Monotonix

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• Montreal
• Monotonix
• Frodo Baggins
• Frank Zappa

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If there was one band on Monday's bill at Sasquatch '09that could match Of Montreal for pure spectacle, it was Israeli garage-rock outfit, Monotonix. As is their custom, the band--wearing hot pants and not much else--set up not on the actual stage, but on the concert grounds in front. What followed was an hour-long set of wild-man guitar-blues that was every bit as terrifying and revelatory as their reputation indicates. Indeed, there is a moment that comes halfway through the show when you legitimately begin to fear for lead singer, Ami Shalev ( who looks like a the love-child of Frodo Baggins and Frank Zappa). You think: "Surely, he's not going to stand on a snare drum that is supported only by the man-sweat covered arms of a dozen or so audience members--all of whom are probably blazed out of their minds if the smell is any indication." And then: "Surely, he's not going to dive head-long into the crowd from that perch?" And then later: "Oh my God he's dead" during a momentary pause in the vocals after he takes that dive and disappears. But then he pops back up, none the worse for wear save for a trickle of blood flowing down his cheek. Meanwhile, the rest of the band continues shredding through towering, Thin-Lizzy like riffs, and some in the crowd have taken to tossing tortillas like so many frisbees. Given the chaotic energy of the show, this somehow makes sense. The security guards, however, look very much nonplussed. With Unnatural Helpers, Black Eyes & Neckties.
Sat., Sept. 19, 8 p.m., 2009