The Oberlin Review
<< Front page Arts April 27, 2007

Punky Metal Band Die! Die! Die! Performs Deadly Flop at 'Sco

Last weekend, in one of the best concerts this semester, the band Man Man managed to draw Oberlin students out of their usual Saturday night routine of reading Sartre to bring them to the ’Sco. But Die! Die! Die! did not have a similar allure last Thursday, performing at the ’Sco to a small and unenthused crowd.

Regarding the creation of the band’s name, the New Zealand act thought that if the group raised the wordy repetition of Man Man by one, it was sure to be successful. The band was wrong. It did, however, succeed in repeating (musically) what countless bands have done before.

The show seemed decent at first; all three band members — a guitarist, a bassist and a drummer — displayed technical proficiency, but their songs were unoriginal post-punk: short, repetitious and loud. Most of the lyrics were indecipherable, but occasionally, the whiny singer screamed phrases like, “sometimes saying goodbye can be so easy,” and “she would do anything for you / but you do nothing for yourself.”

The melody and rhythm bored the minute turnout into an uncomfortable standstill around the stage. I wanted to slap the band for being so ordinary. But the concert was solidified as the worst show I’ve ever seen at the ’Sco when the guitarist simultaneously screamed into the mike and jumped off the two-foot high stage. The audience politely stepped back, leaving space for him to roll around on the ground. He momentarily humped the filthy floor of the ’Sco while onlookers yawned.

Eventually, the guitarist left his act of writhing and got back on the stage, where all could see his battle wound dripping from the store-ripped hole in his black denim jeans.


 
 
   

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