Japanther @ Wrong Bar
When a band with as awesome of a name as Japanther is coming to play your city you best see them live… especially if you factor in that they sing into old telephones instead of microphones, and they once played a set at an indoor swimming pool alongside a synchronized swim team called Aquadoom. I mean really, how could you pass on this band?
I couldn’t have been more excited to find out that Japanther was bringing their loopy, electro, lo-fi, gritty, punk sound to Toronto recently. I was even boldly advertising their show as; “Japanther @ Wrong Bar, 73% chance it’ll be your fav live show of the year” through various online means of communication. This claim was made only from hearing songs of theirs I found online and random youtube videos. By the way, I was mistaken by that 73% claim, after having seen them I should have jacked it up to 93%.
Japanther from New York City is comprised of Ian Vanek on drums and Matt Reilly on bass, they both sing and experiment with cassettes and a Casio keyboard. They also play around with spoken word audio clips, some are from movie/TV dialogue, some are more difficult to pin point exactly. I was ecstatic to hear a bit of Chevy Chase from Fletch (one of my fav comedy movies of all time) speaking at the beginning of the song; Um Like Your Smile Is Totally Ruling Me.
Their live show was nothing less than a full on, sweaty, euphoric dance party as if the world could end the following day. I was right up front experiencing some of the best musical therapy I’ve ever had the pleasure to indulge in. During one of their first songs they told everyone to rush up on stage, a lovely girl helped pull me up on the stage where about twenty of us audience members surrounded Ian and Matt and we all felt like new enthusiastic members of Japanther. I also lost count of how many times I hopped up on the stage and jumped off and crowd surfed. When I got home though, checking my random minor bruises and scratches, I suspect it was maybe seven or eight. The crowd was so spellbound and united by the music. Any other show and you’d probably be pissed off at some guy crowd surfing several times (I make it more acceptable by the fact that I’m like a 6’2, 150 lbs. spider monkey type creature that’s easy for an energetic crowd to toss around)
Not only was it one of the best live show I’ve seen, it was one of the best audiences I’ve been a part of. It just makes sense that if people really love and believe in a band, then their audience will have a strong unspoken bond with each other, we will be accepting of crowd surfing and not be offended by an accidental push or step on the foot. Japanther’s sound is an exciting, unifying force, not to mention they are an effective exercise method, I must have lost 10 lbs. in sweat (not the best for my slim frame) Japanther is definitely a band you have to see live!
Japanther – Um Like Your Smile Is Totally Ruling Me
Japanther – Bumpin Rap Tapes
Japanther – The Dirge
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