This guest post is from my brother Bryce, the student, drummer and sometimes model.
It was about two months ago that I first encountered a three-piece rock group from Israel called Monotonix. I went to go see them at the Biltmore in Vancouver, but to our dismay the concert was already sold out when we arrived. After a few sneaky moves we found our way inside the show (I regret nothing). As we entered the venue, the front of the stage was packed so we decided to hang back; we figured that we could at least see a bit of them.
Shortly thereafter, our world was turned upside down.
Three incredibly hairy men entered the stage, the lead singer wearing a leopard one-sie, and the drummer and guitarist wearing short shorts.
The importance of this will be discussed later.
As soon as they started to play, the drummer moved his drum set off of the stage and into the crowd. The guitarist moved to the other side of the venue, and the lead singer crowd surfed while singing their first song.
From that point on their show was never on the stage, I have never seen a band so active and spontaneous that their whole set never stayed in one place, let alone in one part of the venue.
At one point the drummer got the crowd to hold up his drum set as he played the drums while being crowd surfed. At the same time the singer was crowd surfing and the guitarist was being held up. They were literally playing on an ocean of people. They moved with such energy and passion, they hypnotized the crowd. Everyone in the audience was involved in the show whether they liked it or not.
I later realized why the three of them didn’t wear much clothing, not only were they hairy, they were also incredibly sweaty. Which I unfortunately had the opportunity to taste when the lead singer’s arm went into my mouth.
If you ever want to see rock and roll in its purist form, I suggest seeing the Monotonix. They use no fancy lighting, no expensive instruments, no ego, nothing but their raw energy and love for music.
Following this up, we also saw the Monotonix at Sasquatch Festival which happens every year at the Gorge, in George, Washington, one of the best venues in North America. Not only is Sasquatch affordable, it is three days of more than 30 bands in the most serene setting ever. At the show my friend Tori Ball was able to capture these wonderful shots.
Thanks Brycie, I was wondering what you’d come back from Sasquatch with. Take a look at the brilliance I discovered at one of his own shows here.
Want to write a guest post? (Hooray!) Send me a note at theanthology@live.com.
Every spring I think of that video and how lovely it would be to spend the day under a tree playing the guitar and soccer.
