I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: October 29, 2021] Mannequin Pussy

I had just seen Mannequin Pussy open or Japanese Breakfast back in August.  And they were great.  But there’s nothing like seeing a band as the headliner.

The unthinkable happened a few days before our show–all of the bands gear and merch were stolen while they were in Ohio.

Mannequin Pussy has a pretty unique sound, so I’m sure they’ve customized a lot of their gear.  But they decided to carry on.  The opening bands loaned them so gear and Mannequin Pussy thrived.  The crowd also helped with a few “Fuck Ohio” chants.

They broadcast Meek Mill’s “Dreams and Nightmares (Intro)” as a tension-building set up for their performance.

The set was similar to their opening set with Japanese Breakfast, but it was longer and there were a couple of substitutions.

It was a great mix of the raging and the chill.  The band really knows how to get a crowd going, often playing a few blistering punk tracks in a row to get the crowd into a frenzy and then calming things down, all the better to get the crowd going again.

They opened with “Romantic” and then “Control” from their new EP.

They followed this up with four ripping songs from Patience, including “Drink II” which everyone sang along to and “Cream” which rages harder than just about anything.

They played a bunch of songs they didn’t play last time, inclduing a slow and powerful “High Horse.”

Then they returned to the short blasts of punk with “Everything” and “Kiss” (each one just over a minute long).  They kept the rage going for “Perfect” and then went back to their debut album with “Clue Juice” and “Piss Drinker”

After “Clue Juice” things came slowing down to a remarkably chill moment.  Missy gave a “sultry ASMR” while pretty twinkling sounds played in the background.  She talked for a few minutes about things on her mind.  Telling us to hang in there, keep each other safe, wear masks.  She caressed herself instructing us in good feelings.  And then the tone changed as she realized that each of us could benefit from a cathartic primal scream.  And on three we all screamed our lungs out as they launched into the 35 second blast of “Clams.”

They followed it with “F.U.C.A.W.” one of my favorite blasts of noise from them.

They slowed things down with a loop of the opening harmonic filled, sound effects laden “In Love Again.”  And during the song, they dropped a ton of balloons from the ceiling.  Often times at shows I’m bored between bands and I looked up and around. I didn’t tonight and had no idea the balloons were there, so it was a fun surprise.

I’ll never understand the people who instinctively pop the balloons as soon as they drop.  Why?  Why not bounce them around and share the fun with everyone?

Last time they ended with that song, but this time they ended with “Pigs is Pigs.”  This is an amazingly intense song sung by Bear.  It rages, it’s angry and it gets the point across.  When he was done singing, he slammed the mic on the floor and stormed off stage.  It was very cathartic, although I couldn’t help remember that their gear was borrowed.

M.P. don’t do encores and they don’t need to.  It was a great night of rage and release and a nice welcome home for a band who needed a hug from their home town.

√ Perfect (2021)
¶ Patience (2019)
® Romantic (2016)
ξ Mannequin Pussy (2014)