I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: June 30, 2022] Man Man

I have seen Man Man twice before and each show was a wild extravaganza of fun and craziness.  Lead Man, Honus Honus knows how to put on a show–part lounge, part punk, part WTF.  It’s a spectacle in the best possible way.

This was the first time I Was seeing them as the headliner–they did headliner Philly Music fest, but it was a Festival, not a Man Man show.  The crowd was there for Man Man and they were pretty rowdy and wiled up (I didn’t really care for them).

But we were all there to see the band put on a great show.  So the lights dimmed, the band came out and soon enough Honus Honus walked up to his keyboard (which, as always, abuts the drums that sit at the front of the stage) and the launched right into their latest single “Cloud Nein.”

The band recently (pre-pandemic) put out a new album, Dream Hunting in the Valley of the In-Between, and this was their first time back in Philly since the album came out.  They were well practiced with the song with Honus standing up and getting everyone to sing along.

Jazz Diesel on drums, Smunk Smalls on guitar, Eggs Foster on keyboards, Mature Kevin on marimba, and Hard Tay on wind instruments.

Next came a new song.  Not a new song on the new album, but a new, unreleased song.  This would be the first of several new unreleased songs.  This one was called “Iguana” and featured several deep chants of “Iguana!”

They followed that with Dream Hunting‘s “The Prettiest Song In the World” which they had actually played back in 2019 at Philly Music Fest.  I love this song with its complicated stops and starts (and obscene lyrics).

Another unreleased song was the mellower “Crypto AP” which they followed with Dream Hunting‘s super duper catchy “Future Peg.”  It’s pretty amazing how Honus Honus can write such amazingly catchy melodies and songs, but likes to envelope them in carnivalesque layers of weirdness.

After the (also) unreleased “TLM” they played one more song from Dream Hunting which he introduced by braying like a goat and encouraging us to bray like a goat.  At the end of the song he brought out a stuffed goat and proceeded to pull out its “entrails.”  Of course, this would be the song “Goat,” which is remarkably catchy despite all of the above.

Then it was back to the older songs that the crowd would love.  “Hurly/Burly” is a crowd favorite not least of which is because it is chock full of wild and abandoned screaming which Honus loves to encourage.

They followed it with their one bona fide hit, “Head On.”  It is so damned catchy and he didn’t do anything to make it weird.

Then we’ll say Eggs Foster (I knew him as King Cyrus King) took over the main keys while Honus grabbed a skeleton rib cage and sang “Haute Tropique.”  Then he introduced another new song with a chant.  Please note the spelling he informed us as we chanted B-L-O-O-O-D-U-N-G-E-O-N.  I can’t wait to hear that on record.

Hard Tay came up front to sing another unreleased song called “Odysssey” a jazzy cabaret type of song that segued into one more song from Dream Hunting, the catchy “Powder My Wig.”

They left for an encore break and came back to rip through the wonderful “Pink Wonton” a wild frenetic song that is super catchy.  And they ended, as they do, with “Whalebones.”   It’s seven minutes on record, but they tend to stretch it out even longer as they turn this lounge song into an exit number as each member of the band slowly leaves the stage.

It’s a wonderful farewell to everyone in order.  Honus leaves first.  Eventually it’s just the guitar and drums and finally it’s just the guitar and the crowd still singing the refrain “Who are we to love at all?”

I was a little surprised that the set was as short as it was.  I thought especially after being away for so long and this being more or less a homecoming show, I figured they’d play a longer show.  But they basically played the same set as they’ve played elsewhere.

It’s probably just as well, though, as it was nice to get home.

The Man Man merch is pretty sweet too, even if you can never wear it in public.

ϖ The Man in a Blue Turban with a Face (2004)
δ Six Demon Bag (2006)
® Rabbit Habits (2008)
£ Life Fantastic (2011)
Ø On Oni Pond (2013)
♣ Dream Hunting in the Valley of the In-Between (2020)