (or street clothes, gasp) and to cover the precious mustaches.  The crew also set up an old TV with no screen and put in a glowing LED light and fog machine.

The musicians came out and then Head Ned came out asking if we were ready for some “Reneducation.”  I knew this song and it is really quite catchy–even with the very growly chorus.  And I have to say the juxtaposition of this very convincing Ned Flanders-looking guy singing in a death metal growl never ceased to make me smile.   Some of the songs even had a quieter moment.

Okilly Dokilly is tight live–switching from heavy to quiet with ease.

But to make things even better, after each song, he climbed on the TV and spoke to us in a total Ned Flanders style, “Howdy Doodily neighborinos!” and sounding impressively like Ned.  So he would introduce and song as Ned and then jump off the TV and be a death metal growler too.

The songs are convincingly heavy with some excellent guitar work from Shred Ned.  Drummer Dread Ned looks the least Ned since he does in fact have dreads and his sleeves are torn off–but that’s a drummer for you.  I really enjoyed Zed Ned’s contributions: in addition to great backing vocals, he played a synth box, which added weird high pitched theremin-like soaring noises that you just sort of noticed from time to time, but which added a cool surrealness to the proceedings (as if it needed more).

So there were some excellent moments like when he sang the word “Vegetables” in his death metal growl.  It’s just funny.  And, if you are a huge fan of The Simpsons, it is even funnier.

That is the one other unexpected problem with the band.  You have to really know your Flanders to get all the lyrical references.  I mean, most songs only have three or four sentences as lyrics, but they reference a specific moment in an episode.  Like “Vegetables.”  Pretty much the whole lyrics are

Oh no
Oh no
Oh no
Oh no

I don’t want any damn vegetables
I don’t want any damn vegetables
I don’t want any damn vegetables
I don’t want any damn vegetables

An annotated guide tells us that the quote “I don’t want any damn vegetables” is from S3E16 “Bart The Lover.”  Todd overhears Homer’s cursing and emulates their neighbor’s behavior at the Flanders dinner table saying the above phrase.

But even a casual fan can enjoy the mocking of Shelbyville in this public service announcement.

So the band have two full length albums out, Howdilly Doodilly and Howdilly Twodilly.  I was kind of surprised to see they played almost twice as many songs from the first one as the new one.   “Reneducation,” “Bulletproof Glass” (the new single) and “When the Comet Gets Here” are from the new one, as is perhaps the most fun song, “I Can’t It’s a Geo.”

“I Can’t It’s a Geo” is largely instrumental and it provided the most fun audience participation (well, until the inflatables came out). Head Ned told us that they were having trouble with the tempo of this song and they needed our help.  He said that every time he pointed to us we should shout “Faster!”

The band played the very cool riff of the song and after a measure or two, Head NEd pointed to us and we shouted “Faster!”  The band picked up the pace until we shouted “Faster!” again.  Finally they were going at a  pretty blistering speed when the punchline came up, “I can’t, it’s Geo.”

Now I couldn’t remember this at all, but it comes from this clip

 

I was also really impressed at how many people in the audience knew their music really well.  When he announced “Flanderdoodles” several people anticipated it and shouted the title along with him and many people were quite excited to hear it.

One of my favorite songs was “You’re A Jerk” which had Head Ned pointing to various people in the audience and the band and singing (in a non-growly way) “I don’t even know you but I’m sure you’re a jerk.”

He told us that their van, Ned Vanders, had broken down and that they had gotten a new one.  They wanted to dedicate “Godspeed Little Doodle” to Ned Vanders.   [The title and lyrics for this song are taken from The Simpsons Season 5, Episode 8 (“Boy-Scoutz ‘N the Hood”).]

They even had a T-shirt cannon.  It said R.I.P. Maude and was (amusingly) a slingshot type of cannon which meant the shirts went about six feet, but they did give out 2 shirts, which is nice.

For “Donut Hell,” the band brought out a giant inflatable pool float of a donut with a bite taken out of it.  We were instructed to destroy that symbol of Homer–they didn’t want it back.  So, after a it was tossed to the audience and we had fun bouncing it around the floor, a few hooligans grabbed it and ripped it to shreds.

The song that they ended the main set with was “White Wine Spritzer” which got a huge reaction.

I loved that their details were so thorough that they even thanked “Merch Lady Doris” and Otto the Van Driver.

As he introduced their final song, Head Ned explained that he needed to do a costume change.  As the band played some suitable costume changing music (Santana’s “Smooth”) Head Ned stripped off his Flanders wear to reveal a red and blue body suit.

This was hilarious. in itself.  Then he explained that he was so proud to have his song on The Simpsons that he felt free like he had on “nothing at all.”  The song also included him singing a verse in the style of “Gone Away” by The Offspring, which was inexplicable, but amusing.

This was all very funny but even funnier if you know this clip (which I didn’t).

They played for about 45 minute and that was just about long enough.  I think if their music had a little more diversity it would be a lot more fun.  There was definitely a lot of tempo changes and moments where Head Ned sang properly instead of growly (he has quite a range of voices), but if they do intend to keep this going, I hope their third (!) record adds a bit more variety to the style.

Having said that, I keep getting a number of melodies in my head and I really loved “I Can’t It’s a Geo.”

I’m really glad to have seen them.  I probably never need to see them again, which isn’t to say I won’t.

SETLIST

1. Reneducation ²
2. Vegetables ¹
3. When the Comet Gets Here ²
4. You’re a Jerk ¹
5. Flanderdoodles ¹
6. I Can’t, It’s a Geo ²
7. Bulletproof Glass ²
8. Godspeed Little Doodle ¹
9. Donut Hell ¹
10. White Wine Spritzer ¹
11. Nothing at All ¹

¹ Howdilly Doodilly (2016)
² Howdilly Twodilly (2019)