Noise Pop Opening Night Party
f. Extra Action Marching Band, Har Mar Superstar, Tapes n Tapes.
DJ Shepard Fairey. MC David Cross.
The Mezzanine.
San Francisco, Ca.
02/27/07.
Noise Pop is San Francisco’s week long music/art/film festival. I attended this year’s opening night party.
Shepard Fairey played DJ all night. He is a graphic designer best known for his guerrilla campaign Obey Giant. Chances are you’ve seen the stickers around your hometown:
David Cross was there MCing and telling jokes. At one point an audience member doused him with a full bottle of water. He took it in stride.
The first band was the Extra Action Marching Band. They were a full-sized marching band, San Francisco-style. And by this I mean most members were either drinking beer or were mostly naked. I took no pictures because, well, if you’ve seen one of these San Francisco things – a nominally normal event, say a bike race or a road race, but with the San Francisco twist of pubic drinking/public nudity – you’ve seen them all. So just google the band if you're interested in pics.
Next was Har Mar Superstar. Who, it turns out, performs mostly naked as well. You might think this was too much San Francisco funny business for one night. And you might be right but for the fact that he is hysterical. He looks like a mix of Jon Lovitz and Ron Jeremy:
He sings in an R ‘n B style, with over-the-top lyrics about his extraordinary sexiness and awesomeness. I was stone cold sober, yet was pretty much amazed by his stage show.
Most people attempting this persona would come off as obnoxious, but Har Mar Superstar is completely endearing. If a stage show featuring near nudity, profanity, and constant references to sexual prowess could ever be described as family friendly, it would be Har Mar Superstar. He’s from Minnesota; that’s just how Midwesterners roll, I suppose.
The main attraction, at least for my money (did I mention that this evening was free, you just had to get on a "guest list" to get in), was another Minnesota product, Tapes ‘n Tapes. They were fantastic. One of the most energetic shows I’ve seen in the last three years.
The band might be named after tapes, but they have the most kick-ass rock 'n roll drummer on the planet. Seriously. I dare you to try to listen to The Loon and not play air drums as you listen.
