I wasn't expecting to be offered a ticket to the Viagra Boys last night. I barely know them -- have been curious for awhile, but haven't had the right opportunity to check them out, have just peeked at things on the internet now and then, or picked up their albums and contemplated them in the store: "Hm, that's one hell of a cover, who is that?" But for every apparent reason to invest attention in the band, especially visible in their clever rock videos, there have been songs that didn't entirely connect, for me, so I have held back. I mean, new enthusiasms for me can be dangerous: I am not actively soliciting new bands to care about, you know? There is already more on my plate than I'm ever going to be able to eat.
"Research Chemicals" -- last night's main set closer, which lasted something like 12 minutes -- is the one that connected right off the bat. Don't know what it says about me that it spoke to me instantly (never did have nosebleeds in the shower), but it's hilarious and brilliant and one hell of a song -- it caught with me easily, sunk a hook and stuck -- but other songs of theirs have eluded me: "Sports," for instance. I'm not sure I get the point! There's a complex, minimalistically absurdist humour at work in that song, levels of irony, mockery, disdain (I think), maybe even deliberate idiocy -- the song is itself as idiotic as the idiocy it has disdain for -- so much so that when the entire audience at Malkin Bowl was jumping up and down singing along (the song before the main set closer), I began to wonder if we too -- rock audiences -- were included among the band's targets ("do the dance/ down on the beach," or in our case, down in the park). But seeing wit and intelligence at work is not entirely the same as "getting the joke," and getting the joke is not necessarily the same thing as finding it funny. And it just wasn't very exciting musically to me, though seeing a large crowd bouncing up and down to it kinda helped on that end: it sure generated a lot of excitement!
So thanks to a free ticket, last night I finally got the joke, and got my first Viagra Boys album, and got a heaping handful of new Viagra Boys songs to delight in: "Troglodyte," prefaced with a dedication to the people of Palestine; "Store Policy," "Medicine for Horses," "Worms"...guess it's better to be late to the party than not to arrive. I've remarked before, about checking out bands like the Sleaford Mods (who still haven't quite hooked me in) and IDLES (who I like best of the three), that people tend to stick to their own demographics a bit, as they age -- that it's more likely that a cool 20-something will check out the music of their forbearers than a cool 60-year-old (I'm 57; fuck!) will check out the music of the cool 20-somethings -- but, well, there I was, the codger in the crowd again, but very happy to be there. I missed a few songs -- and think that the person who I offered my other ticket to might have had a few drinks or such in him when he accepted the ticket; I doubt he actually made it to the show! -- but by damn I had a fun time with the songs I saw. And a friend who has seen them before said it was their best-ever concert, so -- it was a great way to be converted.
Ironically, the video I shot is of one of the songs I don't entirely get -- "The Bog Body," the encore. But maybe someone else can explain it to me. This is about a woman being jealous of how well preserved a corpse is? Or about a man being disdainful of the woman for being jealous?
The line about the difference between a bog and a swamp is kind of hilarious, though, in terms of "things you don't expect to hear expressed in song." Is he making fun of an insensitive dude mansplaining to his partner, while also making fun of her? But that's the vid I shot, so that's the one I'm sharing. I won't be goin' again tonight (even if I get offered another free ticket -- I'm wiped out from too much concertgoing and have other things to do!). But if you haven't seen the Viagra Boys, and are a fast study, this is a terrific band. Very funny, and you can bounce up and down and be part of the crowd, if you're so inclined. Their videos are really great calling cards, but a live show is even better.
So thanks for the ticket! It was fun!
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